Sean 'Diddy' Combs sex-trafficking trial: L.A. investigators testify they didn't have evidence to charge rap mogul in home break-in, car fire - Newsday
Los Angeles authorities investigated a break-in and car fire at the center of the federal racketeering and sex trafficking charges against Sean "Diddy" Combs, but never brought charges against the rap pioneer.
An LAPD officer and a Los Angeles Fire Department arson investigator testified on Wednesday in Manhattan federal court that they looked into both crimes, but missed opportunities and missing evidence hindered the investigations.
Combs’ lawyers have said that their client has led a colorful life filled with complicated relationships in which he sometimes engaged in domestic abuse, but is not guilty of the indicted charges of racketeering or sex trafficking, nor the underlying crimes.
The incidents, which happened on Dec. 22, 2011, and Jan. 9, 2012, allegedly stemmed from a relationship that had developed between Combs’ former girlfriend, pop singer Cassie, whose given name is Casandra Ventura, and rapper Kid Cudi, also known as Scott Mescudi.
Ventura, Mescudi and Capricorn Clark, the former head of global marketing for Combs’s vast liquor, fashion and music enterprise, told the jury in testimony over the last two weeks that the Bad Boy Records boss was responsible for both incidents after he flew into a jealous rage over the relationship.
Federal prosecutors charge that Combs used the security and support staff of his multifaceted, multimillion-dollar business to intimidate former girlfriends into partaking in marathon sex sessions — called "freak-offs" — with hired male escorts while he watched and sometimes recorded. He allegedly blackmailed the women, including Ventura, involved in the case, threatening to release the footage widely if the women did not continue to participate.
Combs is also charged with sex trafficking the victims and transporting male strippers and escorts for the purpose of prostitution.
To prove the racketeering conspiracy, prosecutors must convince the jury of four women and five men that he committed at least two underlying crimes, such as kidnapping, arson, forced labor, witness tampering, bribing a witness or drug possession.
On Tuesday, Clark testified that in December 2011, Ventura and Cudi, who had recorded together, became romantically involved after Ventura and Combs temporarily split up. When Combs found out about it, Clark testified that he beat Ventura and then rushed to Cudi’s home armed with a gun to confront the musician.
Combs and his bodyguard entered the house looking for the romantic rival, tearing open Christmas presents and locking his dog in the bathroom, Cudi testified.
LAPD Officer Chris Ignacio told the jury Wednesday that he responded to a call about a break-in to Cudi’s home and saw a black Cadillac Escalade with tinted windows pulling away from the home as he arrived. The officer and his partner did not stop the vehicle, but memorized its license plate, which he testified he later discovered was registered to Bad Boy Productions.
He said that they looked through the home and did not see any intruders. When they found expensive presents still there, they figured that it was perhaps a trespassing case, but not a burglary, he said. The officers also collected fingerprints from the scene.
Ignacio said that later during the investigation, he saw the same black Escalade drive by the house again, and again did not stop it.
He told the jury that he could not see inside the vehicle because of the heavy tinting on the glass.
Weeks later, Cudi said that he got a call from his dog’s caregiver that his car had been firebombed. The Porsche 911 Cabriolet had been cut open through its soft top and someone had thrown a Molotov cocktail into the car, burning the interior, he told the jury.
Los Angeles arson investigator Lance Jimenez testified on the witness stand that he believed that the firebombing was "targeted."
On the car’s driver’s seat, he found a 40-ounce Old English malt liquor bottle still mostly filled with gasoline. He said the wick to the explosive had been fashioned out of a "designer-type" handkerchief made out of "silky" material that had failed to remain ignited after the bomb was dropped into the car.
Jimenez said that he collected fingerprints from the scene as well, but could not compare them to the fingerprints from the earlier crime scene at the same home because they had been destroyed.
Defense attorneys called for a mistrial, saying the prosecutors were eliciting testimony suggesting that Combs had used his power, money and influence to tamper with the evidence.
U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian denied the motion, noting that they had not objected until the last two responses from the witness. He agreed to strike the testimony and instructed the jury to disregard the answers.
