NEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors at Sean “Diddy” Combs ‘ upcoming federal sex trafficking trial can show jurors video of the hip-hop mogul hitting and kicking one of his accusers in a Los Angeles hotel hallway, a judge ruled at a hearing Friday.
U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian said Combs’ lawyers failed to convince him that the explosive security camera footage should be excluded. Its relevance to the case outweighs any potential prejudice to the 55-year-old defendant, the judge said.
Subramanian ruled on the video as he set ground rules for the May 5 trial in New York City.
Combs sat between his lawyers in a yellow jail suit, his formerly jet black hair now almost fully gray because dye isn’t allowed at the Brooklyn federal lockup where he’s been held since his arrest last September.
Prosecutors disclosed that Combs was offered a plea deal, which he rejected.
The video shows Combs — wearing only a white towel — punching, shoving and dragging his former protege and girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie, and throwing a vase in her direction on March 5, 2016, at the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles’ Century City district.
The video wasn’t public until CNN obtained and aired it in May 2024. The network turned the footage over to prosecutors in response to a subpoena.
Prosecutors say it’s “critical to the case.”
Combs’ indictment alleges he tried to bribe a hotel security staffer to stay mum about the video. Cassie, in a since-settled November 2023 lawsuit alleging years of abuse, claimed he paid $50,000 for the footage.
The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, did.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges alleging he coerced and abused women for years with help from a network of associates and employees while silencing victims through blackmail and violence, including kidnapping, arson and physical beatings.
Federal prosecutors allege the Bad Boy Records founder used his “power and prestige” as a music star to induce female victims into drugged-up, elaborately produced sexual performances with male sex workers in events dubbed “freak offs.”
Earlier this month, prosecutors obtained a new indictment that added two charges to Combs’ case and accused him of using force, fraud or coercion to compel a woman to engage in commercial sex acts from at least 2021 to 2024.
Prosecutors say they expect four accusers to testify against Combs.
They contend the assault on Cassie depicted in the 2016 video happened during a “freak off.” Combs’ lawyers have argued that the footage was nothing more than a “glimpse into a complex but decade-long consensual relationship.”
Combs apologized after CNN aired the footage, saying in a social media video statement that he was “truly sorry” and that his actions were “inexcusable.”
“I take full responsibility for my actions,” Combs said, adding that he “was disgusted then when I did it. I’m disgusted now.”
In seeking to exclude the video from the trial, Combs’ lawyer Marc Agnifilo argued that the footage was “deceptive and not in accordance with the actions that took place.”
Agnifilo said certain portions of the video were sped up by as much as 50% or taken out of order, making it a “misleading piece of evidence.”
Prosecutors told Subramanian that they were working with Combs’ lawyers to come up with a suitable version that can be shown by jurors. They said that includes having a video expert review the footage and slow down the clips to reflect the speed at which the event shown actually transpired.
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