The high-profile federal sex trafficking case against Sean “Diddy” Combs got underway in Lower Manhattan on Monday, with the rapper and disgraced mogul’s defense team making clear in opening statements that their client was a sexual deviant and abuser — but argued that his sexual proclivities, drug use and documented history of domestic violence also did not make him guilty of the government’s claims he was the mastermind of a criminal racketeering enterprise.
“We will not shy away from the things he did, but we will not own the things he did not do,” defense attorney Teny Geragos told jurors in opening statements. “He is physical, he is a drug user, you may know of his love of baby oil. Is that a federal crime? No.”
Why It Matters
The testimony from the opening day of the trial, which is expected to last at least eight weeks, suggested Combs’ defense would not attempt to cast him as entirely innocent — going so far as to immediately acknowledge he was guilty of the domestic abuse seen on an infamous hotel surveillance tape — while reminding the jury that the specific crimes he has been charged with are of a different nature that, they argue, are not supported by evidence.
Combs is charged federally with sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. Prosecutors allege that Combs orchestrated days-long, drug-fueled parties called “freak offs,” where escorts and others were coerced into performing sexual acts for his pleasure. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and denies any wrongdoing.
“The evidence is going to show you a very flawed individual,” Geragos said in the defense’s opening statement. “But it will not show you a racketeer, a sex trafficker or somebody transporting for prostitution.”
What To Know
Geragos told jurors that they are not evaluating the case as “the moral police,” and instead asked them to see if the evidence meets the charged offenses.
“Domestic violence is not sex trafficking,” Geragos told jurors.
One alleged victim in the case is Cassandra Ventura, a model and artist known as Cassie who dated Combs for 11 years. In May of last year, surveillance footage surfaced of Combs grabbing, shoving, dragging and kicking Ventura inside a Los Angeles hotel in 2016. The video was played in court on Monday.
Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor and president of West Coast Trial Lawyers, said the distinction between physical and sexual violence is important in this case.
“Because of the 2016 video, Combs had to admit physical violence,” Rahmani told Newsweek. “And what he’s trying to do is say, ‘Look, you know, this was a physically abusive relationship. This was domestic violence. This was toxic, but it wasn’t rape, and it wasn’t sexual assault, and it wasn’t sex trafficking.'”
The ability to draw that line for jurors will be key in Combs’ legal strategy, according to Rahmani.
“It’s an important distinction, because, again, there are no charges related to the physical violence,” Rahmani said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson said during the prosecution’s opening statements that the 2016 video was just the “tip of the iceberg” which will reveal, in testimony, that Combs sat atop a two-decade criminal enterprise that involved others in his inner circle covering up his alleged crimes.
“Some of the details of what happened to them will be hard to hear,” Johnson said, referring to the alleged victims. “He used lies, drugs, threats and violence to force and coerce first Cassie and later Jane [another former girlfriend and prosecution witness whose identity is being withheld] to have sex with him in front of male escorts.”
Inside the courtroom, Diddy’s hair and goatee appeared graying as he sat at the defense table wearing a gray sweater, a white collared shirt and gray pants. He will commute to the trial daily from a federal detention center in Brooklyn, where he has been in custody.
Members of Diddy’s family, including his mother, were in attendance for Monday’s opening statements. His three daughters left the room during some of the more sexually explicit testimony.
What People Are Saying
Rahmani, speaking about the 2016 video in an interview with Newsweek: “There’s no getting around it. If you are the defense, you’ve got to lean into it and admit that he was physically violent. And that’s the line that they’re trying to draw.”
Johnson, in the prosecution’s opening statement: “He used his companies to manipulate women, forcing them with male escorts to have sex while he watched. He and his inner circle made sure he got everything he wanted.”
Geragos, in the defense’s opening statement: “This case is about Sean Combs’ private personal sex life. The government has no place in his private bedrooms. They say it is not about his private sex life, but the evidence will show that it is.”
What Happens Next
The trial is expected to last well into the summer. The prosecution began calling witnesses immediately after opening statements concluded.
Combs is facing a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.
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