Cassie concludes emotional testimony in Diddy Combs' federal sex trafficking trial

WASHINGTON (TNND) — R&B singer Casandra "Cassie" Ventura was back on the witness stand Friday in Sean "Diddy" Combs' federal sex trafficking trial after spending the last few days on the stand being questioned by both prosecutors and the defense.

Prosecutors wanted cross-examination by the defense to wrap up by the end of the day Friday, over concerns that Ventura, who's pregnant, is nearing the birth of her third child.

Ventrua has been testifying since Tuesday about Combs forcing her to have sex with male escorts and describing "freak offs" in detail.

In an overnight letter to the judge, prosecutors said they believed defense lawyers want Ventura to return to the stand on Monday and are worried about the risk of a mistrial if she goes into labor before then.

A lawyer for Combs, on the other hand, is claiming prosecutors purposely delayed calling Ventura to testify until Tuesday so the defense would have less time to cross-examine her.

The judge told defense lawyers they would have up to five hours to question Ventura Friday, while prosecutors said they expected no more than half an hour of questions for Ventura once the defense wraps up.

The judge cleared the way for jurors to be brought in on time for Ventura’s last day on the stand.

The defense finished cross-examination Friday afternoon.

A recording Combs made when he went to rehabilitation after the March 2016 attack on Ventura at a Los Angeles hotel was an item of dispute.

Prosecutor Emily Johnson said the video showed Combs "wandering through nature" as he spoke of "religion and God," describing it as an effort by Combs' lawyers to gain sympathy.

The judge watched the video and decided the argument was moot because the defense agreed not to show the video to the jury.

Defense attorney Anna Estevao resumed her cross-examination Friday with questions related to the March 2016 attack.

Estevao had Ventura read a text message where she complained that Combs was out of control due to drugs and alcohol that day. In the message, Ventura told Combs: "I’m not a rag doll. I’m somebody’s child."

Ventura said that she felt like "a sex worker," and she "couldn't do many of the things I wanted to" because she participated in Combs' "freak offs." This response was striked from the record after a defense motion. She testified that she felt like her relationship with Combs stunted her music career from growing.

Combs and Ventura originally met because he signed her to his record label, Bad Boy Records. Ventura testified this week that she signed a 10-album deal with the record label, but only one album was released.

Ventura was eventually let out of the contract by Combs when their relationship ended, with Ventura saying she "had to fight my way out of the contract."

Through text messages read aloud to the jury, Estevao then showed that Combs and Ventura were expressing love to one another again just days later as they tried to recover from the hotel attack. Ventura told Combs in one text: "We need a different vibe from Friday."

Ventura testified that she believed he was intoxicated during the hotel incident, with Estevao asking if Ventura thought he was "black out," according to CNN. Ventura responded by saying that she thinks everyone's perception of blacking out is different.

After the hotel incident, Combs messaged Ventura expressing interest in engaging sexually with her, which she testified she felt was strange after what happened.

Ventura testified that in the past month, she reached a $10 million settlement with the hotel, the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles, where the attack took place.

Ventura said Combs was wary of her dating or giving attention to other men, even during breaks in their relationship. Ventura said Combs took her phone, passport, and other possessions from her on numerous occasions, including when he found out she was dating an unnamed football player and when he suspected her of dancing with the singer Chris Brown. She denied dancing with Brown.

“When you’re not with somebody, it’s not cheating. I feel like it’s a technicality in a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. We weren’t married,” Ventura said.

Jurors were then played a recording of a distressed Ventura screaming at a friend who said he had seen a video of her performing sex acts.

In the recording, made by Ventura in 2013, the man claimed to have the video on his phone. Ventura is heard pleading to see the video and threatening to kill him if it becomes public.

"I’ve never killed anyone in my life, but I will kill you," Ventura told the man, punctuating her threats with profanity.

Ventura testified that Combs made efforts to keep the video private because he was also concerned about the explicit videos getting out, CNN reports.

On redirect, Ventura testified that she felt pressured by Combs to not let the man out of her sight, saying that Combs contacted her multiple times about it so she felt like she had to handle the situation.

She was also questioned about a stay at a women's center for treatment of sex addiction, sexual compulsion, and love addiction in 2023.

Estevao asked Ventura if she had been treated for any of these things during her weeks-long stay.

Ventura said she was not, but that she did undergo neurofeedback therapy. She said she underwent it five or six times, or about once a week during her stay, and that she believed it was to help her process trauma.

Ventura testified that she broke up with Combs for good in August 2018 after she saw a photo of him with another woman he’d been dating for the last few years of their relationship.

"I just don’t trust anymore. That last shot put the nail in the coffin," Ventura texted Combs, referring to the photo of Combs with a woman identified in court as Gina.

The final straw, as Ventura acknowledged, came in November 2018 when she learned that Combs considered a woman he had dated for several years during his time with Ventura to be his “soulmate.”

Soon after, Ventura said, she started dating her now husband, Alex Fine.

Estevao tried to discredit Ventura’s allegation that Combs raped her, noting that Ventura’s trial testimony differed from what she told investigators in 2023.

Ventura also testified that she does not "hate" Combs, despite the accusations. Estevao asked Ventura if she still had feelings for Combs after he allegedly raped her in August 2018.

"You didn’t hate him then. And you don’t still hate him now," Estevao said.

"I don’t hate him," Ventura responded.

"You still have love for him?" Estavo asked.

"I have love for the past, what it was," Ventura responded.

“I didn’t see him again after that,” she testified.

The jury was shown messages between Combs and Ventura from 2019 and 2020, with Combs reaching out to congratulate Ventura for being pregnant, according to CNN.

"Congratulations Cass I truly am happy for you, you're going to make a beautiful mother god bless," Combs messaged Ventura.

