First witnesses in Sean “Diddy” Combs intercourse trafficking trial share graphic testimony

Courtroom will resume Tuesday morning with cross-examination of Phillip beginning at 9:30 a.m. 

Ventura is then anticipated to take the stand. 

Combs’ protection staff is being led by New York lawyer Marc Agnifilo, who alongside together with his spouse, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, can also be defending Luigi Mangione within the homicide of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Atlanta lawyer Brian Metal, who represented Younger Thug in a trial that went on for nearly two years earlier than the rapper pleaded responsible to gang, drug and gun expenses, can also be defending Combs. 

The protection began its cross examination by asking Phillip if the male revue service he labored for prohibited prostitution. Phillip mentioned it was prohibited. 

The protection requested if it was his job to assist construct up the revue, and whether or not he helped develop the enterprise mannequin. Phillips mentioned he did. 

Phillip testified he noticed Combs assault Ventura at her residence. 

He testified that Ventura was on her laptop when Combs known as to her. She instructed him to carry on a second, after which a bottle flew previous her and struck the wall. He testified that Combs walked over to her and dragged her by her hair into the bed room, and that it sounded as if he was slapping her as she was screaming “I am sorry.” 

He testified the violence got here out of nowhere, that he discovered it terrifying, and that he did not know what to do. 

Phillip mentioned he did not intervene or report the incident as a result of he was afraid.  

Phillip testified he engaged in comparable encounters with them at two resorts in addition to Combs’ private residence and Ventura’s. 

The witness testified that whichever rooms they’d encounters in, the curtains have been all the time absolutely shut, there have been candles, bottles of child oil and private lubricant. He testified he was requested to choose up these issues from the pharmacy on just a few events. 

He testified that Combs would inform them what intercourse acts to do, and shared graphic particulars. 

Phillip testified he entered the room and noticed a person sitting on the best facet of the room carrying a white gown with a bandana over his face from the nostril down with a baseball cap on his head. He could not see the person’s face clearly. 

He testified there have been bottles of child oil and one other private lubricant on the desk. 

Phillip testified that as quickly as the person spoke, he knew it was Combs. 

He testified that he and Ventura ended up having intercourse whereas Combs noticed and carried out a intercourse act. 

Ventura then gave him a number of thousand {dollars}, Phillip testified. 

Combs then requested if he wish to proceed seeing them, Phillip testified. Ventura then took his telephone quantity and he left the lodge. 

A couple of minutes later, Ventura texted him, asking him to ship her an intimate {photograph}, he testified. 

She then requested him if he may come again to see her once more, which he then did, Phillip testified. 

The following witness known as to the stand, Daniel Phillip, testified he was the supervisor of a male revue present in New York who mentioned he obtained cash from Ventura “to have intercourse along with her,” and that Combs was current on the time. 

He testified he met Ventura by his boss in 2012 or 2013. He mentioned his boss contacted him one night and could not discover any Black dancers, as requested, so Phillip was requested if he’d thoughts going to do the job himself. It was at a lodge in Gramercy Park for a bachelorette social gathering. 

Phillip testified that he was anticipating to do a strip tease after which depart. When he arrived nonetheless, Ventura greeted him at her lodge room and requested him if it was OK if it will be simply the 2 of them. He mentioned he was anticipating to see a gaggle of ladies within the room, however it was solely her. She was carrying lingerie, and he or she invited him into the room. 

Ventura instructed him him it was her birthday, and her husband wished to do one thing particular, he testified. She requested if he would not thoughts rubbing child oil on her and giving her a therapeutic massage and see the place issues went from there. 

Phillip testified he did not know her title on the time, however later discovered it was Ventura. 

Throughout re-direct, prosecutors requested Florez if he was to doc each single element in his studies. He replied “no.” 

Florez additionally mentioned Combs didn’t seem drunk or excessive throughout the encounter. 

Florez mentioned Combs instructed him he did not need anybody to know concerning the incident when he handed him a stack of cache. 

He added that the hallway video is from movement sensor-equipped cameras. 

His testimony then concluded. 

Florez mentioned Combs was cordial to him when he arrived on the scene, and that he did not see him making any aggressive actions towards Ventura when he arrived. 

Florez mentioned no person alerted regulation enforcement concerning the incident. 

