公开辩论于2007年周一开始备受期待的审判嘻哈天王肖恩·迪迪·库姆斯。
55岁的库姆斯帮助塑造了说唱和R臭名昭著的B.I.G .、亚瑟和玛丽·J·布里吉等艺术家在20世纪90年代和21世纪初发展起来的&B行业，被指控为强迫性贩运、运输卖淫和敲诈勒索阴谋的一部分轰动一时的联邦起诉书最初于2024年9月提交。后来，他又面临两项替代起诉。库姆斯对所有指控均不认罪。
库姆斯被指控是一个所谓企业的头目，该企业“虐待、威胁和胁迫妇女”与男妓进行长期的、以毒品为燃料的性狂欢，他称之为“怪胎”，然后威胁她们保持沉默。他说所有的性行为都是两厢情愿的，他的律师马克·阿格尼菲洛说他只是换妻生活的一部分。
“库姆斯先生以前说过，现在还会再说一遍:他强烈否认SDNY的指控，”阿格尼菲洛在3月份对美国广播公司新闻的一份声明中说。“他期待着出庭的那一天，那时将会清楚地表明，他从未强迫任何人违背他们的意愿进行性行为。许多前员工袖手旁观站在他的一边，准备证明他们在帮助建立开创性的、获奖的企业时所经历的奉献、努力和灵感。
法庭今天结束，凯茜·温图拉将于周二出庭作证
辩护律师泽维尔·唐纳森对男伴丹尼尔·菲利普的盘问结束。
唐纳森说他还有大约一个小时的盘问时间。
预计凯茜·温图拉将是下一个被传唤为控方作证的证人。
男性陪同描述了在库姆斯的指导下与凯茜·温图拉的几次性接触，声称库姆斯袭击了凯西
丹尼尔·菲利普，一名男伴，描述了他与凯茜·温图拉的几次所谓的性接触，他声称是在尚恩·库姆斯的方向。
菲利普作证说他在格拉梅西公园酒店遇到了文图拉和库姆斯。
这是菲利普斯作证时说他与文图拉和库姆斯在纽约的一些地方发生的几次性接触中的第一次，如埃塞克斯住宅、洲际酒店、库姆斯在西56街的个人住宅和文图拉在西区大道的个人住宅。
菲利普说，在这些所谓的遭遇中，库姆斯提供了方向和指示，并说他每次遭遇的报酬在700美元至6000美元之间。
菲利普作证说，有一次，他说在一次所谓的遭遇中，有人给了他“莫利”这种药物。他声称还有一次他看到库姆斯和凯西发生肢体冲突。
菲利普说，在一次性接触后，当库姆斯从卧室里喊道，“宝贝，过来”，文图拉正在她的电脑上
据菲利普说，文图拉回答说，“等一下”，然后他说库姆斯从卧室出来，“看到一个瓶子从她身边飞过，撞到了墙上。”
“库姆斯先生走向凯西，抓住她的头发，开始把她拖到卧室，”菲利普说。“他拖着她时什么也没说。她在大喊大叫。她在尖叫。库姆斯先生把她拉进卧室，我听到的声音听起来像是他在扇她耳光。”
菲利普说，他无意中听到库姆斯说“B -，当我告诉你来这里，你现在就来，而不是以后。”
菲利普说所谓的暴力令他震惊。“它是突然冒出来的。我吓坏了。我不知道该怎么办，”他说。
检察官莫林·科米问他为什么不干预。
“我只是告诉你我心里在想什么。我当时的感受。我的想法是，这是一个拥有无限权力的人，即使我去找警察，我也可能最终失去我的生命，”菲利普说。
当文图拉和库姆斯走出房间时，菲利普记得库姆斯问“你们现在准备好继续了吗?”
