Cassie Ventura Could Be Expected To Testify In Sean “Diddy” Combs’ Trial

Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex trafficking and racketeering trial is expected to get underway after the jury is sworn in Monday in New York City.  The hip-hop mogul is accused of running a criminal enterprise since at least 2004 that manipulated women into participating in commercial sex acts with him, and sometimes male sex workers, during what prosecutors described as drug-fueled parties called “freak offs.” Combs has been jailed at the Metropolitan Detention Center Brooklyn since his arrest last September. He faces five counts from four different women, including singer and ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura.  The first week of the trial is expected to include testimony from an FBI analyst who could break down the now infamous 2016 video of Combs and his then-girlfriend Ventura in the hallway of a Los Angeles hotel, a male escort and Ventura, according to CBS News’ Jericka Duncan.

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Ventura, who performs under the name Cassie, rose to fame with the single “Me & U” on her self-titled debut album. The song landed the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart in 2006. She and Combs dated off-and-on from about 2007 to 2018. Security video of Combs attacking Ventura in the hallway of a Los Angeles hotel in 2016 is expected to be a key piece of evidence in his trial. The video, obtained and published by CNN last year, shows Combs throw Ventura onto the floor before kicking and dragging her. Prosecutors allege the hotel assault happened during a “freak off,” but Combs’ lawyers, who sought to have the video excluded from trial, argue it was a “glimpse into a complex but decade-long consensual relationship.”  Prospective jurors were asked if they were familiar with a list of some 190 celebrities, including Michael B. Jordan, Kanye West and Mike Myers, though it wasn’t clear how those people are related to the trial, if at all.

Source: CBS News