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00:30A mogul, Sean Diddy Combs, who has dominated our culture for decades.
00:35But in 2024, a stunning fall from grace.
00:42The artist, arrested on racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges.
00:48It's one of the most hotly anticipated trials of our time.
00:52He denies all charges.
00:54Because there are no cameras in federal court, we'll bring you inside our courtroom.
01:00With a team of actors reenacting key moments of testimony pulled directly from court transfers.
01:15Hello, and welcome to Diddy on Trial, As It Happened.
01:19Thank you for joining us.
01:21I'm your host, Sunny Hostin.
01:22Joining me this week, criminal defense attorney Mark Iglarsh and writer and cultural critic,
01:28Mark Turay.
01:29We've already seen two weeks of the trial unfold.
01:32Combs is the only person who has been charged.
01:35So far, much of it dominated by Combs' ex-girlfriend, the prosecution's star witness, Cassandra Ventura.
01:41You'll remember Ms. Ventura from the disturbing 2016 video of Combs assaulting her in a Los Angeles hotel.
01:49Her testimony is crucial to the prosecution's case.
01:52But first, we bring you to the start of the trial with opening statements from the prosecution and defense.
02:00Is the government prepared to proceed?
02:02Yes, Your Honor.
02:04All right.
02:04You may proceed.
02:05This is Sean Combs.
02:11To the public, he was Puff Daddy or Diddy, a cultural icon, a businessman larger than life.
02:18But there was another side to him, a side that ran a criminal enterprise.
02:26During this trial, you're going to hear about 20 years of the defendant's crimes.
02:30But he didn't do it alone.
02:33He had an inner circle of bodyguards and high-ranking employees who helped him commit crimes and helped him cover them up.
02:42Kidnapping, arson, drugs, sex crimes, bribery, and obstruction.
02:50These are just some of the crimes that the defendant and his inner circle committed again and again.
02:56Let me be very clear on this next point.
03:02This case is not about a celebrity's private sexual preferences.
03:07The evidence will show that the sexual conduct at issue in this case was coercive and criminal
03:15because the defendant made women have sex when they did not want to.
03:18He threatened them, he drugged them, he lied to them, and he even used violence to make them do it.
03:30Good morning.
03:34Sean Combs is a complicated man.
03:37But this is not a complicated case.
03:40This case is about love, jealousy, infidelity, and money.
03:45This case is about voluntary adult choices made by capable adults and consensual relationships.
03:56This case is about those real-life relationships.
03:59And the government is trying to turn those relationships into a racketeering case, a prostitution case, and a sex trafficking case.
04:09It will not work.
04:11The evidence is going to show you a very flawed individual.
04:16But it will not show you a racketeer, a sex trafficker, or somebody transporting for prostitution.
04:25Domestic violence is not sex trafficking.
04:28The prosecution opened their case with two witnesses, a hotel security guard who had responded to the assault in 2016,
04:36and a male escort who detailed the story of his sexual encounters with Ventura and Combs.
04:42But they quickly moved on to Cassandra Ventura, their star witness.
04:47Known as Cassie, the young recording star was signed by Combs' bad boy record label and taken under his wing artistically.
04:53Her testimony about Combs' infamous orgies, they call them freak-offs, FOs, is a key to proving the government's trafficking case against him.
05:03As she entered the courtroom with her husband, Ventura, now eight and a half months pregnant with their third child,
05:10never made eye contact with the accused.
05:13Please raise your right hand.
05:15Do you promise to tell the truth?
05:17The whole truth and nothing but the truth, the help of God.
05:19I do.
05:20Please be seated.
05:33Ms. Ventura, how did you feel about Sean around this time in the beginning of your relationship?
05:40I think I was just enamored by him.
05:43We were just having a good time.
05:44It was really fun at this point.
05:46How, if at all, did your relationship change over time?
05:51I mean, over time you get more comfortable with somebody, obviously.
