Bernarda Villalona
Appearances
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura's Second Day of Testimony
Well, there not just going to make it clear with Cassie because they are going to call other witnesses. And more importantly, one of the most important witnesses is expert that's going to testify about women that have been abused before and why they will decide to stay in a relationship even though they're being abused by their abuser. So try to explain this type of syndrome.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura's Second Day of Testimony
To me, it's like battered wife syndrome, right? a sexual assault victim, that it takes a while for a person to be strong enough, one, to realize that they were a victim, two, that they're ready to walk away, and three, that they have the power and they'll be okay if they walk away. So you're still going to hear from that witness.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura's Second Day of Testimony
But I think more importantly is that when we're talking about things that you and I would normally think, I wouldn't want to do that. I wouldn't agree to that. When we're talking about having sex while she's on her menstrual cycle, or having sex while she has a sexual UTI, or having sex while someone's urinating on her. Like, it sparks the conscience, shocks the conscience.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura's Second Day of Testimony
So that's one of the main arguments that the prosecution is going to drive through and drive home to the jury at the end of this case to be like, no one in their right mind will agree to this type of behavior.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura's Second Day of Testimony
Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, the prosecution is not there yet. I think they've made an excellent case for domestic violence. But baby, we are here on federal charges. So you're going to have to prove the racketeering conspiracy. You're going to have to prove the sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion. You're going to have to prove the transportation to engage in prostitution.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura's Second Day of Testimony
And I think right now and again, this is only what day three of testimony. They haven't got into that racketeering conspiracy. I think that in terms of the other two charges, you haven't gotten there beyond a reasonable doubt. This is not a civil lawsuit. You have a burden and that burden is beyond a reasonable doubt. And you're going to have to meet it with some evidence.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura's Second Day of Testimony
Well, the prosecutors, they're doing the best that they can in terms of getting the emotion out there. They want the jury to feel what Cassie felt living in her shoes each of those days that she was part of a freak-off, that she was on drugs, that she was drinking alcohol, that she was beating viciously by Puff Daddy Combs.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura's Second Day of Testimony
So that's what they want because they want that emotional attachment for that jury when they go into deliberations to fight for her and fight for the prosecution to return a guilty verdict.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura's Second Day of Testimony
But they also want the jury to know that, look, she may have been in this relationship for years, but it's because she was under the manipulation and the control of Sean Combs that she remained in that relationship, not knowing any better that she was an actual victim and that she should have walked away.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura Takes the Stand
So the prosecution is definitely laying out a picture, a story of the life of Cassie with Sean Combs, and especially the violent nature of it, but then the sexual nature of it. And I think what they're doing is piece by piece, they're laying out all these freak off moments, and now they're starting to get to the nitty gritty part, meaning the most extreme ones, the ones that shock the conscious.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura Takes the Stand
For example, when she mentioned that Sean Combs would have her participate in these freak-offs when she was on her menstrual cycle. I think that right there shocks the conscience. And the prosecution did a great job in ending with that line of questioning to show the jury that, look, this is not just domestic violence. This is not just people having consensual sex.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura Takes the Stand
This is the type that no one will want to engage in.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura Takes the Stand
So, Eva, the devil is in the details. When you're determining credibility, when you're determining believability, you want the witness to try to give you as much details as possible to determine whether that person is telling the truth. So that's why the prosecution is heavily focusing on these details, because in the end, this case rises and falls on the testimony of Cassie Ventura.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura Takes the Stand
And in order for the jury to find her credible and believable, they have to look at her testimony, as well as a demeanor, as well as anything that corroborates her testimony, and evaluate all of that to determine, in fact, whether Sean Combs is guilty of these crimes. So the devil's in the details, so they have to get it out.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura Takes the Stand
The violence absolutely matters here because it's the violence is what actually quieted Cassie as to not say anything for all those years. Look how long it took her to finally say something.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura Takes the Stand
And that's a common issue that you see with domestic violence victims, with sexual assault victims, because it takes them a long time, number one, to realize that they were victimized and two, to have the courage to come forward and actually to speak to other people about what happened to them. But three, Look what happens behind closed doors. You just never know what happens behind closed doors.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura Takes the Stand
So this violence, this her being scared is all a part of the violence and the crimes that took place here and what the prosecution is moving forward in front of this jury piece by piece.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura Takes the Stand
So when Cassie was testifying about the text messages, she also put it into context as to why she sent those text messages, what was going on in her mind, that she wanted to satisfy Sean Combs, that she wanted to be a part of this in the sense of that she was scared that if she didn't participate, what would happen to her.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura Takes the Stand
These are also common signs of people that are domestic violence victims, that are sexual assault victims that you see.
Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy
The Trial: Cassie Ventura Takes the Stand
We're ultimately going to see later on during the trial an expert come in and testify as to how and why victims like these react the way they do and are capable to send these texts that may look consensual to other people, but when you break it down mentally, you're able to see that this is a victim, a person that is broken, a person that has been tainted, a person that has been brainwashed as a result of the violence and the control that Sean Combs had over her.