Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs stunning acquittal on the most serious charges he faced in his bombshell federal trial has left legal experts shaking their heads – and struggling to understand how the government could have fumbled the case so badly.
Now, Daily Mail has analyzed the key testimony that fatally undermined the federal prosecution as well as the significant evidence that failed to move the jurors.
One of the central pillars of the federal case were allegations that Combs sexually abused and coerced various women, with special focus on his long-term girlfriend Cassie Ventura and another woman only identified as Jane.
But criminal defense attorney David Gelman told the Daily Mail that both Ventura and Jane’s testimony were, in fact, devastating to the government’s case.
‘The prosecutors needed to show that they were all unwilling participants,’ Gelman explained, ‘I don’t see any force or coercion anywhere. People were paid but were doing this on their own free will.’
Indeed, at the center of the case were various text messages between Combs and Ventura over the course of their on-again-off-again 11-year relationship.
Sean ‘ Diddy ‘ Combs stunning acquittal on the most serious charges he faced in his bombshell federal trial has left legal experts shaking their heads – and struggling to understand how the government could have fumbled the case so badly.
One of the central pillars of the federal case were allegations that Combs sexually abused and coerced various women, with special focus on his long-term girlfriend Cassie Ventura (pictured, right) and another woman only identified as Jane.
In one text exchange (pictured in a mock-up), Ventura says she’s ‘always ready to freak off.’
In one August 5, 2009 text exchange, Combs asked Ventura, ‘When do you wanna freak off? Lol.’
Ventura replied: ‘Lol I’m just going up to change. I’m always ready to freak off lolol.’
Jane’s testimony, too, was seemingly compromised, according to court observers.
During cross-examination, she was asked if she still ‘loves’ Combs, to which Jane said two words: ‘I do.’
‘I was just made to be, just carry this impossible pressure and they weren’t asked to hold any of that pressure like I did,’ Jane testified. ‘I just thought it was unfair. All the nights with these men.’
All of this was seized on by Combs’s lawyers, who argued that this evidence meant the Ventura and others weren’t coerced by Combs, but instead willingly participated in ‘freak off’ orgies.
The government also alleged that Combs corruptly leveraged his business empire, over a span of two decades, as a ‘criminal enterprise,’ using ‘violence, power and fear to get what he wanted.’
For these alleged crimes, prosecutors charged him with racketeering conspiracy, known as RICO, which is most commonly used against organized crime bosses.
In order to prove a RICO charge, the government had to convince the jury that Combs committed at least two specific crimes – that may have included bribery, forced labor and sexual assault – over the span of at least 10 years, demonstrating a pattern of organized criminal conduct.
Central to this allegation was testimony from an ex-hotel security guard, Eddy Garcia, who claimed that Combs paid him $100,000 cash, delivered in a brown paper bag, to hand over a copy of surveillance video showing Combs beating Ventura as she tried to escape the InterContinental hotel in Los Angeles in 2016.
Ventura and Combs were reportedly engaged in an orgy with a male prostitute at the time when Ventura ran for it. The graphic video, first leaked to CNN, shocked the nation.
Garcia said Combs called him ‘Eddy, my angel’ after he deleted the footage from the hotel servers and emailed the video clip to Combs on a USB stick. Garcia testified that Combs told him, ‘I knew you could help. I knew you could do it.’
Central to this allegation was testimony from an ex-hotel security guard, Eddy Garcia (pictured in court), who claimed that Combs paid him $100,000 cash, delivered in a brown paper bag, to hand over a copy of surveillance video showing Combs beating Ventura as she tried to escape the InterContinental hotel in Los Angeles in 2016.
Ventura and Combs were reportedly engaged in an orgy with a male prostitute at the time when Ventura ran for it. The graphic video, first leaked to CNN, shocked the nation.
According to the indictment, Combs allegedly forced employees to work long hours, threatening them with both reputational and physical harm if they didn’t do his bidding.
Testimony to support the prosecution’s theory included allegations from Ventura and Jane, as well as Combs’ former assistant Capricorn Clark, who claimed Combs once ripped up her invoice for $80,000 worth of overtime worked.
Additionally, the prosecution claimed, Combs refused to let his lover and employees sleep, goading them drugs to keep them awake. Both Ventura and Jane testified that they required days to recover from ‘freak offs’ with Combs and suffered from frequent urinary tract infections.
But in another crushing blow to the prosecution’s case last week, the government informed the judge that they were dropping several allegations related to the RICO charge, including alleged kidnapping and arson directed by Combs.
The kidnapping claims were first presented in court by Comb’s assistant, Clark. She testified that Combs took her against her will to the home of rapper Scott Mescudi, known as Kid Cudi, after learning that Ventura and Mescudi were romantically involved.