05:56But I began to just experience a different side of him, which was his abusive side,
06:02and his side that just was very controlling over my life and the things that I wanted to do.
06:07But there was still love there.
06:11Control was everything, from the way that I looked to what I was working on that day, who I was speaking to.
06:17Control was kind of like an all-around thing to a certain point.
06:23Were there times when you had arguments with Sean?
06:26Yes.
06:28Can you describe what arguments with Sean were like?
06:31If they were violent arguments, it would usually result in some sort of physical abuse and dragging,
06:41just different things of that nature.
06:43When you say physical abuse, can you tell me what types of things that Sean did that hurt you physically?
06:49I mean, he would mash me in my head, knock me over, drag me, kick me, stomp me in the head if I was down.
07:03How frequently was Sean physical with you during your relationship?
07:06Too frequently.
07:08Were you ever injured as a result of these incidents?
07:11Yes.
07:12What kind of injuries did you have as a result of Sean being physical with you?
07:16Usually pretty similar.
07:20I would get knots in my forehead, busted lips, swollen lips, black eyes.
07:27The whites of my eyes would be red.
07:31Bruises all over my body.
07:34Just depending.
07:36Okay.
07:38Ms. Gavin, could you please pull up and publish for the courtroom,
07:42Government Exhibit 10C-103 at 33 seconds.
07:46What were you and Sean doing at the Intercontinental Century City at the time this image was captured?
07:55We were having an encounter that we call a freak-off, and I was leaving there.
08:01Okay.
08:01We're going to get back to that specific incident later on.
08:04You just mentioned the word freak-off.
08:07Do you recall that?
08:08Yes.
08:08Who introduced you to the term freak-off?
08:11Sean did.
08:12And how did you learn what a freak-off was?
08:17Within the first year of our relationship, Sean proposed to me this idea,
08:24this sexual encounter that he called voyeurism,
08:27where he would watch me have intercourse and sexual activity with a third party,
08:34specifically another man.
08:35Why did you agree to try a freak-off?
08:41That's a great question.
08:43I wanted to make him happy.
08:45I was in a really significantly mature relationship that I don't think I was prepared for now when I look at it.
08:52But, yeah, I loved him.
08:56I didn't want him to think that I thought anything bad of him for it.
08:59I just wanted to make him happy.
09:05So we just heard opening statements.
09:08We heard Cassie Ventura's testimony.
09:11Ture, if you were a juror, how do you think you would react to Cassie basically saying,
09:19I did this because I loved him.
09:22That's why I participated in the freak-offs.
09:24Yeah, it's a complicated question for the jurors,
09:27and I think the jurors and a lot of Americans are getting an education
09:30on what a domestic violence situation actually is and how difficult it is
09:34and how there is a desire to leave and a desire to stay
09:38and a desire to say, hey, can I just have the love part and not the violence part?
09:43The jurors are going to have to decide, did she actually enjoy it
09:47or was she just mollifying her abuser?
09:49Yeah.
09:49Now, Mark, let me ask you, because the defense has sort of portrayed this
09:54as a consensual but toxic relationship.
09:57She had agency.
09:58She certainly wanted to participate in these freak-offs because she loved him.
10:03Yeah.
10:03The government's going to have you believe this was coercion.
10:06The defense uses a different C word, consent.
10:10When she's professing her love for him, saying that she's excited and eager to do the freak-offs,
10:16it undermines the government's case.
10:18the defense will argue, that she didn't want to be there.
10:21And then ultimately, when she starts to run these freak-offs, that's a whole other level.
10:26They're going to start to wonder, wait a second, I don't understand.
10:29When he was controlling, you stayed.
10:31When he was violent, you stayed.
10:33And then it went to freak-offs?
10:35You're participating?
10:36You're organizing them?
10:38This is a problem for the government.
10:39The defense will argue.
10:39But you've got to understand, you, the jury has to understand.
10:42I understand it.
10:43You do.
10:44The jury has to understand the nature of a domestic violence relationship.