库姆斯一直在听这个证词，他双臂放在身体两侧，双腿交叉，从被告席上微微后退。
库姆斯的国防问题官员对2016年涉及凯茜·温图拉的事件的描述
在反诘问中，辩护律师Brian Steel提出，酒店保安Israel Florez在作证时说，第一次在酒店走廊遇到Combs时，他脸上有一种“魔鬼般”的表情，这可能是在美化他的陈述。
在你的报告中，你在哪里描述库姆斯先生有“魔鬼般的眼神”?”斯蒂尔问道。
“这是我的意见，但不是事件的一部分，所以不在报告中，”弗洛雷斯回应道。
斯蒂尔还试图指出，弗洛雷斯不需要寻求援助，因为库姆斯是合作的。
“你刚来的时候，他坐在椅子上?”斯蒂尔问道。
“是的，”弗洛雷斯回答道。
"你没看到他对这位年轻女士有任何不耐烦的举动吗?"斯蒂尔问道。
“不，”弗洛雷斯回答说。
在redirect上，检察官重播了一部分显示库姆斯袭击文图拉的视频，并试图表明弗洛雷斯的事件报告不一定包括2016年3月那一天发生的所有事情。
"你被期望包括每一个细节吗?"检察官克里斯蒂·斯拉维克问道。
“不，夫人，”弗洛雷斯回答道。
弗洛雷斯在作证后离开了证人席。第二名控方证人是丹尼尔·菲利普，一名男性陪同，他说他被付钱在格拉梅西公园酒店与凯茜·温图拉发生性关系。
陪审团看到2016年显示凯茜·温图拉袭击的视频
检方向陪审团播放了2016年3月库姆斯攻击凯茜·温图拉的视频。
酒店监控录像显示，文图拉穿着蓝色裤子和黑色帽衫，站在加州世纪城洲际酒店六楼的电梯口。她脚边有两个包:一个小一个大。
在视频中可以看到文图拉从大袋子里取出袜子。当视频显示尚恩·库姆斯从拐角处出现，从后面抓住她并把她摔倒在地时，她开始光着脚穿上鞋子。视频显示，他随后踩死了她，并将她拖向他们的房间。
文图拉站起来，从地板上捡起东西。然后，有人看到库姆斯再次靠近她，拿着一部手机，坐在椅子上，向她扔花瓶。陪审团看到了走廊地毯上破碎花瓶玻璃的照片。
库姆斯似乎冷静地观看了视频，双臂交叉在被告席上。他的母亲和孩子坐在他身后的观众席上，没有任何反应。
在第二段视频中，早前作证的酒店保安伊斯雷尔·弗洛雷斯护送库姆斯去他的房间。监控录像上没有音频，但可以看到这两个人在交谈。“我试图贬低，”弗洛雷斯早些时候就这次谈话作证。
弗洛雷斯用他的手机录下了陪审团看到的第三和第四段视频。在其中一张照片中，弗洛雷斯与库姆斯和文图拉交谈。没有声音，但他作证说，他敦促他们回到自己的房间，并告诉他们，走廊的损失将出现在他们的酒店账单上。
LAPD officer testifies he found Combs with 'woman in distress' in 2016
The evidentiary phase of Sean Combs’ trial began Monday with testimony regarding when Combs was caught on hotel surveillance footage attacking his then-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura.
The first witness to take the stand was Israel Florez, an LAPD officer who was working security at the InterContinental Hotel in Century City, CA in March 2016, when he said he responded to a call about “a woman in distress” on the sixth floor.
“After I responded, when I got out of the elevator, I observed a male and female in the elevator lobby,” Florez said, adding that he recognized the male as Sean Combs.
“I seen Mr. Combs in a towel and some colored socks.” Florez said, adding that Combs gave him what Florez described as a "devilish stare,” and noted that Ventura looked “scared.”
“She was pretty much just covered up. I couldn’t see her face. She was pretty much in the corner,” Florez said. He also said he noticed that the flower vase that decorates the hallway was destroyed.
“She was saying that she wanted to get her phone, her bag, she wanted to leave,” Florez testified. At one point, he said, Combs allegedly told Ventura, “you’re not going to leave.”
Florez testified that he followed the pair back to their room and stood in the doorway. He said he noticed a “male, Black, wearing dark clothing sitting at the corner of the bed.”
Once Ventura left the room, Florez said Combs called to him. “He was pretty much holding a sack of money and he said, ‘here, take care of this for me, don’t tell anyone,’” Florez testified.
Florez said he later noticed that Ventura had a “purple eye.”
