Court adjourned until late tomorrow morning
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Adam Reiss
Adam Reiss, Jing Feng and Doha Madani
Court is adjourned for the day after attorneys stayed behind to hash out finer details without the jury present.
Testimony will resume tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. when Bongolan returns to the witness stand for more cross-examination.
Defense lawyers losing after hour time with Combs
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Adam Reiss
Adam Reiss, Jing Feng and David K. Li
For the past several days, Combs hasn't been able to speak to his own lawyers once he returns to jail after court, his attorneys said.
The defendant has 300 minutes on his books but for some reason can't get in touch with lawyers at night, defense attorney Xavier Donaldson told the court.
"This is unacceptable," Donaldson said.
Judge Subramaniansaid he'll reach out to the jail and see what could he done.
There is an email system for prisoners, Corrlinks, but that normally comes with a 24- to 48-hour delay so that's not helpful, defense attorney Geragos said.
Testimony done for the day
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Adam Reiss
Adam Reiss, Jing Feng and David K. Li
Judge Subramanian sent jurors home and asked them to return to court before 11 a.m. on Thursday.
The defense lawyer, Westmoreland, said she has 30 to 45 minutes of questions left for this witness, Bongolan.
Defense challenging balcony dangling incident
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Adam Reiss
Adam Reiss, Jing Feng and David K. Li
The defense tried to discredit Bongolan's memory of the alleged dangling incident, asking if she hasn't kept all details of it straight.
Combs' attorney Westmoreland insinuated in questions that Bongolan couldn't recall from which direction the defendant came at her or what she might have been smoking at the time of the alleged attack.
She answered, "I don't remember," multiple times.
Witness testifies she reconnected with Ventura around time of her lawsuit
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Adam Reiss
Adam Reiss, Jing Feng and Doha Madani
Bongolan testified under cross-examination that she reconnected with Ventura and worked for her in late 2023, around the time Ventura filed her lawsuit against Combs.
Defense attorneys probed Bongolan about her conversations with Ventura at the time, asking if they discussed filing legal action as they worked. Bongolan said she did speak to Ventura before and after Ventura filed her lawsuit, but the two didn't discuss it while working.
The pair did discuss the balcony incident in relation to the location and date it happened, Bongolan told the court.
She also testified that Ventura asked if she could use Bongolan's name in her lawsuit when discussing the incident, but Bongolan said no.
Witness admits to regular drug use
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Adam Reiss
Adam Reiss, Jing Feng and David K. Li
Bongolan testified both she and Ventura had once been very regular drug users when they were in Combs' social world.
Under cross-examination, Bongolan confirmed she did ketamine, marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine and Vicodin in this time of her life. Bongolan said one of her favorite drugs was a blunt with sprinkles of cocaine.
"We had a problem," she said.
Defense opens up cross-examination by probing witness's immunity
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Adam Reiss
Adam Reiss, Jing Feng and Doha Madani
Combs' attorney Nicole Westmoreland began cross-examination of Bongolan by asking her again about the immunity order she was provided for her testimony.
Westmoreland clarified that the protection against prosecution only works if Bongolan is truthful. She then followed up by asking Bongolan who she understands has the power to decide whether or not she is lying.
The prosecutors, Bongolan answered.
Witness says she'd rather not be dangled over balcony than get a $10M payout for it
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Adam Reiss
Adam Reiss, Jing Feng and David K. Li
The witness said she sued Comb for $10 million, in order to "seek justice for what happened to me on the balcony."
When Bongolan was asked by the prosecution if she could give away $10 million for the balcony incident to have never happened, she unequivocally said yes.
Balcony incident left witness with nightmares and paranoia, she says
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Adam Reiss
Adam Reiss, Jing Feng and Doha Madani
After Combs allegedly dangled Bongolan over the balcony, she said she was left with a lasting psychological impact.
Bongolan testified that she had nightmares and used to scream in her sleep. She added that she dealt with feelings of paranoia, sometimes peeking her head out at her own home just to make sure the area was clear.
Bongolan tried to talk to Combs about incident to no avail, she says
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Adam Reiss
Adam Reiss, Jing Feng and Doha Madani
A day or two after the balcony incident, Bongolan said, she received a FaceTime call from either Combs or someone on his team.