10:46Yes.
10:46And that she's going to appear to be enjoying it, appear to be setting it up.
10:50Right.
10:50So that she makes her abuser, her boyfriend, her boss, happy.
10:55That I get.
10:57But we're talking about racketeering.
10:59Not domestic violence, racketeering.
11:01That coercion and force was used with her and other victims.
11:05I mean, they're making him out to be like the Tony Montana of the lube world.
11:10We're going to flash ahead to the defense's cross of Miss Ventura, which focused on the
11:17dynamics of her relationship with Mr. Combs.
11:20Now, remember, at this point in their relationship, Ventura was only 22 years old.
11:25Combs was 39.
11:27As the powerful music mogul heading up Bad Boy Records, he controlled the future of her music
11:33career.
11:35It was a very different relationship from any other relationship you had had before,
11:39right?
11:40Well, it was.
11:41Yes.
11:43It was exciting?
11:44It was much different.
11:47And it was passionate?
11:49There was passion.
11:50Yes.
11:51And it opened up your world tremendously, right?
11:55There's not really a yes or no answer to that one for me.
11:59Did it open up your world?
12:01In a different way.
12:02Yeah.
12:03I'll say that.
12:04Is it fair to say that he trusted you with his secrets?
12:07I think that's fair to say.
12:08And that meant that you had a special place in his heart?
12:12Yeah.
12:13And that you wanted to keep that trust?
12:16Yep.
12:17And earn that trust?
12:18I don't know that I wanted to earn it.
12:21You did earn it.
12:22I did earn it.
12:23Yeah.
12:24So, to make him happy, you told him that you wanted to do freak-offs, right?
12:30No.
12:32There's a lot more to that.
12:34Well, I'm sure we will get there.
12:36So, let me ask you this.
12:41Because the defense is highlighting this power dynamic between Combs and Ventura.
12:45They're painting the relationship as consensual and opportunistic, right?
12:51Toure, how do you think this testimony will influence the jurors in viewing her motives as financial?
12:59There's definitely people who are like, I think she stayed to get the bag, which is crazy.
13:04She stayed in this systematic rape situation where she's getting beaten up all the time to get money maybe later on.
13:11That doesn't make any sense.
13:13There is a gigantic power dynamic in this situation, right?
13:16He is her boss and her boyfriend and far older than her and one of the most powerful people in his entire industry that she's also in.
13:24She is in a paper prison in a 10-album deal with this person.
13:30Well, Mark, let me ask you this.
13:31Because Cassie is a very sympathetic witness.
13:35She's eight and a half months pregnant.
13:37She's testifying to really graphic, sexually explicit encounters.
13:42The defense attorney was a woman, cross-examining her.
13:47How do you think this type of questioning could possibly alienate jurors?
13:54Okay, there's a reason, I believe, that the defense chose a woman to cross-examine her.
13:59Softer gloves, but firm with her.
14:02Eight and a half months pregnant.
14:03I would have asked also that she not be paraded to the witness stand like everybody else, have her seated down.
14:09So the sympathy is oozing, even though the judge will say sympathy plays no role here.
14:14But jurors will be critical of her.
14:16There were numerous opportunities to walk out.
14:19They will argue, the defense will argue.
14:21We understand, as humans, we understand why people stay.
14:25I don't know that these jurors do.
14:26They need to understand why, even though she was being abused daily, she still chose to stay.
14:34That's going to be a problem when you're arguing this was without her consent.
14:37Next, the prosecution drilled down into the details of the freak-offs, painting a scene of alleged drug use and partying that would last for days.
14:46And as a warning, the following testimony contains content that some may find disturbing.
14:53How frequently did you have freak-offs with Sean after they started?
15:00After they started, they became almost weekly, I would say.
15:05Who arranged for the first escort to be present at the first freak-off?
15:09Sean did.
15:10What, if any, drugs did you take at the first freak-off?
15:14We took ecstasy and drank alcohol.
