The jury in Sean “Diddy” Combs’s sex trafficking trial witnessed excerpts of what prosecutors described as “freak-off” sex marathons. These videos, recorded by Combs during drug-fueled sessions, are central to the case.
Prosecutors presented clips from three sex videos. These were recovered from a mobile phone belonging to Combs’s former girlfriend, Cassie, and provided to authorities. The videos offered jurors a direct look at the encounters they have been hearing about since the trial began on May 12.
One video was dated October 14, 2012. Prosecutors allege that on this day, Combs participated in a “freak-off” in New York City with Cassie and sex worker Sharay Hayes, also known as “The Punisher”.
Prior to showing the clip, prosecutors presented an invoice for a stay at the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Manhattan on October 14, 2012. The booking was made under Combs’s alias, Frank Black. A note on the invoice indicated the guest requested the room at 3 a.m.
Prosecutors also displayed text messages showing Cassie, whose real name is Casandra Ventura, arranging the October 14 meeting with Ms. Hayes.
In one message, she asked: “Can we actually do 3am at the Trump hotel, Columbus Circle?”
Mr. Hayes replied: “Great. I’ll text when I’m on my way,” and stated his fee for the encounter was 200 dollars (£147) cash.
The jury also viewed clips from videos taken on October 20, 2012, and December 4, 2014. The total length of the shown video excerpts was several minutes. While at least one juror reportedly winced at one video, reactions were generally subdued.
Defence lawyers contend that the videos demonstrate consensual sex, not criminal acts.
Due to the explicit content, the video excerpts were only viewable by the jurors, the prosecution and defence teams, and Combs, all of whom used headphones to hear the audio.
Reporters and the public were prohibited from seeing or hearing the videos.
The video presentation was the most significant part of a day otherwise dominated by “summary witnesses”—government agents presenting extensive text messages, travel records, and other documentary evidence.
After six weeks of testimony and evidence, prosecutors stated their intent to rest their case on Wednesday.
Following the prosecution’s case, Combs’s lawyers will begin calling their own witnesses.
Earlier in the trial, a forensic video expert, hired by the prosecution to enhance the videos, identified them by date and exhibit number and characterized them as “sex videos”.
Prior to Monday, jurors had only been shown still images extracted from the “freak-off” videos.
Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges after being arrested in September at a New York hotel.
He has been denied bail multiple times and remains incarcerated in Brooklyn.
Before the jury entered the courtroom on Monday, Judge Arun Subramanian dismissed a juror due to “clear inconsistencies” in his answers about his residency (New York or New Jersey) during both last week’s proceedings and jury selection.
“Taking these all together, the record raised serious concerns as to the juror’s candour and whether he shaded answers to get on and stay on the jury,” the judge stated.
Judge Subramanian initially announced the juror’s dismissal late on Friday. However, following protests from defence lawyers, who argued that replacing the black juror with a white juror could compromise the jury’s diversity, he left open the possibility of a final questioning session.
The judge concluded that further questioning would be unproductive, potentially leading to “another set of shifting answers,” effectively preventing the restoration of the juror’s credibility.
