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The public knew Sean “Diddy” Combs as a bigger-than-life cultural icon and a business mogul, but behind the scenes he used violence to force women into drug-fueled sexual encounters and line up violence.
“This is Sean Combs,” U.S. Attorney Aide Emily Johnson told the Manhattan ju judge when she pointed to Combs, who leaned into his chair as she spoke. ”… During this trial, you will hear about 20 years of the defendant’s crime. But he didn’t do it alone. He had bodyguards and high-ranking employees who helped him commit crimes and cover them up. ”
According to her, these crimes include tricking, arson, drugs, sex offences, bribery and obstruction.
But Combs lawyer Tenny Jelagos described the trial as an over-defying prosecutor, saying that while her client could be violent, the state is trying to turn consent among adults into cases of prostitution and sex trafficking.
“Shawn Combs is a complicated man. But this is not a complicated case. The case is about love, jealousy, infidelity and money,” Jelagos told eight men and four women on the ju appellant. “There has been so much noise around this case over the past year, and it’s time to cancel that noise,” she added, drawing the intense public attention that the incident received.
Geragos admitted that while Combs’ violent explosion, which is often fueled by alcohol and drugs, could guarantee domestic violence charges, he has not faced sex trafficking or assault. She also told the ju umpire that Combs is a “jerk” and may not tolerate his “kinky sex”, but “he has not been accused of being mean, he has not been accused of being a jerk.”
Along with Israel Flores, the trial’s first witness, the prosecutor went right to prove the violence in March 2016 by showing footage of a comb kicked and dragging his longtime girlfriend, R&B singer Kathy, on the floor outside the elevator at a hotel in Los Angeles.
After CNN aired a video of the attack last year, Combs apologised, saying he was “fed up” by his actions.
Flores, who worked in hotel security in 2016 and is now a Los Angeles police officer, said he knew who Combs was while sitting by the hotel elevator when responding to a woman in distress.
He said he met combs on the elevator with just a white towel and leaned forward in his chair, “With a blank stare… just looking at me like a demonic stare.”
He says that she wants to leave as he is escorting Cathy and Combs into their room, so she says that Combs told her. Florez told Combs, “If she wants to leave, she’s going to leave.”
Kathy leaves and Flores says he called out while Combs was holding a $100 bill and stacked up money, saying, “Don’t tell anyone.” Flores thought of it as a bribe and told Combs, “I don’t want your money. Just go back to your room.”
Cassie, a Cassandra Ventura, was scheduled to testify on Monday or later on Tuesday.
Combs looked closely at Monday’s minutes. When he entered the courtroom he hugged his lawyer and gave thumbs to his family and friends. This incident has attracted a fierce public interest. The line to enter the courtroom extended under the block. Combs’ mother and some of his children were escorted to the building by the crowd.
Combs, 55, pleaded not guilty to a five-count indictment that could result in a life sentence of 15 years if convicted. Since his arrest in September, he has been held in federal prison in Brooklyn.
The three-time Grammy Award-winning lawyer says the prosecutors are trying to mis-do the crime from a party-loving lifestyle that is not generous but may not be illegal.
Prosecutors say that the comb was forced into sexual encounters in a drug-rich group called “freak-off,” “wild king night,” or “hotel night.”
In her opening, Johnson said Cathy is far from the only woman on Combs who was beat-beat-been and sexually exploited.
Prosecutors said last year that Combs cruelly beat another woman – identified only as Jane – she confronted him about enduring years of unusual off in a dark hotel room while taking other paramars on date nights and on trips around the world.
Sex parties are at the heart of Comb’s sexual abuse, prosecutors say. Johnson said Combs’ company paid for parties held in hotel rooms in the US and abroad, and his employees staged the rooms with his favorite lighting, extra linen and lubricant. Comb forced women, including Cathy, to take drugs, escort men and sexually engaged in, and sometimes recorded, Johnson said.
Johnson said Combs would defeat Cathy with the smallest and smallest minorities, including leaving the freak without permission or taking it in the bathroom for a long time. Prosecutors said Combs threatened to ruin Cathy’s singing career by releasing a video of her sexually involved with the male escort. “Her livelihood was dependent on keeping him happy,” Johnson said.
Combs sat faceless as Johnson said what she said was a pattern of violence, sexual abuse and horrifying mail.
Cathy sued Combs in 2023, and the lawsuit was resolved within hours, but touched on law enforcement investigations, with dozens of subsequent cases making similar claims.
Jelagos argued that Combs’ accuser was motivated by money. She told the ju judge that Cathy would ask for $30 million when he sued him, and that another witness would allow him to ask for $22 million for breach of contract lawsuit.
“I want you to ask yourself, this witness has millions of reasons… Should I lie?” she said.
Jelagos also admitted that Combs was very jealous and “has a bad temper,” and told the ju umpire that he was sometimes angry, drinking alcohol and assaulting him by saying “he had done the wrong drug.” But she said, “domestic violence is not sex trafficking.”
The Associated Press generally does not identify people who say they are victims of sexual abuse unless they move forward publicly, as Cathy did.
The trial is expected to last for two months.
A judge in the sex trafficking trial for Sean “Diddy” Combs announced that the parties have agreed to the final pool of New Yorkers, which will be used to find 12 ju apprentices and six alternatives. Combs pleaded not guilty to all allegations in this case. NBC New York’s Erica Byfield Report.
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