15:17At what point in the freak-off did you first take the ecstasy?
15:23Before anything started.
15:25Who provided the ecstasy to you?
15:27Sean.
15:29Every freak-off was, like, directed by Sean.
15:33Like, he knew specifically where he wanted everyone to be, the lighting and such.
15:38So, over that first session, we just kind of, like, ended up getting closer and closer and talking to each other.
15:47And then eventually had to put oil on each other.
15:52Yeah.
15:54After this first freak-off, how did you feel?
15:57Well, I was high, so there wasn't too much feeling.
16:03I think it was a mixture of dirty and confusion with, like,
16:09okay, he's really happy with me and I did something right.
16:12So, just really confusing.
16:17After a freak-off, can you describe the condition of the room where the freak-off was held?
16:21The room was usually pretty bad off.
16:24There was oil all over the walls.
16:26The door handles, the bed, the sheets.
16:30We often would get to the room and I would need to call and ask for extra linens and towels and stuff like that to try to mitigate those problems.
16:39But, oil, candle wax, all over the place.
16:44How would urine get on the linens at freak-offs?
16:49Sometimes Sean would have, he himself, he would have the escort urinate on me.
16:54Sometimes there was so much going on, I don't know how they got soiled the way they did, to be completely honest.
17:02Miss Ventura, did you want Sean or an escort to urinate on you?
17:08No.
17:10Were there any parts of freak-offs that you enjoyed?
17:13The time I spent with him.
17:17And what about the time spent with him did you enjoy?
17:24Just, um, at that time, just...
17:28Just the one-on-one time I would get.
17:44Because there were always so many people around, and I did feel very close to him.
17:51So as sad as it was, I thought that, like, it was the only time I could get.
17:58Now, we just heard some very emotional, disturbing testimony from Cassie.
18:08Uh, she said that she did it because she wanted to spend time alone with him, right?
18:14Um, if you were a juror here, Ture, would you at this point believe that there was a lack of consent?
18:20You know, it's a difficult story because you have to understand that she loves him even though he is mistreating her.
18:28And some of us listen to her story and say, I would leave.
18:31And I think you have to put your own feeling aside and say, could she leave?
18:36Did she feel like she could leave?
18:39We know she didn't feel like she could leave.
18:41We know that she was given drugs to mollify all this within her.
18:45However, the notion that she could have just left is not really her real situation.
18:51And I hope that the jurors understand that.
18:53As a defense attorney, Mark, do you think the defense is arguing effectively that she did consent to it?
19:00She took the drugs.
19:02She took the drugs even when she wasn't with Sean Combs.
19:06Absolutely.
19:07They're doing their job.
19:08Look, her testimony was compelling.
19:10And while the judge says sympathy plays no role, you're seeing an eight-and-a-half-month pregnant woman, your heart goes out to her because he was abusive.
19:18But the defense will argue for sure in closing, he had guns.
19:23He'd never put any to her head to make her take any of those drugs.
19:26He didn't make her participate.
19:27And she never voiced her objections when the baby oil came on and when she was forced to do some of these abhorrent acts.
19:34I think the prosecution has proven he is an abhorrent, horrible, violent human being.
19:40But I don't know we're at that level yet where they're proving the criminal cases against him.
19:46To bolster Ventura's testimony, the prosecution would call several male escorts, hoping to paint a picture of sordid encounters that were all orchestrated by Mr. Combs.
19:57Please raise your right hand.
19:58Among them, Daniel Phillip, who testified about his first meeting with Ventura and Combs at the Gramercy Park Hotel.
20:07She basically said it was her birthday and that her husband wanted to do something special for her.
20:14And she asked me if I wouldn't mind rubbing baby oil on her and giving her a massage.
20:20And, you know, wherever things went from there, if it went.
20:27If, you know, based on how comfortable I was.
20:31And then what happened?
20:33Then it ended up having sex with her.
20:35What was Mr. Combs doing while you and Miss Ventura rubbed baby oil on each other?