Florez was requested why he did not notice in his report that he made on the time that Enterprise wished to depart and that Combs mentioned one thing to the impact indicating she could not depart. He responded he did not assume it was vital on the time, as a result of the 2 have been going forwards and backwards. 

Florez was questioned about why he remembers it 9 years later however it wasn’t essential sufficient to put in writing down on the time. 

Prosecutors performed for jurors the 2016 lodge safety video of Combs and R&B singer Casandra Ventura, his then-girlfriend, in Los Angeles. 

Combs’ legal professionals tried to persuade Choose Arun Subramanian to exclude the footage from the trial by arguing it was solely a “glimpse into a posh however decade-long consensual relationship.” However Subramanian mentioned they didn’t persuade him and he dominated prosecutors may use it.   

In 2024, CNN obtained and printed the video of Combs throwing Ventura to the ground, kicking her and dragging her. 

Ventura had accused Combs of rape and bodily abuse in a 2023 lawsuit, which additionally alleged he paid the lodge $50,000 for the footage.

Combs apologized for his actions within the video however denied Ventura’s allegations within the lawsuit, which was settled the day after it was filed.

After the jury was proven the lodge’s incident report from 2016, which included photos of harm, prosecutors began taking part in the safety tape.

The video doesn’t have audio, so Florez was describing it frame-by-frame. 

Florez mentioned he recorded the video of the incident on his cellphone, as a result of his spouse wouldn’t have believed him in any other case. He mentioned there aren’t any different copies and that he didn’t obtain the video from the lodge as a result of he did not have the password.

Florez mentioned he mentioned the incident with a supervisor and different safety guards, and confirmed them the tape. 

The prosecution had no additional questions. 

Ventura left the lodge, however Florez mentioned he did not know what occurred to her afterwards. He requested if she wished police known as, however she saved saying she simply wished to depart. 

Florez mentioned Combs thought he was being recorded and grabbed a safety guard’s telephone once they have been advising him concerning the lodge’s guidelines. 

Florez mentioned he grabbed Combs and pinned him, then went into the hallway to take an image of the property harm. 

Combs and Ventura continued arguing earlier than she finally left the lodge room, Florez mentioned. 

He mentioned Combs known as over to him. He circled and Combs was holding a stack of cash. 

“He threw it at me,” Florez mentioned. 

“Do not inform anybody,” he mentioned Combs instructed him. 

Florez didn’t bear in mind how a lot cash Combs threw, however confirmed it was concerning the size of 1’s thumb to pinky. He mentioned he didn’t take the cash. 

Florez mentioned Ventura appeared scared and was within the nook coated up in a hoodie. Combs was slumped over carrying a towel and socks, he mentioned. 

Florez mentioned Ventura wished to get her telephone and bag, however Combs instructed her “you are not gonna depart.” He mentioned he instructed Combs she’s leaving if she needs to. 

He went again to the room with them and caught his foot within the door to maintain it open, he mentioned, There was additionally one other man sitting within the bed room who was not partaking, he mentioned. 

Florez mentioned there was a name a few girl in misery on the lodge. 

He mentioned he checked the cameras and noticed a male pacing forwards and backwards on the sixth flooring. He didn’t see a girl within the video and thought one thing should’ve occurred, he mentioned. 

He mentioned he didn’t know who the person was at first, however acknowledged Combs when he arrived on the ground and noticed him in a towel.

Ventura was in a nook, he mentioned. However he did not know who she was till he went dwelling and instructed his spouse what occurred. 

Israel Florez, a Los Angeles police officer, is the prosecution’s first witness. He labored on the lodge in LA’s Century Metropolis space the place the 2016 safety tape of Combs and his then-girlfriend Ventura got here from. 

Earlier than beginning his job with LAPD in 2018, Florez labored for a corporation that gives safety to high-rise buildings and resorts. He was additionally a U.S. Military reservist for over 15 years. 

Tons of of potential jurors have been screened for the trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs. They have been requested to fill out questionnaires gauging their familiarity with the case and skill to be truthful and neutral. 

Members of the jury pool have been requested in the event that they have been conversant in an inventory of some 190 celebrities, together with Michael B. Jordan, Kanye West and Mike Myers, although it was unclear how or if these names are associated to the trial. They have been additionally requested in the event that they have been victims of sexual assault and in the event that they might be truthful and neutral after seeing movies of sexually express content material and violence. 

Jurors have been sworn in Monday morning after a delay on Friday over whether or not the protection may query considered one of Combs’ accusers about her historical past with violence. 

