← Drop Dead Serious With Ashleigh Banfield
Drop Dead Serious With Ashleigh Banfield
After 7 Weeks of Bombshells, Diddy’s Defense Rests in 10 Minutes | United States vs. Sean Combs Day 29
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Unknown Speaker
Foreign.
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Ashley Banfield
Hey everyone, I'm Ashley Banfield and this is drop dead serious. It was day 29 of the federal sex trafficking and racketeering trial of Sean Diddy Combs. And today felt like the defense was flipping the script. They are not calling any witnesses. What? And Diddy's not testifying. What? But they did spend 10 whole minutes presenting evidence to the jury and they tried to paint a very different picture of the man that prosecutors say ran a criminal sex trafficking empire. Yes, I said 10 minutes. I did not spend, say, 10 days or 10 hours. I said 10 whole minutes. I know. I was a little surprised at that, too. Well, I have to say, speaking of evidence, though, some of the most graphic exhibits that were shown during Jane Doe's testimony are now punished public. And let's just say once again, they are not safe for work, y' all. And I'm going to show them to you. So get your privacy shield on your monitor, put on your headphones, especially if you're at work or on the train or you got kiddos running around because I'm talking lingerie and heels and baby oil and lube and new videos of Diddy dancing. And you know, I'm going to tell you all about them and I'm going to show them to you in a hot minute. And by the way, I talked to two of the sharpest legal minds that I know about this topic that was on my News Nation true crime show, Banfield. First, the woman who prosecuted R. Kelly, Maria Cruz Melendez, and second, criminal defense attorney Sarah Azari. They both have opposing views on whether the defense did the right thing by resting today without calling a single witness. And I'm going to play you what they think and why they think it little later on in this episode. But first, I want to go back to where the day started. The morning itself opened pretty quietly. Sean Combs walked into the courtroom wearing a tan colored sweater. He loves the sweater and shirt combos, right? Like all the fashion that you've seen him wear on the red carpets and runways and at all his white parties and his, you know, met gal and all. Nuh, he was all Luigi Mangione. This is the uniform now. Like the sweater and the collared shirt and the button down and all the rest. No, he's just playing it real vanilla. He was calm, he was collected. And according to the reporters inside the courtroom, he has been reading a book called the Power of Positive Thinking. All this during his downtime in court. I'm gonna go on the record here. I'm not sure if that's gonna be enough to save his skin, but whatever floats your boat when you're, you know, facing being jailed for the rest of your life. So back on the stand today was Homeland Security agent Joseph Circiello. And again, Diddy's lawyer, Tenny Garagos, resumed her cross examination of this federal agent. She showed the jury a chart, a defense exhibit showing text messages between Jane Doe, Sean Combs and a man named K. Cabral. We know he's one of the escorts, right, that was involved in a lot of the freak offs. This exchange was supposed to be a tease of things to come after she played yet another sex video for the jury. But when she hit play on the video in court, that's one of these awkward moments. There was a technical snag, the translation equipment, batteries, something like that. Apparently dead. So Misgar goes pivoted back to the text messages alone. And yeah, they were graphic. Let me be honest. Diddy's lawyers want to show that the women he was dating were all in on that kinky sex stuff, that they enjoyed it, that they were willing participants, that it was just a bunch of freaky stuff between consenting adults, that they were not forced, that they were not coerced. So, of course, you know, his lawyers were want the jury to see the dirtiest possible sexting, you know, between Diddy and his women and between his women and the escorts, slash male prostitutes. And that the jury saw. They heard all about Jane telling the escort named Cabral that she, quote, enjoyed him last night. Cabral replied that it was, quote, the roughest they ever had and added, you took me so deep, I loved it. Right. If this is a text chained between the escort and Jane, and it has nothing to do with Diddy, and they're all in, you know, super psyched about it, really into the kinky stuff, then how can you argue that Jane is only doing it to please Diddy? I only went through with these things I hated to please my man. Well, your man is not on this text chain, so that's A really strong, you know, text chain for the defense to make sure the jury sees towards the ends of this case. And then came another batch of messages, this time from New Year's Eve. Same tone, same sender, filled with affection. Geragos made sure the jury knew that these messages weren't included