Share this @internewscast.com
Prosecutors in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ federal trial presented their last pieces of evidence on Tuesday, as they expect to rest their case.
The jury could receive the case by Friday, as the defense intends to present evidence without calling any witnesses to the stand. During cross-examination, Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Joseph Cerciello was shown messages suggesting Combs and “Jane” discussed concealing their sexual relationship from Combs’ staff, according to ABC News.
“You find place. I can’t have KK know,” Combs wrote in an April 2023 message, referring to his chief-of-staff Kristina Khorram.
Three women have testified, accusing Combs of either physical or sexual abuse. Among them was Cassie Ventura, Combs’ partner from 2007 to 2018, who stated that Combs suppressed her music career while coercing her into “freak offs,” where she was made to have sex with others while Combs watched. She described these drug-fueled encounters as extending for several days, leaving her exhausted and dehydrated.
Another accuser, known as “Mia,” who served as Combs’ assistant for eight years, alleged that Combs compelled her to perform oral sex and unlawfully entered her bed to engage in non-consensual intercourse. She further claimed that Combs hurled objects at her and physically assaulted her by throwing her against a wall.
A third woman, who used the pseudonym “Jane,” dated Combs from 2021 to 2024. She testified about “hotel nights,” which allegedly were sexual rendezvous arranged by Combs. Combs reportedly watched these encounters, which Jane said she had to be under the influence of drugs to participate.
Combs was arrested on September 16, 2024, outside a Manhattan hotel on federal charges of racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. Combs has been denied bail three times, as Judge Andrew L. Carter determined there was a “serious risk” of witness tampering in this case.
Federal authorities raided Combs’ homes in Holmby Hills, California, and Miami in March 2024. Reports indicated that the raids were connected to an ongoing sex trafficking investigation that resulted in his arrest months later.
The raids also occurred four months after Ventura accused him of sex trafficking and abuse. In a multimillion-dollar lawsuit, she alleged that Combs drugged her and forced her to have sex with other men. The pair settled the lawsuit a day after its filing.
However, in May 2024, CNN publicized hotel surveillance footage allegedly showing Combs assaulting Ventura. Two days later, Combs released a video expressing remorse for his behavior.
“I went and I sought out professional help. I got into going to therapy, going to rehab. I had to ask God for his mercy and grace. I’m so sorry. But I’m committed to be a better man each and every day. I’m not asking for forgiveness. I’m truly sorry,” he said.
Two more accusers came forward a week after Ventura’s lawsuit. One of the women claimed Combs drugged and raped her at Syracuse University in New York in 1991. Combs denied those allegations before a third accuser, Liza Gardner, levied similar allegations against him.
Days after footage of the Ventura assault was publicized, two more women filed lawsuits against Combs. One of those women was April Lampros, a New York Fashion Institute of Technology student who reportedly met Combs in 1994. Lampros accused Combs of sexually assaulting her on four occasions between the mid-1990s and the early 2000s.
Combs has been accused of committing or facilitating sexual abuse in at least 30 other lawsuits — including one, filed in October, which alleges he and Jay-Z raped a 13-year-old girl in New York in 2000. The accuser in that case had her lawsuit dismissed in February.
Combs turned down a plea deal days before jury selection began.
[Feature Photo: Mark Von Holden/Invision/AP, File]