Combs has been held on the federal Metropolitan Detention Heart in Brooklyn since his September arrest. His previously jet-black hair is now virtually utterly grey as a result of dye is not allowed on the jail.

Combs, who had his personal vogue line, has worn yellow jail uniforms in pretrial hearings. However for the trial, the decide mentioned he can have as much as 5 button-down shirts, 5 pairs of pants, 5 sweaters, 5 pairs of socks and two pairs of sneakers with out laces.

Underneath federal court docket guidelines, no pictures or video of the trial might be allowed. Courtroom sketches are permitted.

Eight assistant U.S. attorneys, together with seven who’re girls, are prosecuting Combs. Maurene Ryan Comey, the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, is considered one of them. She additionally prosecuted Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of conspiring with Jeffrey Epstein to recruit and sexually abuse teenage women. 

U.S. District Choose Arun Subramanian, a Columbia Regulation College graduate and former clerk for late Supreme Courtroom Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, is overseeing the trial. Former President Joe Biden appointed Subramanian to the federal bench in 2022. 

Courtroom is breaking for lunch till 1:15 p.m., when the primary witness is anticipated to testify. 

Combs is charged with two counts of transportation for functions of prostitution, however his legal professionals claimed he was paying males for his or her time and expertise as porn actors. 

Jurors will hear from an organization that advertises on-line for time and expertise with intercourse, not precise intercourse, the protection mentioned. 

They urged jurors to pay attention carefully to the proof and to not “impose your ethical beliefs.”

The protection went by lots of the allegations towards Combs and instructed jurors that witnesses could mislead corroborate the claims. 

Combs’ cost to the lodge safety guard was to forestall dangerous publicity for each he and Cassie, to not hinder a regulation enforcement investigation, they mentioned. 

The protection mentioned there have been no kidnappings and Combs was not concerned within the alleged arson. They mentioned the worker allegedly kidnapped labored for Combs for over a decade and requested to work for him after her employment ended. 

“Was this particular person really kidnapped? Take heed to her testimony,” Combs’ protection lawyer mentioned. 

The drug trafficking allegations are linked to non-public medicine for Combs and the ladies he was with, not an enterprise, the protection mentioned. 

The protection instructed jurors they’ll hear from girls who “made free selections each single day for years” and have been “all getting one thing” from Combs.

They mentioned to observe carefully the position jealousy performs within the trial, from the witnesses and Combs. 

Proof from over 20 years will present the identical girls remained in consensual relationships with Combs for years, and that breaches of belief and jealousy drove home violence, the protection mentioned. 

Additionally they mentioned jurors may even see issues that make them uncomfortable, like kinky intercourse. 

“You aren’t right here to guage [Combs] and his sexual preferences,” the protection mentioned. 

The protection instructed jurors “Sean Combs has a nasty mood,” that typically he will get so offended he is uncontrolled, and a few proof won’t painting him in a very good gentle. 

They mentioned jurors would possibly assume Combs is “a jerk” at instances, however that he isn’t charged with being imply or a jerk. 

The protection claimed any violence proven within the trial is just not linked to any racketeering, intercourse trafficking or prostitution. 

“Home violence is just not intercourse trafficking,” they mentioned, including if Combs was charged with home violence or assault that they’d not be right here now.

The protection instructed the jury that Combs “is a drug consumer” and “you could know of his love of child oil,” however these should not federal crimes. 

Combs protection staff opened saying the case is just not difficult and that it is about voluntary grownup selections in consensual relationships. 

“This case is just not about what you heard on the information,” they instructed the jury. 

They mentioned their protection will inform the story of a person from Harlem who created a lawful enterprise from nothing and gave individuals alternatives. 

“Individuals are drawn to him,” they mentioned. 

On the racketeering cost, they mentioned no witnesses will say they have been a part of a corrupt enterprise as a result of “there was not one.”

Prosecutors mentioned jurors will see movies of Combs’ so-called “freak-offs,” which he allegedly used to blackmail individuals. They mentioned jurors will hear Combs directing individuals and see them excessive on ecstasy pretending to take pleasure in themselves. 

Movies and photos present Combs beating a girl throughout a “freak-off,” prosecutors mentioned. Jurors may even see proof of accidents from an assault that occurred lower than one yr in the past, they mentioned. 

