The second week of the federal intercourse trafficking and racketeering conspiracy trial towards Sean “Diddy” Combs resumed Monday with harrowing testimony from three key witnesses, every portray an more and more disturbing portrait of a person they declare used his immense wealth and affect to regulate, abuse, and silence individuals in his life.
Testifying in a Manhattan federal courtroom, former Danity Kane member Daybreak Richard, Cassie Ventura’s former greatest pal Kerry Morgan, and ex-personal assistant David James took the stand, deepening the prosecution’s case that Sean Combs orchestrated a decades-long sample of abuse beneath the guise of luxurious, energy, and movie star.
Daybreak Richard Concludes Testimony
Daybreak Richard returned to the witness stand Monday morning to finish her direct and cross-examinations. Richard, who was a part of the lady group Danity Kane fashioned by Combs, beforehand testified that she witnessed Sean Combs bodily assault Ventura on a number of events. Her testimony included an incident the place Combs allegedly attacked Ventura with a frying pan in 2009, adopted by a warning to Richard and one other girl: “Folks go lacking.”
Underneath cross-examination, protection lawyer Nicole Westmoreland challenged Richard’s credibility, questioning discrepancies in her retelling of the skillet incident and stating that Richard had beforehand requested to work with Combs once more as not too long ago as 2020. Richard acknowledged that trauma had brought about her to suppress recollections, however reaffirmed the abuse she witnessed.
“I attempted to erase these issues,” she mentioned. “However with time and assist, they began coming again.”
Kerry Morgan Takes the Stand
Subsequent, prosecutors known as Kerry Morgan, a former shut pal of Cassie Ventura, whose testimony took the courtroom deeper into Sean Combs’ alleged sample of coercion and violence. Morgan, subpoenaed to testify, recounted two events the place she immediately witnessed Combs bodily assault Ventura—as soon as in Los Angeles and once more in Jamaica.
In one of the crucial chilling revelations of the day, Morgan described listening to “guttural, terrifying” screams earlier than seeing Combs drag Ventura by her hair and slam her head onto a brick floor in Jamaica. “I assumed she was knocked out,” she recalled.
Morgan’s personal account of abuse got here from a 2018 incident in Ventura’s condo. Based on her testimony, Combs entered unannounced, choked her from behind, and hurled a picket hanger at her head, leaving her with a concussion. Morgan mentioned the assault was triggered by Combs’ suspicions that Ventura was dishonest. “He needed to know who it was. She had locked herself within the lavatory,” Morgan testified.
Morgan mentioned she thought of submitting a lawsuit however as a substitute accepted $30,000 and signed a nondisclosure settlement (NDA)—a choice, she instructed the courtroom, brokered by Ventura herself. “She supplied me the cash. She mentioned it was from him. She was simply the go-between,” Morgan mentioned.
Underneath cross-examination, protection lawyer Marc Agnifilo tried to discredit Morgan’s motives and spotlight tensions between her and Ventura. Morgan confirmed she stopped chatting with Ventura after the incident, saying, “I draw the road at bodily abuse. She didn’t assist me after what occurred.”
David James Particulars Management and Tradition of Concern
The ultimate witness of the day, David James, served as Sean Combs’ private assistant from 2007 to 2009. He described an setting of whole management and unquestioned loyalty.
“That is Mr. Combs’s kingdom. We’re all right here to serve in it,” James recalled being instructed throughout his job interview at Unhealthy Boy Information.
James testified that his duties included every part from reserving journey to making ready resort rooms to suit Combs’ calls for. He mentioned Ventura as soon as instructed him throughout a Miami journey, “I can’t get out… Mr. Combs oversees a lot of my life.”
James described being warned by safety personnel to “keep in my lane,” and recalled working for weeks and not using a single time without work. “I knew to not mess with them,” he mentioned of Combs’ safety group, a few of whom allegedly carried weapons.
Protection Technique Focuses on Jealousy, Not Coercion
All through the day, Sean Combs’ protection group tried to undermine the prosecution’s narrative by suggesting the violence stemmed from jealousy and never a coordinated prison enterprise. Protection attorneys pointed to tensions between Ventura and Kim Porter, Combs’ former associate, and Combs’ reported jealousy of actor Michael B. Jordan.
Agnifilo additionally cited a textual content Morgan despatched to Combs, allegedly containing affirmations from a vanity creator. “Did you consider Mr. Combs didn’t love himself?” he requested. “Generally it appeared like he didn’t,” Morgan responded.
Prosecutors swiftly redirected, asking Morgan if jealousy had any function within the two assaults she described witnessing. “None,” she replied.
Wanting Forward
Courtroom adjourned simply after 3 p.m., with Choose Arun Subramanian sustaining his timeline of early adjournments and midday lunch breaks. The prosecution introduced that Tuesday’s witnesses embody Cassie Ventura’s mom and an unique dancer often called “The Punisher.”
Combs, who’s being held with out bail, faces a number of federal prices, together with intercourse trafficking by drive, racketeering conspiracy, and transportation to have interaction in prostitution. If convicted, he might face life in jail.
Because the second week of testimony unfolds, a clearer image is rising of a world cloaked in fame and wealth, powered by concern, management, and silence.
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Day 6 Recap: Explosive Testimony Continues in Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Federal Trial
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