Sean Combs: Cassie Ventura takes the stand.
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Who are the hosts and what is the podcast about?
Hey everyone, Andrea Canning here with a bonus drop from the Dateline True Crime Weekly team. For the next eight weeks or so, we'll be bringing you daily updates from the trial of Sean Diddy Combs. I'll be talking to NBC News correspondent Chloe Malas every day after court about what she's seeing inside, the witnesses, the evidence, and what it all means. Starting tomorrow, episodes will drop in the Dateline True Crime Weekly feed. This is On Trial, a special podcast from Dateline True Crime Weekly, bringing you daily coverage from the Sean Combs trial. I'm Andrea Canning. Today is May 13th. In this episode, we're going to be talking about some graphic details and harrowing subject matter.
What charges is Sean Combs facing?
Sean Combs is facing charges of racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation for the purposes of prostitution, all of which he has denied. The second day of testimony began with his defense team's vigorous cross-examination of a man who says that he was paid to have sex with Combs' then-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, and that he also saw Combs behave violently toward Cassie. Then, just after 11 a.m., the prosecution called Cassie Ventura herself. She is their star witness, and NBC News correspondent Chloe Malas was in the courtroom when Cassie made her way to the stand. She joins me now from just outside the courthouse to tell us what happened next.
She's eight months pregnant and walks into this courtroom wearing this fitted brown dress, this long brown overcoat. Her husband was sitting right in front of me and you could hear a pin drop. This has been the most anticipated testimony for
Who is the first witness and what did he testify?
Before we get to Cassie's actual testimony, let's talk about this other witness who started the day off. He is the man who says that in 2012 and 2013, he met Cassie and Sean Combs at hotels around New York City and at both of their homes. This was for sex with Cassie. He testified yesterday and again today on Cross that he witnessed Combs being violent with Cassie on at least two occasions, and it made him very uncomfortable, but yet he decided not to say anything.
He is a bit of a conundrum. During his testimony, he talked about having participated in these freak-offs and that he developed a friendship with Cassie, or so he thought. On cross-examination, one of Combs' attorneys, Xavier Donaldson, really picked apart his testimony and said, look, some of the things that you're saying are not what you told investigators in the lead-up to this trial.
How was the cross-examination of the first witness conducted?
And I know that this witness, he apparently said that he had thought about going to police but didn't want to because he enjoyed being being part of this world that he was in with these celebrities.
On one hand, he says, I was so afraid for my life. I did not know what Sean Combs was capable of, which is why I didn't go to the police, which is why I didn't physically intervene. But then there's a text exchange between himself and Cassie Ventura after this incident where he claims he saw Combs be violent with Cassie where he says, I just love y'all. That's paraphrasing the text message. And when Xavier Donaldson on cross-examination said, well, if you were so scared for your life or you were so disgusted by what you had seen, why did you write that? And he actually says, oh, well, I didn't mean what I texted. I just did that to bait Cassie because they wanted her to ask me to participate in another freak-off so that I could go see her in person and make sure that she was emotionally and physically okay because I was worried about her. But is that something that the jury's really going to buy?
Combs' children were in court. How did they handle this? Did they stay for the entirety? I mean, it's a lot. Yeah.
You know, at one point, prosecutors introduced a photo as evidence just to establish the fact that Cassie was dating Combs, and it was early on in their relationship. And in the photo, it's Cassie, Sean Combs, someone else, and Kim Porter. Reportedly, the love of Combs' life died of pneumonia several years ago, and her children were in that courtroom.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
Who are the hosts and what is the podcast about?
0:01–0:45
2
What charges is Sean Combs facing?
0:45–1:42
3
Who is the first witness and what did he testify?
1:42–2:35
4
How was the cross-examination of the first witness conducted?
2:35–5:38
5
How did Combs' children and ex-partners react in court?
5:38–7:44
6
What happened when Cassie Ventura took the stand?
7:44–10:27
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from Dateline: True Crime Weekly
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