Sean “Diddy” Combs’s legal professionals on Wednesday morning known as for a mistrial within the hip-hop mogul’s federal intercourse trafficking trial, alleging misconduct by prosecutors within the case – however their request was shortly denied by the decide.
Protection legal professionals moved to have the case declared a mistrial by arguing that prosecutors had improperly steered and implied by questioning that the music performer and producer was concerned within the destruction of proof tied to the investigation into Kid Cudi’s car being firebombed.
Decide Arun Subramanian shortly denied the movement for a mistrial.
The abrupt growth got here shortly after testimony had resumed in court docket in New York, with prosecutors planning to name a number of witnesses to the stand, together with an alleged sufferer recognized by the pseudonym “Mia”.
Mia has been described as one among Combs’s former staff, who prosecutors say will testify that Combs “compelled himself on her sexually” whereas she was working for him.
The federal government’s first witness on Wednesday was Los Angeles police officer Christopher Ignacio, who responded to rapper Scott Mescudi’s (also referred to as Child Cudi) residence on 22 December 2011, the day Mescudi alleged Combs broke into his residence after discovering that Mescudi had been relationship Combs’s on-again, off-again girlfriend, singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura.
Ignacio mentioned he and his companion responded to a radio name for a potential housebreaking at Mescudi’s residence round 8.20am that morning. Once they arrived, Ignacio mentioned that he seen a black Cadillac Escalade in entrance of the home that sped off as their patrol automobile pulled up.
Ignacio instructed the court docket that he famous the license plate, later when he ran the plate, he discovered that the automobile was registered to Dangerous Boy Productions Inc, one among Combs’s firms.
Ignacio testified that the entrance door was unlocked and nothing was reported stolen. Mescudi later arrived on the home and filed a trespassing report, Ignacio mentioned. Underneath cross-examination, Ignacio agreed with Combs’s lawyer that the incident amounted to trespassing, not housebreaking.
Final week, Mescudi testified that just a few weeks later, his automobile was firebombed with a molotov cocktail. He mentioned he suspected Combs was concerned.
After Ignacio’s testimony Wednesday morning, the prosecution known as up Lance Jimenez, an arson investigator with the Los Angeles fireplace division who responded to Mescudi’s residence in January 2012 to analyze the fireplace set to Mescudi’s Porsche.
Jimenez mentioned that the Porsche had a minimize canvas roof, burn patterns all through the inside, and that he noticed a a bottle and a burned “designer” handkerchief contained in the automobile, noticed the scent of gasoline.
The injury was “extreme” Jimenez mentioned, however instructed the court docket that it was much less intensive than it may have been because the molotov cocktail didn’t shatter as the material fell out.
Jimenez described the fireplace set inside Mescudi’s automobile as a “focused” crime.
Arson is without doubt one of the acts listed within the racketeering conspiracy allegations against Combs.
Combs, 55, faces federal fees of intercourse trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to have interaction in prostitution. Arrested in September 2024, Combs has pleaded not responsible to all 5 counts.
Earlier this week, one among Combs’s former staff, Capricorn Clark, gave a full day of testimony, telling jurors that in 2011 Combs kidnapped her and compelled her to accompany him to Mescudi’s residence the morning of the alleged break-in in December 2011. Based on Clark, Combs mentioned that he was going “to kill” Mescudi.
Clark instructed the court docket that Combs, who she mentioned was holding a gun, accompanied by one among his safety guards entered Mescudi’s residence, whereas she remained within the automobile.
Clark additionally testified that she witnessed Combs violently assault Ventura upon studying of her transient relationship with Mescudi.
Throughout her time working for Combs, Clark mentioned that Combs repeatedly threatened her life, subjected her to lie detector assessments, and as soon as pushed her in 2006 at his Miami residence, amongst different issues.
For the reason that trial began on 12 May, greater than 15 witnesses have testified, together with Ventura, Mescudi, singer Dawn Richard, two of Combs’s former assistants, Ventura’s former best friend and her mother, an exotic dancer, a male revue manager, a hotel security officer, a special agent from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), a forensic psychologist, a makeup artist, the general manager of a Beverly Hills hotel and a computer forensics agent from HSI.
The trial is anticipated to proceed for about six extra weeks. If convicted on all counts, Combs may resist life in jail.