20:40He was sitting in the corner, masturbating, watching us.
20:43What are some of the directions you remember Mr. Combs giving to you and Miss Ventura?
20:48He would tell us things like, slow down, you know.
20:51Y'all stop now.
20:53Separate from each other.
20:55It's getting too much.
20:56It's getting too hot.
20:57You know, one time he had us try to role play like we had just met at the airport.
21:01Yeah.
21:02We were not very good at that at all.
21:05And on that time period when you were with Miss Ventura at the Gramercy Park Hotel, she wasn't drunk, correct?
21:11Correct.
21:12She did not appear to be under the influence of any narcotics, correct?
21:15Correct.
21:16And you did not see her consume any alcohol, correct?
21:19Correct.
21:20You did not see her take any drugs that day, correct?
21:22Correct.
21:23So from your perspective, for those two hours that you were having sexual intercourse with Miss Ventura,
21:29it's fair to say she was in complete control of everything she was doing, correct?
21:34I cannot say that.
21:35So we just heard testimony from Daniel Phillip, the first escort that participated in these freak-offs.
21:45Ture, what did you think of his testimony?
21:46You know, it seems like we see Diddy directing these, like micromanaging these things, telling
21:55them what to do with the lighting, which clearly makes it seem like this is his party that he
21:59is directing.
22:01Is Cassie screaming no like a traditional rape victim?
22:05No, she's not.
22:06But I think it's clear the coercion is larger than a gun or a handcuff.
22:12It's financial.
22:13It's love.
22:14It's all these different violent things that happen outside of the room.
22:18Yeah.
22:19Well, Mark, let me ask you this, though.
22:21In terms of his testimony, Daniel seems to imply that she was a willing participant.
22:27Absolutely.
22:28The defense is going to argue this is the closest thing to an expert witness that you can get.
22:32He would never have had sex with her if he thought she was being forced to do it.
22:37He was there.
22:38He looked in her eyes.
22:39And he'll say that she didn't look impaired at all.
22:42So there were times, apparently, where she wasn't even on drugs.
22:45So she knowingly, intelligently, freely, voluntarily had sex with him.
22:51Well, that undermines the government's entire theory.
22:58Sean Combs was renowned for his white parties, lavish, exclusive soirees filled with celebrity
23:04guests clad in all white.
23:06But it was other gatherings away from the spotlight where authorities say crimes were being committed.
23:15Next, the defense had Ms. Ventura read texts she had with Mr. Combs about the freak-offs.
23:21One of my favorite times is when we FO'd and then we made love after that.
23:26You're talking about a freak-off that you had.
23:28We are talking about a freak-off.
23:30I'm talking about us making love after.
23:32And often during a session of a freak-off, you would make love with Mr. Combs, right?
23:37Afterwards, yeah.
23:38And in this message, you're telling him that you love it when you make love with him during
23:42that freak-off, right?
23:43With him, yeah.
23:44And he's also talking about one of his favorite times when you had a freak-off, right?
23:48Yes, I think.
23:50And he also loved it when you made love after, right?
23:52Objection.
23:54Sustained.
23:55In this text message, Mr. Combs says to you,
23:58I want to freak-off right now, LOL.
24:00And how do you respond?
24:03LOL, me too.
24:04Well, I want to have fun with you.
24:06That's you telling Mr. Combs that you also want to freak-off right now, correct?
24:10That is me agreeing to it in the first message,
24:13and the second one is me establishing that I want to have fun with him.
24:16The prosecution pushes back with the idea that the defendant used drugs as a controlling
24:22mechanism for Ms. Ventura.
24:24How did you stay awake that whole time?
24:27The drugs honestly helped.
24:30What kind of drugs kept you awake?
24:32Well, ecstasy and molly, for sure.
24:35We started to do other drugs like cocaine later on.
24:39Who gave you the ecstasy?
24:41Sean.
24:41Who gave you the molly?
24:43Sean.
