Diddy key witnesses could hurt prosecution's case despite explosive testimony: expert

During the first two weeks of Sean Diddy Combs' sex-trafficking trial the jury heard from the rapper's ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura male escorts ex-assistants and former Homeland Precaution Investigations HSI agents The prosecution has roughly six weeks to prove Diddy helmed a criminal enterprise used to sexually exploit women including Cassie Executives charged Diddy with multiple counts of racketeering conspiracy sex trafficking by force fraud or coercion and transporting for prostitution in Week two of the Combs trial helped the prosecution corroborate Ventura s testimony through independent observers and establish the elements of sex trafficking and racketeering former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani recounted Fox News Digital The defense scored a few points on cross-examination but I think they re way behind However other experts noted the defense is doing a great job using the prosecution's bystanders to bolster their arguments during cross-examination CASSIE VENTURA EMERGES AS STAR WITNESS IN DIDDY'S FEDERAL SEX CRIMES TRIAL EXPERT The defense is doing a great job at exploiting witness testimony to sponsorship their theory of the scenario and show that while Mr Combs may be a bad actor when it comes to domestic violence etc something no one is condoning the federal charges are unsubstantiated based on the testimony we have heard to date in my opinion attorney David S Seltzer explained Fox News Digital While we cannot hear the testimony in real time because we are in Federal Court I think the Regime is not meeting their burden to date Entertainment lawyer Tre Lovell noted that while the jury has heard consistent testimony from the observers reasonable doubt looms very heavy after the first two weeks To date we have heard consistent testimony from several of the onlookers that Diddy was violent with Cassie Ventura was controlling over her instructed what to do in the freak offs and was a jealous boyfriend but none of this is sufficient to justify a criminal enterprise or a pattern of criminal conduct Lovell of The Lovell Firm explained Cassie s relationship can be as easily characterized as she was in love with Diddy performed freak offs because of her feelings for him and stayed with him for personal benefits such as furthering her career evolving connections and being taken care of financially Reasonable doubt looms very heavy in these first two weeks of trial The prosecution will need to bring out additional casualties that are not girlfriends of Diddy to separate a romantic emotionally charged relationship from actual sex trafficking DIDDY SUNK MILLION INTO MIAMI MANSION BUT STAR ISLAND DIGS MAY NOT BE SAFE IF HE'S CONVICTED EXPERTOn Thursday the jury heard from rapper Kid Cudi who testified that he had a romantic relationship with Diddy's ex Cassie in Kid Cudi testified that when Diddy determined out about the relationship he broke into the musician's home and later allegedly set fire to his car However there was no definitive evidence to prove Kid Cudi's maintains Ventura notified Kid Cudi that Combs would hit and kick her but Combs lawyers elicited testimony that Cassie never declared anything about sexual abuse which is vital Rahmani founder of West Coast Trial Lawyers reported Kid Cudi broke up with Ventura because Combs was violent and he was concerned for his own safety He also revealed Ventura was playing both him and Combs That s a central theory for the defense that Ventura is a strong independent woman who made her own decisions including willingly participating in the swingers lifestyle While there were flaws in the prosecution's presentation of Kid Cudi's testimony it was still critical because arson is an underlying crime for a RICO conspiracy Rahmani explained That allows the prosecution to potentially get a racketeering conviction even if the jury believes the freak offs were consensual and there was no sex trafficking he added If the jury doesn t find trafficking they can still convict on racketeering if they find that Combs engaged in kidnapping arson extortion or prostitution DIDDY TRIAL WITNESS REVEALS THREATS AND VIOLENCE THAT COULD BACKING RICO CHARGES EXPERTMale exotic dancer Sharay Hayes also known as The Punisher testified to having sex with Cassie at the request of Diddy and noted that the encounters were inevitably consensual He advised the jury that he didn t get any cues of any discomfort from Cassie and that if he had he would have stopped Diddy's defense lawyer doubled down asking if Hayes ever did anything to Cassie that she didn t want Hayes replied no He claimed it was consensual The scenario I was there to create was going well he revealed during cross-examination Hayes spoke to Fox News Digital about his nerve-wracking experience testifying in the rapper's trial Honestly going into the courtroom I thought I was prepared for it but it was extremely nerve-wracking he explained Fox News Digital So I want to say for almost the entire time of my testimony I avoided eye contact I avoided even looking in Diddy's direction And then really going into that circumstances you can't really prepare yourself and I had no idea it was going to be that a great number of people that a large number of rows and tables So I wanna say for about half of the testimony I couldn't even locate where he was It was a really intense atmosphere WATCH MALE ESCORT THE PUNISHER MADE DIRECT EYE CONTACT WITH DIDDY