Prosecutors mentioned proof may even present jurors what was inside Combs’ properties once they have been searched, like weapons, a so-called “med bag” of medicine, lubricant and excessive heels. 

Prosecutors mentioned they’ll name two girls, together with Cassie, to explain Combs’ “freak-offs” in painstaking element. 

Jurors will hear from a few of Combs’ staff, together with a private assistant he allegedly compelled himself on sexually and others he ordered to purchase medicine. They’ll element how they have been anticipated to maintain quiet, the prosecution mentioned. 

Escorts will testify how Combs directed them to the touch one another and that he filmed sure acts, they mentioned. 

Prosecutors mentioned they’ll present how Combs’ interior circle labored on harm management, together with making an attempt to cease the discharge of the 2016 safety tape of Combs attacking Ventura at a Los Angeles lodge. 

They mentioned he tried to repay a lodge safety guard with a wad of money, then had one other safety guard dealer the deal. He gave the guard a brown paper bag containing $100,000 money in trade for the tape, they mentioned. 

Prosecutors mentioned jurors will see the signed settlement barring the lodge safety guard from talking after being paid. 

Prosecutors mentioned Combs used his energy to drive individuals into having intercourse. They mentioned he threatened them, drugged them and used violence. 

Additionally they allege he transported girls throughout state strains and even in a foreign country for intercourse acts. 

“This case is just not a few movie star’s non-public sexual preferences,” a prosecutor mentioned. 

The prosecutor went on to explain a graphic intercourse act involving a male escort and Ventura. 

Prosecutors mentioned proof will present Combs’ companies made him wealthy and highly effective by counting on an interior circle of bodyguards, chiefs of employees and different high-ranking staff, who labored to advertise his energy and thoroughly domesticate his repute. 

They mentioned Combs anticipated his interior circle to cater to his needs, together with sexual ones. He used his sources to “sexually exploit” a number of girls, they mentioned, including there’s proof Combs had a person’s automotive set on fireplace and dangled a girl over a balcony. 

Prosecutors mentioned Combs had unimaginable calls for. When staff failed to fulfill them, he threw issues at them, pressured them to take medicine and sexually assaulted one. 

Federal prosecutors have began laying out their case towards Combs for the jury. 

“To the general public he was Puff Daddy or Diddy, a cultural icon, a businessman, bigger than life. However there was one other facet to him,” a prosecutor mentioned. 

The prosecution mentioned Combs had an interior circle of physique guards and staff who helped cowl up crimes for 20 years. 

They mentioned Combs abused his former girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, for years and that “he beat her brutally,” “flinging her round like a rag doll,” after discovering out she was relationship one other man. 

The jury is sworn in and being given their directions. 

The 12 jury members and 6 alternates have been chosen and the jury is seated.

The group consists of 12 males and 6 girls. 

The decide enters the courtroom and the ultimate proceedings begin earlier than the jury is seated and sworn in.

Combs entered the courtroom at round 8:51 a.m. carrying a sweater (beige or gentle grey) over a collared shirt and what seems to be khaki pants. 

His mom and 6 kids have been seated within the second row behind the protection. He gave them a thumbs up, made a coronary heart form together with his fingers and blew a kiss. The children smiled and pumped their fists. 

Combs placed on glasses and requested for extra water. 

Combs rejected a plea deal that was provided within the closing pre-trial listening to, after he pleaded not responsible to all counts, together with transportation to interact in prostitution and intercourse trafficking. 

Through the pre-trial listening to on Could 1, Choose Arun Subramanian requested Combs to substantiate he was of sound thoughts and never on any medicine. He then requested Combs if he rejected the prosecution’s provide. 

“Sure, I do,” Combs mentioned. 

Particulars of what was provided within the potential plea deal weren’t given.

Opening statements within the Sean “Diddy” Combs federal intercourse trafficking and racketeering are anticipated to begin at the moment on the federal courthouse in Decrease Manhattan. 

First, the jury have to be sworn in. 

Trial proceedings are anticipated to go from 9 a.m. to five p.m. each day for the primary week, then 9 a.m. to three p.m. each day the next weeks. 

The trial is anticipated to final eight to 10 weeks.

Per federal guidelines, pictures and movies from inside court docket should not allowed, so there isn’t a broadcast or livestream of Combs’ trial.

Solely courtroom sketches are permitted. 

CBS Information New York’s Alice Gainer will present real-time updates from the courthouse on this dwell weblog.