Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs has been accused of offering a hotel security officer hush money after allegedly attacked his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in 2016, a court heard
Music mogul Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs allegedly offered a hotel security officer hush money, according to court proceedings.
Israel Florez, who was called to a hotel following an assault by Combs on his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in 2016, described finding the accused wearing only a towel and seated in a chair, “slouched down, like with a blank stare … like a devilish stare, just looking at me,” he recounted.
The jury was presented with two mobile phone videos and three hotel CCTV clips relating to Combs’ attack on Cassie at the Los Angeles hotel. Florez testified that he captured the hotel’s footage of the assault on his mobile as he wanted to relay what he had witnessed to his wife, fearing she might not believe him otherwise.
Video surveillance footage shown to jurors depicted Combs attacking Cassie at a Los Angeles hotel in March 2016, which prosecutors argue is crucial evidence in their case against him. The video shows Cassie near the hotel’s lifts with a bag, moments before Combs appears, hits her, throws her to the ground, kicks her, and then drags her back towards their hotel room.
Florez was summoned to attend to a woman in distress on the sixth floor of a Los Angeles hotel. He noted that the hotel’s floor display was damaged and informed the rapper that the cost would be added to his room bill.
However, as he escorted Combs and Cassie to their room, it’s reported that Cassie indicated she wished to leave. “You’re not going to leave,” Combs allegedly declared. Florez shared with the court his response: “If she wants to leave, she’s going to leave.”
He then claimed that after Cassie had departed, as he was about to leave himself, the rapper beckoned him back and presented a wad of cash, topped with a $100 bill, instructing: “Don’t tell nobody.”
Florez interpreted this as an attempted bribe and recounted telling Combs in court: “I don’t want your money, just go back into your room.”
The prosecution is leveraging Florez’s account to bring forward recordings of Combs assaulting his then-girlfriend, singer Cassie, at a hotel in March 2016.
Defence attorneys previously sought to exclude the video from the trial, arguing that a version broadcast on CNN last year was prejudicial due to editing and being incomplete. However, prosecutors clarified they will not be showing the CNN footage but instead intend to present unedited recordings from within the hotel to the jury.
Diddy’s legal team contends that while the evidence might indicate other offences by their client, it does not constitute proof of the sex trafficking and racketeering charges he faces.
Diddy’s defence lawyer, Teny Geragos, described the alleged assault as “horrible, dehumanising violence,” but insisted to the jury that it “is not evidence of sex trafficking. It is evidence of domestic violence.”
She further explained that Diddy’s sexual encounters were part of his swinger lifestyle, involving consenting adults.
Geragos acknowledged that some jurors might disapprove of “his kinky sex and his preferences for sex”, but she urged them to approach the case with an open mind. She stressed that these sexual preferences do not equate to sex trafficking.
Geragos admitted that Combs can be extremely jealous and “has a bad temper,” revealing to jurors that he sometimes lost his cool when under the influence of alcohol or “did the wrong drugs.”
However, she reiterated: “domestic violence is not sex trafficking,” and being unpleasant does not equate to running a racketeering enterprise. Adopting a casual tone, Geragos suggested to jurors they may conclude: “I think he’s a jerk and I think he’s kind of mean.” But she said he’s not charged “with being mean or a jerk.”
Combs maintains his innocence regarding all accusations.
She painted Combs as a physical person, a drug user, and someone who has “a bit of a different sex life.”
The trial continues.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