On Thursday, another former Combs employee is expected to take the stand under a pseudonym to testify about sexual abuse she claims she suffered from the music mogul during her time working for him.
Los Angeles authorities investigated a break-in and car fire at the center of the federal racketeering and sex trafficking charges against Sean "Diddy" Combs, but never brought charges against the rap pioneer.
An LAPD officer and a Los Angeles Fire Department arson investigator testified on Wednesday in Manhattan federal court that they looked into both crimes, but missed opportunities and missing evidence hindered the investigations.
Combs’ lawyers have said that their client has led a colorful life filled with complicated relationships in which he sometimes engaged in domestic abuse, but is not guilty of the indicted charges of racketeering or sex trafficking, nor the underlying crimes.
The incidents, which happened on Dec. 22, 2011, and Jan. 9, 2012, allegedly stemmed from a relationship that had developed between Combs’ former girlfriend, pop singer Cassie, whose given name is Casandra Ventura, and rapper Kid Cudi, also known as Scott Mescudi.
Ventura, Mescudi and Capricorn Clark, the former head of global marketing for Combs’s vast liquor, fashion and music enterprise, told the jury in testimony over the last two weeks that the Bad Boy Records boss was responsible for both incidents after he flew into a jealous rage over the relationship.
Federal prosecutors charge that Combs used the security and support staff of his multifaceted, multimillion-dollar business to intimidate former girlfriends into partaking in marathon sex sessions — called "freak-offs" — with hired male escorts while he watched and sometimes recorded. He allegedly blackmailed the women, including Ventura, involved in the case, threatening to release the footage widely if the women did not continue to participate.
Combs is also charged with sex trafficking the victims and transporting male strippers and escorts for the purpose of prostitution.
To prove the racketeering conspiracy, prosecutors must convince the jury of four women and five men that he committed at least two underlying crimes, such as kidnapping, arson, forced labor, witness tampering, bribing a witness or drug possession.
On Tuesday, Clark testified that in December 2011, Ventura and Cudi, who had recorded together, became romantically involved after Ventura and Combs temporarily split up. When Combs found out about it, Clark testified that he beat Ventura and then rushed to Cudi’s home armed with a gun to confront the musician.
Combs and his bodyguard entered the house looking for the romantic rival, tearing open Christmas presents and locking his dog in the bathroom, Cudi testified.
LAPD Officer Chris Ignacio told the jury Wednesday that he responded to a call about a break-in to Cudi’s home and saw a black Cadillac Escalade with tinted windows pulling away from the home as he arrived. The officer and his partner did not stop the vehicle, but memorized its license plate, which he testified he later discovered was registered to Bad Boy Productions.
He said that they looked through the home and did not see any intruders. When they found expensive presents still there, they figured that it was perhaps a trespassing case, but not a burglary, he said. The officers also collected fingerprints from the scene.
Ignacio said that later during the investigation, he saw the same black Escalade drive by the house again, and again did not stop it.
He told the jury that he could not see inside the vehicle because of the heavy tinting on the glass.
Weeks later, Cudi said that he got a call from his dog’s caregiver that his car had been firebombed. The Porsche 911 Cabriolet had been cut open through its soft top and someone had thrown a Molotov cocktail into the car, burning the interior, he told the jury.
Los Angeles arson investigator Lance Jimenez testified on the witness stand that he believed that the firebombing was "targeted."
On the car’s driver’s seat, he found a 40-ounce Old English malt liquor bottle still mostly filled with gasoline. He said the wick to the explosive had been fashioned out of a "designer-type" handkerchief made out of "silky" material that had failed to remain ignited after the bomb was dropped into the car.
Jimenez said that he collected fingerprints from the scene as well, but could not compare them to the fingerprints from the earlier crime scene at the same home because they had been destroyed.
Defense attorneys called for a mistrial, saying the prosecutors were eliciting testimony suggesting that Combs had used his power, money and influence to tamper with the evidence.
U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian denied the motion, noting that they had not objected until the last two responses from the witness. He agreed to strike the testimony and instructed the jury to disregard the answers.
On Thursday, another former Combs employee is expected to take the stand under a pseudonym to testify about sexual abuse she claims she suffered from the music mogul during her time working for him.