She told the court that she repeatedly stated that she didn't want to have problems with Combs, but Combs didn't say much. Bongolan testified that Combs put his hand over his head while looking into the camera.
Ventura in 'disbelief' following Combs' balcony threat, witness says
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Adam Reiss
Adam Reiss, Jing Feng and David K. Li
Ventura was in a nearby room and didn't witness Combs allegedly dangling Bongolan over the balcony — but she was nonetheless shocked by the incident, the witness said.
"He threw me on the balcony furniture, it definitely hurt, wasn't sure if she was injured," Bongolan told the jurors.
"Cassie was in her bedroom but she came out. I heard her voice, her tone was in disbelief."
Bongolan testifies Combs yelled at her while holding her over balcony
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Adam Reiss
Adam Reiss, Jing Feng and Doha Madani
Bongolan testified that she was dangled over the 17th story balcony for maybe 10 to 15 seconds while Combs yelled, "you know what the f--- you did."
She said she had no idea what he was talking about and told Combs as much, Bongolan said. Combs allegedly came up behind her and lifted her above his chest to hold her up against the balcony, she told the court.
Bongolan described herself as 5-foot-1 at the time and weighing roughly 100 to 115 pounds. She told the court she was trying not to slip while pushing back on Combs because she was scared she was going to fall.
Courtroom returns from lunch
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Adam Reiss
Adam Reiss, Jing Feng and Doha Madani
The courtroom has returned to court after the lunch break and Bongolan is back on the witness stand.
Jury breaks for lunch
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Adam Reiss
Adam Reiss, Jing Feng and David K. Li
Judge Arun Subramaniandeclared a recess for lunch, telling jurors to return to court before 1:05 p.m. ET.
When jurors return, they'll hear more from Ventura's friend Bongolanand her description of alleged threats made by Combs.
Combs called himself the 'devil' and said that he could kill her, witness says
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Adam Reiss
Adam Reiss, Jing Feng and Doha Madani
One interaction Bongolan recalled while on the witness stand was a moment in which Combs allegedly told her something along the lines of, "I am the devil and I can kill you."
She told the court that she was terrified. Bongolan also testified that he had taken cocaine at the time of the incident.
Threw knives at each other, witness testifies
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Adam Reiss
Adam Reiss, Jing Feng and David K. Li
Bongolan testified she witnessed Combs throw a knife at Ventura during a violent outburst at her apartment.
Bongolan didn't recall the exact year when this incident unfolded, but said it happened in the middle of night at Ventura's place in Los Angeles.
Ventura picked up the knife and hurled it back at Combs, the witness said. Both their throws missed.
Bongolan says she had night terrors after Combs allegedly dangled her from balcony
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Adam Reiss
Adam Reiss, Jing Feng and Doha Madani
Bongolan testified that Combs held her over a 17th-story balcony in 2016 before throwing her onto the balcony's furniture.
The mental affects of the assault left her with night terrors, she told the court. She added that there were times where she would scream in her sleep.
Ventura mentioned the balcony incident, without naming Bongolan, in her 2023 lawsuit against Combs. Ventura also testified about the incident while on the witness stand last month.
Bryana Bongolan taking the witness stand
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Adam Reiss
Adam Reiss, Jing Feng and David K. Li
The government called Ventura's friend Bryana Bongolan to the witness stand.
Earlier today, Bongolan cited her Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination and prosecutors have said she won't be prosecuted as long as she testifies truthfully.
Security video getting an extended look by jurors
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Adam Reiss
Adam Reiss, Jing Feng and David K. Li
Piazza’s testimony might be coming across as highly technical and tedious as lawyers go moment by moment through security footage of Combs and Ventura.
The rather dry testimony, though, has led to a cumulative impact of jurors having to sit through an extended look at Combs’ brutal beating of his then-girlfriend March 5, 2016, in Los Angeles.
While Combs’ defense, in opening statements, conceded he’s prone to out-of-control temper tantrums, this kind of reminder might not be helpful to his cause.
Footage of sex acts filed under seal
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Adam Reiss
Adam Reiss, Jing Feng and David K. Li
The prosecution filed into evidence, under seal, 10 sex videos involving Ventura.