Federal prosecutors have said that Combs is seen on video “brutally beating” Ventura as she tried to escape a so-called “freak off” sex party. Defense attorneys conceded what the video depicted “is dehumanizing and violent and terrible” but said it was a fight over a phone.
Federal prosecutors have argued that the case is not about a celebrity’s private sex life. Instead, they said that “the sexual conduct at issue in this case was coercive and criminal.”
Jury comprised of New Yorkers with wide range of ages, occupations
The jury hearing the case against Sean Combs is comprised of eight men and four women from varying backgrounds.
Among the men on the jury is a 69-year-old massage therapist, a 68-year-old retired former bank employee, a 41-year-old clerk for a correctional facility, and a 51-year-old scientist. Rounding out the list of men on the jury is a 31-year-old investment analyst, a 68-year-old retired former telephone company lineman, a 39-year-old social worker, and a 67-year-old logistics analyst for a bank.
The women on the jury include a 30-year old deli clerk, a 42-year-old nursing home employee, a 43-year-old physician's assistant, and a 74-year-old treatment coordinator for a nonprofit.
The jurors are from New York City area -- five from Manhattan, three from the Bronx and four from Westchester County.
There are six alternate jurors, including four men: a 57-year-old architect, a 35-year-old unemployed man, a 40-year-old physician scientist and a 37-year old administrative officer with an international government organization. The two female alternates are a 71-year-old dance foundation worker and a 24-year-old site operator for a coffee service company.
Defense addresses Combs' relationship with Cassie Ventura, 'Jane'
Cassie Ventura and “Jane” are both “capable, strong” women who chose to remain with Sean Combs, the defense insisted during opening statements.
Ventura was “not coerced to engage in this sex life,” and “Jane” was “desperate” to be with Combs, defense attorney Teny Geragos said.
According to Geragos, Ventura attended the funeral of Kim Porter in 2018 when she heard Combs call Porter his soulmate. The defense attorney said it became clear to Cassie then that she was never going to be the love of Combs' life and so she left him with no repercussions.
When Ventura testifies it will be the first time that she and Combs have seen each other since that day in 2018, according to Geragos.
“What he understood was that she was a willing participant in their sex life,” Geragos said, and suggested Ventura is now motivated by money.
Geragos said “Jane” and Combs had a “toxic, dysfunctional” relationship but the defense attorney insisted that she, too, was a willing participant in sexual activity.
“Being a willing participant in your own sex life is not sex trafficking,” Geragos said.
Geragos said jurors may find videos of the sexual activities difficult to watch “because they were never meant to be seen” and are “intimate.”
Federal prosecutors said the videos are evidence of the alleged blackmail that Combs used against women who did not obey him.
Defense says Combs is 'not charged with being mean,' mentions Combs' 'swinger's lifestyle'
In opening statements, Combs' defense attorney, Teny Geragos, said Combs may come across as mean but reminded jurors that he's "not charged with being mean, he’s not charged with being a jerk.”
Geragos insisted that the criminal charges Combs faces relate to his private, personal sex life. “The government has no place here,” she said.
The defense conceded Combs “has a temper” and “got violent” when they say he drank or used drugs but insisted domestic violence was not part of any RICO conspiracy or was meant to coerce women into sexual acts.
The defense said the 2016 hotel security video of Combs and Cassie, in which Combs physically attacks her, shows a fight over a phone. Geragos said what is depicted in the video “is dehumanizing and violent and terrible” but not evidence of sex trafficking.
“It is evidence of domestic violence,” Geragos said.
Geragos said Combs led a “swingers’ lifestyle” and downplayed “freak offs” as consensual threesomes.
“That may not be what you like to do in your bedroom,” Geragos said. “But you are not here to judge him for his sexual preferences.”
Prosecutor Emily Johnson urged the jury not to believe how the defense characterized the evidence, which they said shows, among other things, Combs violently forcing Cassie and 'Jane' to participate in freak-offs under the threat of releasing videos of the event. Prosecutors have previously pointed to the 2016 video of Combs kicking and dragging Cassie as evidence of allegedly sex trafficking his then-girlfriend for a “freak off” in which she was forced to engage in sex acts with male prostitutes.
