Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, is expected to take the stand on day two of the trial
Sean “Diddy” Combs’ legal team made a surprising request ahead of Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura’s testimony in his high-profile sex trafficking trial.
Combs’ attorney Marc Agnifilo asked that Ventura — who is eight-and-a-half months pregnant with her third child with husband Alex Fine — be seated before the jury enters to avoid any “emotional sway,” as reported by the Daily Mail.
“Only because of her physical condition… there is a quality to her walking in front of the jury that I think is easily avoidable,” Agnifilo told Judge Arun Subramanian.
“I think there is a prejudicial quality. Pregnancy is beautiful and wonderful. It also is a source of potential sympathy,” he added.
But prosecutor Maurene Comey wasn’t having it. “I don’t think there any basis to treat any witness differently because of a medical condition, most notably pregnancy,” she said, further emphasising, “That would be deeply inappropriate.”
The judge agreed with the objection, telling Diddy’s lawyer, “I don’t know that there is any support anywhere in the history of American jurisprudence” for such a request, and added, “Find that for me.”
The exchange came just as the court heard disturbing claims about Combs’ behaviour on day one of his federal sex trafficking trial on Monday, May 12.
His own attorneys admitted Combs had been “horrible, dehumanising and violent” toward past girlfriends, even labelling it “domestic violence,” per The New York Times.
However, attorney Teny Geragos noted that her client’s charges are separate, i.e., sex trafficking and racketeering — not domestic violence.
Combs faces life in prison if convicted.
Ventura, 38, is expected to take the stand Tuesday.
She was seen in the now-infamous 2016 hotel video showing Combs, her boyfriend at the time, physically assaulting her — footage that is at the centre of the prosecution’s case.