24:44Who gave you the cocaine?
24:46Sean.
24:46Between when the freak-offs started and when they ended in approximately 2017 or 2018,
24:52do you recall every freak-off you participated in?
24:56No.
24:57That would be impossible.
24:58What are some of the reasons that would be impossible?
25:02The frequency, the drug use.
25:05Just, it was crazy times.
25:07You were both addicts, right?
25:11During that time, yes.
25:13And part of the appeal of freak-offs was going to do drugs, right?
25:17Part of it at a time.
25:19There were different reasons for me.
25:21It was a little bit of a drug party culture that you were both in, right?
25:25Yep.
25:25And that was kind of what drew you to each other, too, right?
25:29I think the drugs became a thing over time in our relationship.
25:33It was, like, always a part of our relationship, but it became a main event for us.
25:38And one reason why the freak-offs lasted for so long, for so many days,
25:42was because of all the drugs you were ingesting in the recovery time, right?
25:46Yep.
25:47And it wasn't only sex that you were doing in the hotel, right?
25:49Having in the hotel?
25:51Right.
25:52Yeah.
25:52You were also listening to music, hanging out.
25:56True.
25:57In fact, I believe part of the reason you wanted to participate in the freak-offs
26:01was to have your time with him, right?
26:03Yeah.
26:04And it was a special time that you cherished, right?
26:07Yeah.
26:09You wanted to be close with him?
26:11Yes.
26:12And connect with him?
26:14Yes.
26:15Do you remember when defense counsel asked you yesterday
26:17if freak-offs were a special time that you cherished?
26:21Yeah.
26:21And did Sean beat you during freak-offs?
26:25Yes.
26:31Once or more than once?
26:34More than once.
26:36How did you feel during the freak-offs when Sean beat you?
26:41Worthless.
26:42It was just, like, dirt.
26:45Like, I didn't matter to him.
26:47But that was nothing.
26:49Like, absolutely nothing.
26:53And at the beginning of your relationship, were you open to freak-offs?
26:58I was open in the very beginning to trying it.
27:02So we just heard all this testimony about the journey of the freak-offs,
27:07how Cassie wanted to try it at first.
27:10They were drug-fueled.
27:11She participated in the drug partying culture,
27:14but then ultimately felt worthless for participating in them.
27:19And they became very violent.
27:21He started beating her.
27:22Tere, what did you make of that testimony?
27:26This is a man who hit her for not smiling properly.
27:31So she's trying in every moment to do whatever she can to make him happy and to not get hit again.
27:37But also we see that there is still love for him.
27:40If she says, I'm okay to doing the freak-offs because I'm going to get to spend time with you after,
27:47that's what she's saying is really important to her, not these crazy events.
27:51Well, Mark, she does say she wanted to be closer to him.
27:58She loved the time that they spent together after the freak-offs.
28:03What do you do with that?
28:04Well, to me, it's a defense dream.
28:07You now have in black and white, in real time, not later, I want more freak-offs.
28:13Whatever her motives are, I want to be with you.
28:16If she really does not consent to the freak-offs, which is the theory behind the sex trafficking,
28:24then why are you putting that in writing?
28:25That's the juror's thought process.
28:28They're going, why are you encouraging him to have another freak-off?
28:32That's a problem.
28:33The defense argued that the government is putting Combs' private sexual life on trial
28:39and that domestic violence is not sex trafficking.
28:43But the federal government has accused Mr. Combs with criminally engaging
28:47in a persistent and pervasive pattern of abuse towards women.
28:51Please raise your right hand.
28:52To bolster their case, they would call several witnesses
28:55to try to corroborate a long history of violence against Ventura.
28:59Carrie Morgan is Ventura's former best friend.
29:02Over the course of your friendship, did you ever see Mr. Combs physically assault Cassie?
29:08Yes.
29:09How many times?
29:11Twice.
29:12And what types of things did you see him do to her?
29:16Um, hit her, pull her hair.