Defense insists Combs is 'a complicated man'
After the prosecution announced Cassie Ventura, “Jane" and others will testify at trial, defense attorney Teny Geragos, in her opening statement, accused the government of trying to turn relationships and choices involving consenting adults into a racketeering case.
“It will not work,” Geragos said.
“Sean Combs is a complicated man but this is not a complicated case. This case is about love, jealousy, infidelity and money,” Geragos said.
Opening arguments: Prosecution details Combs' alleged dealings with Cassie Ventura, another victim
Sean Combs, the “musician who created an empire,” also ran a criminal enterprise with his “trusted inner circle” that committed “crime after crime” for 20 years, including kidnapping, arson, drug offenses, sex crimes, bribery and obstruction, a federal prosecutor said Monday in opening statements.
The prosecutor also detailed Combs’ alleged dealings with ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura and another anonymous victim.
The prosecution described how Combs allegedly “used lies, drugs, threats and violence to threaten and coerce first Cassie and then 'Jane' to have sex with him in front of male escorts.”
Combs had no discernible expression on his face as the prosecutor recounted the acts he allegedly committed. His six children and his mother are seated in the second row listening to all of it.
Jury is seated ahead of opening arguments
A jury was selected Monday to hear the evidence against Sean Combs.
The 12-person jury includes eight men and four women.
The defense accused federal prosecutors of bias since most of the government’s nine peremptory strikes were Black prospective jurors.
“By our count, the government struck seven Black people which, it’s our belief, amounts to a pattern,” defense attorney Marc Agnifilo said.
“The government has conducted itself completely neutrally during jury selection,” prosecutor Maureen Comey responded. “The jury itself is composed of a very diverse group of jurors.”
Comey then listed “neutral” reasons for exercising each peremptory strike, including a woman who recognized 17 names on the list of people who could potentially come up at trial, and a man who she said gave “meandering, nonsensical answers” and once called police officers “assholes.”
The judge rejected the defense’s challenge.
“The government has given race-neutral reasons,” Judge Arun Subramanian said.
Combs argued earlier this year the prostitution charge he faces should be tossed because, he claimed, federal prosecutors demonstrated racial animus. Federal prosecutors denounced the argument as baseless.
Combs enters court ahead of finalized jury, opening arguments
Combs entered courtroom 26A in a white dress shirt, light-colored pullover and khaki pants, smiling and blowing kisses to his mother and six children, who are seated in the second row and and are all wearing black and white.
“I could use a little more if you don’t mind,” Combs responded after the courtroom deputy asked if he had been given water.
Combs embraced his eight lawyers, who are seated at two separate tables, then donned reading glasses and began to flip through pages of documents.
The six women who are prosecuting Combs on charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation for prostitution are seated in the front row, all wearing dark jackets.
Attorneys for both sides are preparing to finalize the jury of 12 plus six alternates.
Forty-three prospective jurors, all of whom live in Manhattan, the Bronx and New York City’s northern suburbs, were summoned to court Monday. The judge opted to choose the jury today out of concern that, if given the weekend to think about it, jurors may have second thoughts about serving.
Jury selection to finish Monday
While opening arguments are still scheduled to begin Monday, Judge Arun Subramanian decided not to seat the final jury on Friday as originally planned.
Instead, worried about more juror candidates dropping out -- as two did overnight Friday -- the judge decided to seat the jury on Monday morning.
"We can get the jurors, all 43 in, at 8:30," Subramanian said in court Friday. The lawyers will do their strikes at 9 a.m. "so we can roll right into initial instructions, the swearing in of the jury and opening statements."
Who is representing Sean Combs in court?
Facing the potential of life in prison on sex trafficking and racketeering charges, Sean Combs hired a high-profile team of defense lawyers for his criminal trial in New York.
With a combined 150 years of legal experience, Combs' legal team has defended everyone from alleged UnitedHealthcare CEO killer Luigi Mangione to disgraced financier Martin Shkreli and rapper Young Thug.
"In looking at the team ... it seems like they've got people who are experts in their own kind of general areas," said ABC News legal contributor Brian Buckmire. "I think the team that Diddy has put together are some heavy hitters in their own rights, and they're working together as such."