Ventura confirmed that she, her husband, and their children moved into her parents' house in 2023. Estevao asked if it was for financial reasons, and Ventura said it was because she was preparing to go on tour. Estevao mentioned the $20 million Ventura received from her civil lawsuit against Combs, saying, "When you saw you were going to get the $20 million, you canceled the tour," Ventura said that was not the reason she canceled the tour, according to CNN.

On redirect, Ventura said that the actual reason was that she felt overwhelmed and did not want to be away from her kid.

Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to a five-count indictment and faces a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted on all charges. He is facing charges of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, transportation for purposes of prostitution, and racketeering conspiracy.

Prosecutors are accusing Combs of exploiting his status as a powerful music executive to "violently force Ventura and other women into marathon encounters with sex workers," he called "freak-offs."

During cross-examination on Thursday, Combs' lawyers worked to portray Ventura as a "willing and eager participant" in Combs' lifestyle and had her read aloud her text messages to him.

Ventura has testified that Combs' threatened to release videos of her during the "freak-offs" to keep her involved and that he raped her when she broke things off with him back in 2018.

During the redirect, Johnson asked Ventura about the lawsuit that she settled with Combs in 2013. Johnson asked Ventura if she would give the $20 million from the settlement back if she never had to experience "freak offs," according to CNN.

Ventura burst into tears on the stand, saying, "I'd give that money back if I never had to have 'freak offs.'"

“If I never had to have ‘freak offs,’ I would have had agency and autonomy. And I wouldn't have had to work so hard to get it back."

Ventura has been a cooperative witness throughout her four days on the witness stand. She hasn’t challenged Combs’ lawyer or claimed often that she can’t remember what happened during a period of her life when she concedes she was addicted to drugs.

The National News Desk's Geoff Harris was outside the courtroom in Manhattan on Monday and Tuesday to cover the beginning of what is expected to be a two-month-long trial.

Combs was arrested in September 2024, about roughly six months after federal authorities raided his homes in Los Angeles and Miami. He has been jailed in Brooklyn since his arrest.

Ventura's former best friend, Kerry Morgan, will testify next week. Ventura previously testified that they had a falling out over Combs, and he struck Morgan with a wooden hanger. According to Ventura's lawsuit, both she and Combs paid Morgan a sum of money over the incident.

After Ventura's testimony concluded, her lawyer, Douglas Wigdor, read a statement on behalf of Ventura outside the courthouse.

“This week has been extremely challenging, but also remarkably empowering and healing for me. I hope that my testimony has given strength and a voice to other survivors, and can help others who have suffered to speak up and also heal from abuse and fear. For me, the more I heal, the more I can remember. And the more I can remember, the more I will never forget."

Wigdor also read a statement from Alex Fine, Ventura's husband.

“Over the past five days, the world has gotten to witness the strength and bravery of my wife, freeing herself of her past. There has been speculation online surrounding how it must feel for me to sit there and listen to my wife’s testimony. I have felt so many things sitting there. I have felt tremendous pride and overwhelming love for Cass. I have felt profound anger that she has been subjected to sitting in front of a person who tried to break her. So, to him and all of those who helped him along the way, please know this: You did not. You did not break her spirit nor her smile that lights up every room. You did not break the souls of a mother who gives the best hugs and plays the silliest games with our little girls. You did not break the woman who has made me a better man,” Wigdoe said on behalf of Fine.

Yasin Binda was the next witness on the stand. Binda is the Homeland Security Investigations special agent who handled Combs' arrest on September 16, 2024.

She said she searched the room Combs was staying in at the Park Hyatt.

The jury saw photos of Combs' room that had Ziploc bags filled with baby oil and lubricant in a closet, according to CNN.

There was also another photo shown of a lighting device in the living room, with Binda saying that it was "potentially mood lighting."

A bottle of clonazepam was found in a nightstand with the name "Frank Black," as well as two bags of pink powder were found next to it. A stipulation read in court says that one of the bags tested positive for ketamine while the other bag tested positive for MDMA and ketamine, CNN reports.

Binda testified that $9,000 in cash was found in a black fanny pack in the room. At the request of prosecutor Madison Smyser, Binda took the cash out of the fanny pack that was in an evidence bag to show the jury.

During cross-examination, Binda confirmed that it seems like a woman was staying with Combs in the hotel room.

The final witness on the stand was Dawn Richard, who was a member of Danity Kane. Combs formed Danity Kane as part of the MTV series "Making the Band" in 2005.

According to Richard, she worked for Combs from 2004 to 2011, saying that she knew Combs as "Puff," another nickname he went by.

Richard testified that she saw Combs attack Ventura in 2009, saying that “He came downstairs screaming, belligerent, asking where his food was, and proceeded to hit her over the head, kicked her, and beat her to the ground in front of us."

She said that she saw Combs drag Ventura upstairs by her hair and that she heard "glass breaking and yelling," according to CNN. Richard said she did not call the police because she was afraid and was "scared to do anything in fear of what that might mean for me, too."

Both Richard and the other woman who saw the attack, Kalenna Harper, were asked to go to Combs' home and where he told them that what they saw was "passion." Combs said that it was in their best interest if they did not say anything and that "where he comes from people go missing if they talk," CNN reports.

After Richard's testimony, both sides stayed behind to work through a defense objection to Richard's description of the threats made by Combs.

Prosecutor Maurene Comey said Ventura's mom is expected to testify next week.

The judge has allowed the prosecution to not disclose to the defense the order of witnesses too far in advance due to the worry of potential witness tampering, according to CNN.

If you or someone you know is struggling with abuse, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline for help.

Editor's Note:The Associated Press contributed to this story.