29:19I've seen him kick her, push her.
29:22Did Mr. Combs appear to be intoxicated or high on all of those occasions?
29:27No.
29:29Please raise your right hand.
29:31Dawn Rashard, the former Danity Cain singer,
29:34alleged to have witnessed a disturbing incident in Combs' kitchen in 2009.
29:41Ms. Rashard, what, if anything, was Cassie doing in the kitchen?
29:46She was cooking breakfast.
29:48She was cooking eggs.
29:49What did you observe Mr. Combs do?
29:51He came downstairs angry and was saying, where the fuck was his eggs?
29:56Excuse my language.
29:58And he was telling Cassie that she never gets anything right, where the fuck is his food.
30:03And he proceeded to come over to her and took the skillet with the eggs in it and try to hit her over the head with it.
30:11And she fell to the ground.
30:12When you met with the government, didn't you tell them that Mr. Combs actually hit Ms. Ventura with a frying pan?
30:20I said he attempted to hit her with a frying pan.
30:23I didn't ask you that.
30:25Did you actually tell the government, not that he attempted to hit her, that he did hit her?
30:30Yes.
30:31You told the government that?
30:33That he hit her, yes.
30:35And you agree with me that there's a major difference between attempting to hit someone with a frying pan and actually hitting them.
30:41You agree with that?
30:43Yes.
30:43And you understand that when you were sitting down with the federal prosecutors that it was very important for you to tell the truth?
30:50Yes.
30:51And you understood that it was important for you to be as accurate as possible?
30:55To the best of my ability, yes.
30:57And you would agree with me that there is a difference between hitting someone with a frying pan and throwing a frying pan, correct?
31:05Correct.
31:05But you gave two different stories, didn't you?
31:09I did the best that I could to recall.
31:13The government's position is that Combs is a violent, violent person.
31:19And they're using these witnesses to bolster that type of testimony.
31:24What do you think?
31:25Okay.
31:25Well, first, for the government side, they did a good job with this witness corroborating Cassidy's testimony that he's violent.
31:32But they knew that when they saw the video and the presumption of innocence disappeared from day one.
31:36Right?
31:37They know he's violent.
31:37They've proven that beyond all doubt.
31:39But where this witness helps is for the defense, I think, more than the government.
31:43Because she's saying that I saw him at one point hit her with a frying pan.
31:49And then the testimony was, no, well, attempted to hit him with a frying pan.
31:53And what this does is not only undermines her credibility, but it raises serious questions about the reliability of testimonial evidence as a big picture.
32:03So you can't rely upon Cassidy.
32:05You can't rely upon anyone.
32:06You've got to look and see it for yourself.
32:08And if you can't, then there's reasonable doubt.
32:10It's an interesting point.
32:12But there's so many people who testify that he hit her, that he beat her up.
32:16No question.
32:17Including Cassidy on many occasions who says, I can't even remember how many.
32:21So I don't understand why the government would put Don Rashard on the stand to have the defense come and say, you're not telling the truth, right?
32:27So that did not make sense to me.
32:29But the notion of him as a violent person clearly has already been made.
32:32And when we're talking about force and coercion, the government has already made that case.
32:37Does it matter that there was so much emotional and physical abuse?
32:42I think it does.
32:43I think at a minimum, you're making him look bad.
32:45And while character evidence shouldn't be there as a highlight, oh, that's the best thing the government has.
32:51The more they hate him, the more they're willing to look at, give him the benefit of the doubt, maybe lower that burden of proof just a bit for the government.
32:57One of the most crucial pieces of evidence in the prosecution's case is the infamous surveillance video of Ventura's assault.
33:06And through Ventura's next section of testimony, we saw for the first time how she says it all began.
33:13Ventura takes us back to 2016.
33:17It was just days before Ventura was to attend a high profile premiere for her movie when Combs texted her about meeting up for a freak off.
33:27Miss Gavin, can you blow up the green message at the top, please?
33:33How do you respond, Miss Ventura?