The footage was dated between 2012 and 2014 and came from a user file marked "Frank Black," an alias Combs allegedly used while traveling.
Expert taking jurors through the video step by step
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Adam Reiss
Adam Reiss, Jing Feng and David K. Li
The witness, Piazza, is walking jurors through video footage of Combs' 2016 videotaped beating of Ventura at a Los Angeles hotel.
He's confirming the video's authenticity and walking the court through a version he’s stitched together, showing events as they happened in chronological order.
Video shown of Combs beating Ventura not altered, witness says
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Adam Reiss
Adam Reiss, Jing Feng and David K. Li
The primary task of this video expert appears to be authenticating that footage of Combs beating Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel has not been altered.
Piazza said there are "no anomalies" in the disturbing footage shown of Combs assaulting his then-girlfriend Ventura at the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles in 2016.
Frank Piazza, video expert, called to the stand
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Adam Reiss
Adam Reiss, Jing Feng and Doha Madani
Court is in session and the government has called its first witness: a forensic video expert named Frank Piazza.
Piazza was sworn in and took the stand wearing a dark suit.
BryanaBongolan, a Ventura friend, to testify with immunity
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Adam Reiss
Adam Reiss, Jing Feng and David K. Li
BryanaBongolan, a friend of Combs' former girlfriend and key government witness Cassie Ventura, invoked her Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination.
The witness has been told she won't be prosecuted as long as she tells the truth on the stand, prosecutors said.
It wasn't immediately clear what Bongolan could say that'd put her into any legal jeopardy. Bongolan has alleged that Diddy dangled her over an apartment balcony during a previous altercation.
Earlier this week, hotel security guard Eddy Garcia also invoked his rights against self-incrimination. It turned out that he testified about helping Combs team secure video of the mogul's beating of Ventura.
Court is in session
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Adam Reiss
Adam Reiss, Jing Feng and Marlene Lenthang
Court is now in session for Day 16 of Combs' racketeering and sex trafficking trial.
Former CFO of Bad Boy Entertainment detailed Combs' business finances
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Adam Reiss
Adam Reiss, Jing Feng and Marlene Lenthang
Derek Ferguson, the former chief financial officer of Bad Boy Entertainment, testified yesterday and detailed the structure of Combs’ businesses.
His testimony confirmed that Combs had signatory power over the funds, and prosecutors will likely use this to argue that Combs may have run a criminal enterprise.
Ferguson stated he never witnessed Combs commit violence or a sexual assault. But he did confirm that a $20,000 payment was made from Ventura’s family to Combs in December 2011.
Ventura’s mother, Regina Ventura, previouslytestified that Combs demanded the family pay $20,000to keep him from releasing sexually explicit videos of Ventura after he learned she was seeing rapper Scott Mescudi, also known as Kid Cudi. She also told the court she received the money back days later.
Woman disrupted court yesterday, shouting 'Diddy's innocent!'
Adam Reiss
Marlene Lenthang and Adam Reiss
A woman disrupted court yesterday morning, shouting in Combs’ defense — "It’s not right what they’re doing to him!" and "Diddy’s innocent."
U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian ordered court marshals to escort her out. The uproar unfolded before the jury was seated.
Hotel security officer testified yesterday that Combs paid $100K to suppress assault video
Erik Ortiz and Pilar Melendez
Eddy Garcia, a former security supervisor at the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles, testified yesterday that Combs and his team desperately wanted to get the sole copy of the security video that showed the music mogul attacking Ventura in March 2016.
In exchange for $100,000 divided among the hotel’s security team members, Garcia testified that he signed a nondisclosure agreement that called for his silence and the destruction of evidence.
Garcia admitted on the stand that he was so "nervous" about the NDA that he didn’t read it all before he signed it. He said the Combs presented stacks of cash in a brown paper bag and that he used his share of the money to buy a used car.
Who is expected to testify today
Erik Ortiz and Pilar Melendez
Frank Piazza, a forensic video expert, andBryana Bongolan, who alleges that Combs dangled her over an apartment balcony, may testify today.
Yesterday, prosecutors said they were concerned about Victim-2's identity, who is referred to with the pseudonym "Jane." Jane is expected to take the stand tomorrow.