in what the prosecution had laid out. The implication being that the. The government was cherry picking everything, right? Only the messages that supported their case, simply ignoring all the other messages that did not support their case. And Diddy's lawyer moved on to another text from late 2021 into the first half of 2022, and started drawing connections that the prosecution also didn't show. These messages were, again, between Jane and an escort, a man she referred to as the Italian Leo. The texts were from January through April, and they were flirty, they were dirty, they were graphic. Sometimes they were just transactional. And. And Garagos didn't just read them, she contrasted them. She put them, like, right up next to the government's chart, side by side with the defense's version. Right. Pointing out that there were entire gaps where texts about Jane's contact with escorts and Diddy had been totally omitted by the government. According to Garagos, the government just skipped right from April to July, three whole months. And in those months were the exact kinds of messages that the defense lawyers say undermine the narrative of control and instead paint a picture of choice text messages between Jane and Diddy. Like this exchange. So, what do you want to do? I'm horny. That's Jane. Diddy answers, I've been having dreams about you and Leo. Jane answers, I really just want you. And Diddy answers, okay, so there's an example of Diddy yielding to Jane's wishes. No pressure, no forced sex acts. Okay, we'll do it your way. Just you and me. And then came a photo. Garagos showed the jury an image of Jane and Diddy having dinner together, looking calm, even affectionate. And she followed it with more messages. Diddy told Jane he felt mangled after taking what he feared might have been a bad, bad batch of drugs. And Jane replied bluntly, quote, you probably just took too many, end quote. The defense here is trying to point to this exchange as proof that their relationship was just casual, even affectionate, not the dynamic of a woman living in fear. And then, to strengthen that argument, they brought the jury back to a familiar name, Paul Arthur. Not a new character, and not just Diddy's longtime personal trainer, but a key player in Jane's story. And one of Diddy's go to guys for free cough setups. They showed more messages, this time between Jane and Diddy. And Paul Garagos walked the jury through August of 2022, where Jane told Diddy that her place was free. And then the next day, after what Jane later referred to as a hotel night, Jane sent Diddy a long emotional message filled with gratitude and affection. A message that prosecutors had not shown the jury. Next up, October 2022. That's when another escort's name came up. Antoine. Then came a photo. Stiletto heels, sexy female lingerie, and a pair of boxer briefs, all laid out like a freak off starter pack. And spoiler alert, I'm going to get to what this starter pack actually looked like in just a second. But for his part, when asked about the photo, agent Circiello said he couldn't confirm anything about the boxer briefs. Not clearly anyway. And then the defense jumped forward few months to January of 2023. More messages between Jane and Diddy. This time after another hotel night. Quote, love you, baby. Jane texted, go to sleep. I loved every minute with you, end quote. And that wasn't all. She was also texting that escort named Cabral, arranging another free cough, sending money to the escort agency Cowboys for Angels, and confirming logistics. Agent Circiello admitted he did not remember all the details in the government's exhibit and asked about a message with a thumbs up emoji approving something called a, quote, night of debauchery. He simply replied, I remember generally. And then came a pivot straight to the luxury hotels and tropical islands in Feb. 2023. A month later, Diddy and Jane stayed at the Nobu Hotel and in March they took off for Turks and Caicos. This is important because Jane said in a lot of her testimony, all the other girls got the, the really great trips, you know, to Turks and Caicos and, and on the yacht. And I just got hotel nights, you know, domestic. I didn't get to go on these great Turks and Caicos trips. Well, there you go. There was evidence right there. Jane texted Cabral from Miami telling him to bring his passport and vaccine card. It's Covid times. And not to miss the 10:59am flight. She even sent a fairy emoji with the instructions. And after the trip, she followed up with Cabral, quote, I enjoyed my time with you. I can't find my gold bracelet. Cabral replied, it was on the sheet. Had a great time, baby. Again, Diddy's lawyers want the jury to see that Jane did not seem upset about the freak offs. She wasn't just going through the motions to please Diddy under duress. They say she was into it. They're showing right to the point of carrying on the messaging with the escorts, even when Diddy wasn't a part of it, even when she didn't need to, quote, do everything to please the man she loved. Right. Diddy