33:35I say, baby, I want to FO so bad, but I don't want to fuck myself up.
33:41What am I to do?
33:42What did you mean by that?
33:45I, there's a lot in that little line.
33:47But I definitely didn't want to mess myself, my body up before my premiere by partying.
33:53But I was telling him that I wanted to have an FO with him.
33:57And why did you tell him you wanted to have an FO even if you didn't want to mess up your body by partying?
34:03Honestly, it was like a bit of damage control ahead.
34:07And I personally felt like if I sort of initiate or go along with creating this night, that my premiere wouldn't be ruined.
34:18I don't know.
34:20You said you were doing damage control, right?
34:22Correct.
34:23Because you didn't want him to ruin your premiere, right?
34:26Right.
34:27And after he was asking you multiple times what you wanted to do, it was up to you, right?
34:31Yeah.
34:32Then you say, I don't want you thinking, I don't want to, right?
34:36Yep.
34:36As in you don't want him to think that you don't want to have a freak off.
34:40Correct.
34:40Because he's asking me over and over again.
34:43After you have asked him over and over again.
34:45Yeah, I guess.
34:47It's just like, you know, when you're with somebody and you know how they speak and you know what they mean when they text certain things.
34:53It's like that.
34:54Can we go to the next page, please?
34:56And then what do you say?
34:59So let's do it.
35:00Can you set it up, though, so I can just run home and grab stuff?
35:04So, Mark, after hearing Cassie talk about initiating freak offs repeatedly, how helpful for the defense was that?
35:13Colossal.
35:15Enormous.
35:16Undermines, the jurors will think, I believe, her entire testimony.
35:20Listen, we all have been in relationships.
35:24And there are times where we get held responsible for not understanding what's in the mind of our significant others.
35:30No offense, honey.
35:31Okay.
35:32How should we know?
35:33In other words, in his mind, if she's going along and pleasing him, I just want to make you happy.
35:38I want another freak off.
35:39I want to be with you.
35:40How should he know that she doesn't want to be there, that it's coercive and not consensual?
35:46Well, Ture, let me ask you this, because as lawyers, we often say that cases are won or lost during jury selection.
35:53Yeah.
35:54Heavily male-oriented jury.
35:56Do you think that there is enough there that maybe one guy is saying, how would, as Mark is implying, how would Sean Combs know that she didn't want to participate in it?
36:06Well, it's a complicated question you asked, right?
36:0812-6 on the total jury, eight men, four women on the main panel without the alternates.
36:14So, it is dominated by men.
36:15Yeah.
36:15These men are going to have to understand what a domestic violence situation actually is.
36:20This is going to be hard for them.
36:22She is a captive.
36:23She is saying to her captor what he wants to hear so she does not get hit or beat or excluded from this world.
36:29That's what the government is trying to show.
36:31That's what the government wants you to think.
36:31Do you think the average man believes that?
36:34I don't know.
36:35But I want to push back again on one thing you said, right?
36:38You said it only takes one.
36:40It takes a little bit more than that, right?
36:41Because if you have 11 people saying, we want to vote this way and one person saying that.
36:47Then you get a hung jury.
36:48That's right.
36:48That would be a victory.
36:49No, no, no.
36:49That would be, in this case, that would be a victory.
36:51No, no.
36:52If you end that way, but socially, it is extraordinarily difficult for one person to hold up against 11.
36:58I bet you'd see more often that one person will give in because everybody else said, and they're all saying, we could go home.
37:05And you are holding us up.
37:06So if you have two or three people who are saying, we are not going along with you guys then.
37:11But the whole notion of just one, it takes more than that.
37:14On the next episode of Diddy on Trial as it Happened, prosecutors dig deep into the infamous hotel assault video from the Intercontinental, and Kid Cuddy testifies about the moment when he learned his car had been set on fire.
37:31I wanted to confront him.
37:33I wanted to fight him, you know?
38:04Let's start the search warrant.
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