Hip-hop Sean “Diddy” Combs began his trial on sexual trafficking on Monday with prosecutors saying that he attracted women to romantic relationships, forced them to participate in drug-watered sex parties and blackmail them with videos of the meetings.
Combs “violently attacked” women when they resisted parties, known as “freak offs”, or when they disturbed him in some way, prosecutor Emily Johnson said during her initial statement at the Manhattan Federal Court.
She told the jurors that they would hear the testimonies of victims who stated that Combs beat them routinely and explodes with anger at the smallest insults.
“They will tell you some of the most painful experiences of their lives. The days that have spent in hotel rooms, drugged, dressed in costumes to make the defendant’s sexual fantasies,” said Johnson.
Defense lawyer Teny Geragos countered by stating that prosecutors were trying to transform Combs romantic relationships into a case of extortion and sexual trafficking.
“Sean Combs is a complicated man, but this is not a complicated case. This case deals with voluntary choices made by adults capable of consensual relationships,” Geragas said in his initial statement.
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Combs declared innocent of five criminal accusations of conspiracy for extortion, sex trafficking and transport for prostitution purposes. If convicted of all charges, he could take at least 15 years in prison and even perpetual.
Prosecutors accused Combs of using their fame and fortune to abuse women. It is expected that the defense against activities were consensual and says that there was nothing illegal in a swinger lifestyle, in which Combs and their girlfriends occasionally included a third person in their relationships.
Throughout a two-month trial, jurors must hear the testimony of three or four rapper accusers, as well as their former employees, who, according to prosecutors, helped organize and cover their actions. R&B singer Cassandra Ventura, an ex-girlfriend of Combs and professionally known as Cassie, is among the first witnesses who should testify.
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The Combs Defense strategy at the trial will also be based on undermining the credibility of women who witness to him, arguing that they would have been motivated by money to accuse him and have unusual memories.