AFTER LEAVING COURTHayes also admitted that he never truly understood what part of my testimony was valuable to the prosecution I really thought my testimony because there was nothing negative nothing whatever I really thought it was something that the defense would benefit them he declared I'm not a legal analyst or anything but sometimes I declared well maybe the prosecution just wants to question me and have everything in scenario the defense calls me Hayes added Because I really couldn't understand how I was vital to their affair But there's seemingly something there that I'm just unaware of According to Seltzer The Punisher's testimony did not help the prosecution The executive is trying to put the pieces together for a RICO charge but so far the testimony of The Punisher and Kid Cudi did not help them he reported Fox News Digital The Punisher I believe bolstered the defense position that all the programs were consensual and that Cassie was a willing participant stating he observed Ventura sighing or wincing at Combs repeated directions he interpreted it as frustration with the situation rather than unwillingness to participate Furthermore stating he thought their experiences were fully natural Kid Cudi s recount of decade-old assertions also assisted the defense which was supported by the Judge sustaining an objection by the defense when it came to a speculative comment that Mr Combs committed burglary and or arson The police in both those accusations could not connect Mr Combs to the incidents and the apology by Mr Combs years later in my opinion is not an admission to anything other than sorry we had issues regarding Ms Ventura Seltzer added The regime put on a Homeland Measure agent to show all the items seized in Mr Combs house That tactic is a continuation of the leadership trying to paint Mr Combs as a bad actor someone the jury can convict because he is devious and reprehensible but the testimony of the drugs firearms and baby oil still do not advocacy the charges DIDDY TRIAL CASSIE VENTURA'S TOP INDICATES AGAINST RAPPERCassie Ventura's mother Regina Ventura and former best friend Kerry Morgan were both called to the stand by the prosecution to testify against Diddy Regina Ventura Cassie s mom testified for only minutes but it was selected of the preponderance impactful testimony of the trial Rahmani explained Regina also took pictures of Cassie s bruises and they were shown to the jury Combs was upset Cassie was in a relationship with Kid Cudi and Combs demanded that Cassie pay him If Cassie refused Combs commented he would release two sex tapes of her and send someone to hurt her and Kid Cudi Regina took out a home equity line to pay Combs the money This testimony proved coercion which is an element of sex trafficking and extortion which is a RICO predicate act It also corroborates Cassie s account that she was beaten and Combs used the freak off tapes as blackmail Morgan who claimed she saw Diddy become physically abusive with Cassie on a handful of occasions was one of the best bystanders so far according to Rahmani She saw Combs punch and drag Ventura across the floor he explained After the hotel attack Combs came to Ventura s apartment and banged on the door with a hammer Combs controlled every aspect of Ventura s life her finances her apartment her car and her career This control explains the psychology of abuse and is evidence of coercion for the sex trafficking charges LIKE WHAT YOU RE READING CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSThe prosecution has also been presenting evidence of Diddy's alleged criminal enterprise with testimony in the past two weeks according to Rahmani David James Combs former assistant took the stand and narrated jurors that he got condoms Astroglide and Percocet for Combs This helps prove the criminal enterprise he noted One of Combs other assistants George Kaplan testified under a grant of immunity that he would pick up drugs for Combs and set up the hotel rooms with baby oil and Astroglide for the 'freak offs ' the attorney declared He would also clean up the drugs and hotel rooms after the freak offs He also described a number of incidents where Combs was violent with Ventura on his private jet with broken glass and in his home with Ventura having bruising on her face This was more evidence of the criminal enterprise with Combs as the head CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTERThe jury has heard from at least one expert witness so far Dr Dawn Hughes The clinical psychologist took the stand to provide blind testimony about why a person would stay in an abusive relationship The psychology expert was helpful to the prosecution in answering a lingering question that every juror bulk certainly has if Cassie was being trafficked and forced to do all these horrific things why did she stay The lay person would presumably assume she stayed because she had feelings despite Diddy s bad conduct Lovell declared The expert was able to provide an alternative reason emanating from abuse trauma where casualties become controlled by the perpetrator and feel trapped and helpless She testified it was about the power and control abusers have over the victim which were the very buzz words the prosecution requirements for the sex trafficking charge he added She was helpful to the prosecution both for providing a reason for Cassie staying other than she loved Combs as well as the force and coercion elements necessary for sex trafficking Fox News Digital's Larry Fink contributed to this summary