Casandra Ventura, better known as Cassie, resumed her gripping testimony Wednesday in the federal sex-trafficking trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs, her former partner of nearly a decade.

On the second day of her appearance as the prosecution’s star witness, Ventura detailed a pattern of alleged physical, emotional, and sexual abuse evidence that prosecutors argue sits at the core of a criminal enterprise orchestrated by the music mogul.

The courtroom fell silent as a now-infamous hotel surveillance video from 2016 played for the jury. In it, Combs appears to repeatedly lunge at Ventura in a hallway. As Ventura described the moment, prosecutors walked her and the jury through the footage frame by frame. Photos shown in court revealed her injuries, a black eye, swollen lips, and visible bruising.

Ventura, who is visibly pregnant, testified that following the assault, a concerned friend called the police. Although officers visited her apartment, she said she couldn’t bring herself to name Combs.”I wasn’t ready,” she said, her voice steady.

Further into her testimony, Ventura described receiving messages from Combs begging her to call him saying he was being arrested and later banging on her apartment door. “Please stay away from me,” one of her messages read.

She also revisited allegations of being coerced into “freak-offs” sexual encounters with male escorts that she claims Combs directed, watched, and recorded. The experience, she said, left her humiliated and trapped. “He controlled everything,” she told the court, from her professional career to the most intimate parts of her life.

In a courtroom packed with onlookers and press, the jury remained stoic, their eyes alternating between Ventura and the evidence presented.

Members of Combs’ family, including his sons King and Justin and his mother Janice, sat emotionless. Cassie’s husband, Alex Fine, was also in court but is expected to exit for parts of her testimony, as he may later be called as a witness.

Court proceedings began with a heated exchange between attorneys over the timing of evidence submissions. Judge Arun Subramanian urged the defence to provide the prosecution with all exhibits intended for cross-examination in advance. The defence had attempted to bar Fine from the courtroom entirely, a motion the judge ultimately did not uphold.

Legal experts say Ventura’s testimony could make or break the case. Jennifer Beidel, a former US attorney, noted that Ventura’s decade-long relationship with Combs gives her unique insight, but it could also expose her to scrutiny from the defence. “They may try to question why she stayed so long without sounding like they’re blaming the victim,” Beidel said.

Combs, 55, faces charges of racketeering, sex trafficking, and transporting individuals for prostitution. Some of the most serious accusations involve claims of kidnapping, drugging, and threatening women with firearms.

If convicted, he could face life in prison. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

As rain poured outside the Manhattan courthouse, crowds once again formed early to secure seats, most ending up in overflow rooms where they watched via closed-circuit video.

Cameras are barred from the courtroom, making sketches and testimony the only public record.

Ventura’s testimony continues as prosecutors seek to build their case, before the defence begins cross-examination later this week.

Erizia Rubyjeana

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