Cassie Ventura, Sean’s ex-girlfriend “Diddy” Combs and one of her accusers, could testify next Monday (12) as one of the first three witnesses summoned in the case of sexual trafficking moved by the government against the musician of music.
Prosecutors appointed in court on Friday that they would call two “fast” witnesses before summoning “victim 1”, whose witness will occupy most of the first week. Cassie Ventura is referred to as “victim 1” in the complaint, but agreed to witness on her own name.
Prosecutors claim that Combs coerced her to have sex with male prostitutes, according to the complaint. Comb lawyers stated that all sex was consensual.
The Comb defense team wants to argue that Cassie had a propensity for violence and was violent with Combs during her relationship, which lasted approximately 11 years from 2007 to 2018.
“We will defend the position that there was mutual violence in their relationship,” said defense attorney Marc Agnifilo on Friday (9).
“That there were aggressions on both sides,” said Agnifilo. “We will probably refer to this as domestic violence.”
Defense lawyers said they might want to question Ventura about violent interactions not related to the allegations of this case, which, they said, would discredit the claim that Combs coerce with sexual activities. The judge said he would decide on this on Monday.
Combs nodded when his lawyer Alexandra Shapiro said: “The dynamics between these two people are at the heart of this case.”
Ventura’s lawyer, Douglas Wilder, declined to comment when contacted by CNN .
Combs has declared innocent of accusations that include conspiracy for extortion, sexual trafficking and transport for prostitution. If convicted of all accusations, he may be sentenced to life imprisonment.
Among the topics that will probably be raised in Ventura’s testimony are the surveillance images of the 2016 hotel that show combing, kicking and dragging it.
Despite the attempts of his lawyers to exclude the filming of the evidence, Judge Arun Subramanian He issued a decision last month that she could be shown to the jury at the trial.
After CNN published the video of the incident for the first time last May, Combs posted an apology In your Instagram account, saying, “My behavior in that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video.”
Jury selection and opening statements
The jury selection was initially scheduled to be finalized on Friday, but the Subramanian judge expressed concern that some potential judges could give up before the opening statements began on Monday.
The judge excluded two jurors from the group of 45 possible jurors, reducing the total to 43. A qualified woman earlier this week contained the court expressing concerns about her personal well-being, said defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo in court. A man was excluded from the group for not revealing a process in progress that is moving against the city of New York during the interrogation.
“We may be in a situation where on Monday we will already have some less alternative judges,” said the judge.
US Assistant Attorney Maurene, said the government “opposes strongly” to any delay.
“If someone raises his hand and says he has a problem, we can have an avalanche effect,” she said. “We are also working against the clock, and we are very aware of it next week.”
The Subramanian judge said the group of 43 people will be called to arrive at 8:30 am on Monday morning, so that they can start the opening statements at 9:30 am, as originally planned.
The trial is expected to last eight weeks.
See also: Video catches Rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs assaulting woman
Sean Combs, P. Diddy: Understand the case involving the rapper
This content was originally published in Cassie, Sean’s ex-girlfriend “Diddy” Combs, should testify on Monday (12) on CNN Brazil.
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m Robert Neff, a professional writer and editor. I specialize in the entertainment section, providing up-to-date coverage on the latest developments in film, television and music. My work has been featured on World Stock Market and other prominent publications.