According to Clark’s testimony, Combs arrived at her Los Angeles apartment in December 2011 armed with a gun and demanded that Clark get dressed and go with him to Mescudi’s house. Clark claimed that Combs said they were ‘going to go kill’ his rival.
Clark claimed that Combs left her in the car while he and one of his security guards searched the house. Then, she testified, he threatened to kill her if she reported the incident to the police.
Mescudi was also at the center of the arson claims. He testified that his car was bombed with a Molotov cocktail in January 2012. Indeed, images of the vehicle showed a hole in the roof of his vehicle and the explosive was inside.
The musician said that he thought Combs was to blame, but Combs denied it at the time of the incident, and no charges were ever filed.
Mescudi was also at the center of the arson claims. He testified that his car was bombed with a Molotov cocktail in January 2012. Indeed, images of the vehicle showed a hole in the roof of his vehicle and the explosive was inside.
Images of the vehicle showed a hole in the roof of his vehicle and the explosive was inside.
The graphic video, first leaked to CNN, shocked the nation.
One of Combs’s former personal assistants, who testified under the name ‘Mia,’ said Diddy sexually assaulted her at a New York hotel months into her starting her job. She said in another incident, Combs forced her to perform oral sex on him.
‘It was very quick but felt like forever,’ Mia testified, who said she was often worried Combs would fire her and ‘twist the story into making me look like a threat.’ Mia also claimed that she saw the physical abuse Diddy inflicted on Ventura – as did others, including the male prostitutes recruited to take part in the ‘freak offs.’
‘I’ve seen him attack her. I’ve seen him throw her on the ground,’ said Mia in court. ‘I’ve seen him crack her head open. I’ve seen her chase her.’
In another extremely graphic portion of testimony, Daniel Phillip, a 41-year-old male escort, testified that he was paid between $700 and $6,000 on several occasions to have sex with Ventura while Combs watched and masturbated.
In one instance, Phillip claimed that Combs became angry at Ventura after she failed to follow his instructions during a ‘freak off.’ He claims Combs then dragged Ventura into a separate room and began beating her.
‘I could hear Cassie yelling, ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry,’ and then I could hear her again what sounded like she was being slapped or someone was being slapped around and slammed around the room,’ he testified.
‘My thought was that this was someone with ultimate power,’ Phillip added, ‘and chances are that even if I did go to the police, that I might still end up losing my life.’
During her emotional week-long testimony, Ventura, heavily pregnant on the witness stand, also testified about another shocking incident, during which Combs and a male escort allegedly urinated in her mouth during one marathon orgy.
‘It was disgusting, it was too much. I choked. No one could think I wanted it,’ said Ventura. When asked ‘how often’ such acts occurred, she replied ‘often enough.’
Prosecutors also alleged that Combs sexually abused and coerced various women – with the focus of the charges on two of his long-term girlfriends, Cassie Ventura (pictured) and another woman, only identified publicly as ‘Jane’.
Ventura, heavily pregnant on the witness stand, also testified about another shocking incident, during which Combs and a male escort allegedly urinated in her mouth during one marathon orgy.
Sharay ‘The Punisher’ Hayes, another male dancer who had sex with Cassie, testified that Cassie obtained his information from his personal website and called him directly to book a bachelorette party performance.
‘The freak offs became a job,’ Cassie said, adding some of the sessions were up to 48 hours long. ‘Sean controlled a lot of my life, whether it was career, the way I dressed, everything, everything. I just didn’t have much say in it at the time.’
Finally, the government charged Combs with two counts of transportation for the purposes of prostitution, each carrying a maximum prison sentence of ten years.
These are the only charges on which they secured convictions, and legal observers have told the Daily Mail that they believe they may even be overturned on appeal.
The specific counts alleged that Combs knowingly arranged for individuals – including Ventura, Jane and two male escorts – to travel across state lines with the intent to engage in prostitution.
Prosecutors told jurors that, on multiple occasions from 2009 up to 2018, Combs paid for people to fly to cities across the world including New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Ibiza, to participate in ‘freak-offs.’
Two male escorts, Daniel Phillip and Sharay Hayes, testified that they had been paid to travel from one state to another for sexual services.
Hayes said Cassie obtained his information from his personal website and called him directly to book a bachelorette party performance. Both men testified they were expecting to perform for a party of women only to find Cassie and her ‘husband’, who turned out to be Diddy.
Attorneys for Combs pointed to the fact that the government had no direct proof to tie Combs to these plans but, instead, had only shown that arrangements had been made by Ventura herself or by other individuals in Combs’s employ.
Indeed, Gelman – a former state prosecutor – was doubtful that the jury would find Combs guilty of these charges.
‘They don’t have [evidence of] Diddy actually making calls and paying the prostitutes,’ he said before the verdict. ‘They have evidence that Cassie Ventura and other individuals working for Diddy set this up. So, to say beyond a reasonable doubt that it was Diddy is a bridge going way too far.’
