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 buddy 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 superstar.
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 shaped 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.”
Below 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 lately as 2020. Richard acknowledged that trauma had precipitated her to suppress recollections, however reaffirmed the abuse she witnessed.
“I attempted to erase these issues,” she stated. “However with time and assist, they began coming again.”
Kerry Morgan Takes the Stand
Subsequent, prosecutors known as Kerry Morgan, a former shut buddy 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 instantly witnessed Combs bodily assault Ventura—as soon as in Los Angeles and once more in Jamaica.
In one of the 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. In accordance with her testimony, Combs entered unannounced, choked her from behind, and hurled a wood hanger at her head, leaving her with a concussion. Morgan stated the assault was triggered by Combs’ suspicions that Ventura was dishonest. “He wished to know who it was. She had locked herself within the toilet,” Morgan testified.
Morgan stated she thought-about submitting a lawsuit however as a substitute accepted $30,000 and signed a nondisclosure settlement (NDA)—a call, she advised the courtroom, brokered by Ventura herself. “She provided me the cash. She stated it was from him. She was simply the go-between,” Morgan stated.
Below cross-examination, protection lawyer Marc Agnifilo tried to discredit Morgan’s motives and spotlight tensions between her and Ventura. Morgan confirmed she stopped talking to 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 Worry
The ultimate witness of the day, David James, served as Sean Combs’ private assistant from 2007 to 2009. He described an surroundings of complete management and unquestioned loyalty.
“That is Mr. Combs’s kingdom. We’re all right here to serve in it,” James recalled being advised throughout his job interview at Unhealthy Boy Information.
James testified that his duties included every part from reserving journey to getting ready lodge rooms to suit Combs’ calls for. He stated Ventura as soon as advised 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 stated 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 felony enterprise. Protection attorneys pointed to tensions between Ventura and Kim Porter, Combs’ former accomplice, and Combs’ reported jealousy of actor Michael B. Jordan.
Agnifilo additionally cited a textual content Morgan despatched to Combs, allegedly containing affirmations from a shallowness creator. “Did you imagine 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.
Trying Forward
Court docket 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 embrace Cassie Ventura’s mom and an unique dancer often known as “The Punisher.”
Combs, who’s being held with out bail, faces a number of federal fees, 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 worry, management, and silence.
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Sean Combs Trial Week 1 Recap: Cassie, Daybreak Richard Testify