Numerous witnesses have taken to the stand within the trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs, who’s going through allegations of racketeering and intercourse trafficking throughout his time as head of an leisure empire.
Testimony within the trial started on Monday after the ultimate section of jury choice and opening assertion from attorneys. Combs, donning a light-grey sweater, gave a thumbs-up to supporters within the courtroom in New York Metropolis in the US.
“For 20 years, the defendant, with the assistance of his trusted inside circle, dedicated crime after crime,” Assistant US Legal professional Emily Johnson informed the court docket. “That’s why we’re right here in the present day. That’s what this case is about.”
Numerous witnesses testified that they’d skilled bodily violence, intimidation, and manipulation by Combs, whereas the rapper’s attorneys mentioned that he has been charged with the flawed classes of crimes and “his kinky intercourse and his preferences for intercourse” had been being portrayed as nefarious.
Legal professional Teny Geragos informed jurors that they could find yourself pondering Combs was a “jerk” or “form of imply”, however that he’s not being charged “with being imply or a jerk”.
“This case is about voluntary decisions made by succesful adults in consensual relationships,” Geragos mentioned throughout her opening assertion.
Johnson, the US lawyer, mentioned that Combs “viciously attacked” ladies who refused to take part within the events that had been known as “freak offs”.
“They may let you know about a number of the most painful experiences of their lives. The times they spent in resort rooms, excessive on medicine, wearing costumes to carry out the defendant’s sexual fantasies,” Johnson informed jurors of testimony from victims within the case.
‘She was shaking’
The courtroom turned audibly silent as a video of Combs beating and kicking his former girlfriend Casandra Ventura in 2016 was proven.
A stripper named Daniel Phillip testified that Combs had thrown a liquor bottle in the direction of Ventura earlier than grabbing her by the hair and dragging her screaming into one other room, the place Phillip says he heard Combs yelling and beating Ventura.
“She actually jumped into my lap and she or he was shaking, like actually her entire complete physique was shaking. She was terrified,” Phillip testified of Ventura.
Geragos conceded that Combs is vulnerable to jealousy and had dedicated an act of “horrible, dehumanising violence” within the video proven to jurors, however that it was proof of home abuse, not alleged acts of intercourse trafficking or racketeering which can be on the centre of the case.
Prosecutors say that Combs, who faces a compulsory minimal sentence of 15 years in jail if convicted of all 5 felony counts to which he had pleaded not responsible, pushed ladies to interact in drug-fuelled events after which blackmailed them with movies of their encounters.
Combs’s standing as a high-profile entertainer has introduced substantial consideration to the trial, in addition to bigger debate about how highly effective figures in sectors corresponding to leisure, enterprise, sports activities, and politics usually evade accountability for acts of abuse.
Because the case started, the jury and alternates – 12 males and 6 ladies – had been seated within the courtroom. Opening arguments began after the decide completed explaining the regulation because it pertains to this trial, together with incidentals corresponding to {that a} gentle breakfast shall be supplied to the jury along with lunch.
The jury for this case is basically nameless, that means their identities are identified to the court docket and the prosecution and defence, however is not going to be made public.
“We are going to preserve your names and identities in confidence,” Subramanian informed jurors.
It’s a standard apply in federal circumstances to maintain juries nameless, notably in delicate, high-profile issues the place juror security is usually a concern. Juror names additionally had been stored from the general public in US President Donald Trump’s legal trial final yr in state court docket in New York.
Subramanian urged jurors to guage the case solely primarily based on the proof introduced in court docket. It’s a normal instruction, but it surely carried added significance on this high-profile case, which has been the topic of intense media protection.
“Something you’ve seen or heard outdoors the courtroom will not be proof,” the decide mentioned. “It have to be disregarded.”
