Sex trafficker or ‘swinger’? Hip-hop mogul Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs goes on trial

By Jack Queen and Luc Cohen

NEW YORK (Reuters) -A former security guard took the stand in hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex trafficking trial on Monday, testifying that he responded to the scene after Combs’ then-girlfriend, Casandra Ventura, reported Combs attacked her in the hallway of a Los Angeles area hotel in 2016.

Combs has pleaded not guilty to five felony counts of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. If convicted on all counts, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and could face life in prison.

CNN last year broadcast footage that appeared to show Combs attacking Ventura, known as Cassie. Combs apologized after the video aired.

The former guard and the prosecution’s first witness, Israel Florez, told jurors he arrived on the scene to find signs of a fight, including a shattered vase. Combs was slumped in a chair wearing only a towel and socks, while Ventura was huddled in a corner hiding her face, Florez testified.

“Scared,” Florez replied when asked by a prosecutor to describe Ventura’s demeanor.

“She was in the corner and had a hoodie on. I couldn’t see her face.”

Florez said Combs offered him a stack of cash, which he understood to be a bribe to keep the incident quiet. Florez declined the offer, he told the jury, which began hearing evidence in the trial on Monday.

Prosecutors say Combs lured women into romantic relationships, forced them to take part in days of drug-fueled sex parties and then blackmailed them with videos he recorded of the encounters.

Over the course of a two-month trial, jurors are expected to hear testimony from three and possibly four of the rapper’s female accusers, as well as his former employees who prosecutors say helped arrange and cover up his actions.

Combs “viciously attacked” women when they resisted taking part in the parties, known as “Freak Offs” or otherwise upset him, prosecutor Emily Johnson said during her opening statement on Monday in Manhattan federal court.

She told jurors they would hear testimony from victims who said Combs, 55, routinely beat them and exploded with rage at the smallest slights. The case has drawn intense media coverage because of Combs’ fame.

“They will tell you about some of the most painful experiences of their lives. The days they spent in hotel rooms, high on drugs, dressed in costumes to perform the defendant’s sexual fantasies,” Johnson said.

Defense lawyer Teny Geragos said on Monday that prosecutors were trying to twist Combs’ romantic relationships into a racketeering and sex trafficking case.

“Sean Combs is a complicated man, but this is not a complicated case. This case is about voluntary choices made by capable adults in consensual relationships,” Geragos said in her opening statement.

Marc Agnifilo, Combs’ lead lawyer, has said the 2016 hotel incident depicted the aftermath of a dispute over infidelity. In a court hearing on Friday, Agnifilo said Ventura had a history of domestic violence, seeking to undercut prosecutors’ argument that she was a victim.

Ventura’s lawyer declined to comment.

COMBS PUMPS FIST, SMILES AT HIS CHILDREN

Combs’ mother, Janice Combs, sat in the front row of the courtroom along with six of her son’s children. Combs wore a beige sweater over a white collared shirt and khakis. He smiled at his family and blew them a kiss before taking his seat with his lawyers.

Combs left the courtroom in good spirits for an afternoon lunch break, pumping his fist and smiling at his children, one of whom flashed him a heart symbol with her hands.

Outside the courthouse, throngs of Combs supporters and curious onlookers recorded videos on their smartphones as they jockeyed with reporters for a glimpse of Combs’ family, who were whisked away in a black van for lunch.

Combs is known for turning rap and rhythm and blues artists like Notorious B.I.G. and Mary J. Blige into stars, and in the process elevating the mainstream appeal of hip-hop in American culture in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Born in Manhattan’s Harlem neighborhood and raised by a single mother, Combs went on to live in mansions in Miami and Los Angeles and host lavish parties for the cultural elite in destinations like the Hamptons and Saint-Tropez.

Combs’ defense strategy at trial will hinge on undermining the credibility of the women who testify against Combs. His lawyers will argue the women were motivated by money to accuse him of wrongdoing and have unreliable memories.

Combs also has faced at least 50 civil lawsuits accusing him of sexual abuse, including one from Ventura whose lawsuit was settled for undisclosed terms.

“Ask yourself why are they making this allegation now? What is their motive? For many of them the answer is simple: money,” defense attorney Geragos said during her opening statement.

(Reporting by Luc Cohen and Jack Queen in New York; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Howard Goller)

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