9 hours ago
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Singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, a former girlfriend of Sean “Diddy” Combs and a key witness in the federal sex-trafficking and racketeering trial of the music mogul, is returning to the stand on Friday for further examination by Combs’s legal team.
Ventura, who is eight and a half months pregnant, has been on the stand since Tuesday afternoon, and has detailed years of sexual and physical abuse she alleges she endured during their decade-long relationship.
On Thursday,she faced six hours of cross-examination, during which defense attorneys sought to undermine her credibility and depict her as a willing – and at times enthusiastic – participant in the drug-fueled sex sessions with male escorts known as “freak-offs” that she had said Combs coerced her into.
The defense presented dozens of texts and emails between Combs and Ventura during their relationship, some of them explicit.
One message showed Ventura telling Combs “I’m always ready to freak off” and in another message she said: “I love our (Freak Offs) when we both want it”.
Ventura told the court they were “just words at that point”.
During one exchange in court on Thursday, Combs’s lawyer asked: “To make him happy, you told him that you wanted to do ‘freak-offs’, right?”
Ventura answered: “No, there’s a lot more to that.”
The defense also spent time talking about the former couple’s drug use.
Ventura testified that both she and Combs had, at points in their relationship, been addicted to opiates, and frequently used drugs including ecstasy, cocaine, ketamine, and GHB, and that they both would experience side effects.
At one point, defense lawyers seemed to be trying to establish that about the time of the 2016 video of Combs attacking Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel hallway, Combs had been experiencing withdrawals from opiates.
The defense also used cross-examination to ask about jealousy in their relationship, presenting messages in which Ventura expressed frustration with their relationship and voiced concern that she was the “side piece”.
Ventura testified about Combs’s infidelity, and said she had felt jealous of Combs’s longtime partner Kim Porter.
She also described Combs’s anger over her brief relationship with rapper Kid Cudi in 2011 – which she said occurred during a break in her and Combs’s relationship – and said Combs was often suspicious of her having affairs.
In court on Thursday, Combs, wearing a beige sweater, frequently stared at Ventura while she answered questions, whispered to his lawyers, passed notes to them, and appeared fidgety.
His sons, mother, and publicist were present, as was Ventura’s husband.
Combs is facing charges including racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty and denies all allegations.
Combs, who has been held in jail since his arrest last year, could spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted.
Before court adjourned on Thursday, prosecutors said Dawn Richard, a former member of the girl group Danity Kane, would be one of their next witnesses, and could testify as soon as Friday.
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In the US, the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). In the UK, call the national domestic abuse helpline on 0808 2000 247, or visit Women’s Aid. In Australia, the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. Other international helplines may be found via www.befrienders.org.