was not a part of those messages. What's with the fairy emoji? And I'm into it. And I loved every minute of it. You know, that's powerful stuff. That's something this jury's really going to have to contend with. Next up, two explicit free cough videos were played for the jury. Ugh. I mean, I just feel so bad for this jury. How many days have they been subjected to Diddy's porn? And I don't know about you, but I really hate being shown, like, just snippets. Like, just show me the damn video, start to finish, and let me put it into context instead. Y' all are cherry picking your scenes, and you're showing them out of order and out of context. And I could imagine being on this jury and being, like, tired of it, pissed off. Okay, I get it. More of the same. And I will tell you this. The reporters in the courtroom said watching the jury today kind of look like they were, like, bored, tired, a bit annoyed, and, like, over it. And, you know, O.J. s jury got hammered with DNA evidence for. For nine months, and they were over it. Sometimes you can do too much. Sometimes you can play too much, say too much, do too much of the same thing, and you lose them. So I really wonder if that was happening here. I really wonder. And hey, it could be the defense's fault in cross examination, showing those same videos, but like, a different version of them, because again, they're cherry picking what works both sides. This jury is never going to be the same. They have had to watch more porn in the last three weeks than Kanye. And look it up. Kanye's admitted he has porn addiction. The first video played for the jury played straight through, and it lasted a few minutes, and nobody in the courtroom moved. Then came the second. But this time it was shown in fragments. 90 seconds here, then 40 more seconds, then a minute 10, then another nine seconds, then another 42 seconds. And somewhere in the middle of it all came an audio glitch. And it wasn't loud, but suddenly the room shifted because several people in the courtroom said they could hear a woman moaning. That was from the headsets on the jurors. It was an Echo leaking through the system. And like, suddenly the judge, like, sat up straight on the bench and turned to the jury and said, quote, please lower the volume on your headsets. We don't know exactly what was on these videos, but it is safe to assume that the defense believes they don't just show consent, they show enjoyment. And what the defense is trying to do here is simple. Blur the lines. Undo the damage that the prosecution showed them before. And then came the government's shot to rehabilitate their witness in a redirect examination. And prosecutor Maureen Comey. She came in hot. She was direct, she was fiery, and she was not about to let the defense have the last word here. Maureen Comey immediately turned to the issue of travel, asking whether the records show that Sean Combs paid for that escort Cabral to cross state lines. And Agent Circiello said simply, yes. And then Maureen Comey followed up. Did Sean Combs pay for Cabral's travel from Atlanta to Florida? Again, Agent Serciello confirmed yes. Okay. Let's just call it like it is, folks. If you know what the man act is. M A N N. If you know what the man act is, you cannot bring people over state lines for the purpose of prostitution. Simple. It's simple. And those questions were simple with very simple answers. Did you cross state lines from, you know, Georgia to Florida? Yes. That's what the agent confirmed. The travel record showed it. So this is hard to fight, right? I guess now you just have to fight whether it was actually prostitution. And you wait for it. You wait, because the four hours in summation that Diddy's lawyers are going to fight, they're going to say all up and down and every way till Sunday, oh, that wasn't prostitution. No. Diddy was just paying for their time and discretion.
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Ashley Banfield
That's when the reasonable thing comes in for jurors. What's reasonable? What's your. What's your gut tell you? Anyway, then. Then Ms. Comey shifted to. To June 2024, a time that the defense had actually just highlighted by Pointing to Jane's text messages with an escort named Antoine. Messages that suggested she was continuing to. To choose that swinger lifestyle on her own without Diddy a part of it, without just trying to make Diddy happy. She was doing this by herself. Had nothing to do with Diddy. So prosecutor Comey asked, were there any sexual or loving messages between Jane and Diddy during that same time that Jane is messaging with Antoine the escort? And Agent Cerciello said, no. And with that, prosecutor turned to the judge and said the magic words you always see in illegal drama. Nothing further. I always love that moment. Right. Because it's like finally. And then, after seven explosive, grueling, gut wrenching weeks, the government rested its case. That's right. After presenting 34. Four witnesses, after playing hours and hours of videotapes, and after showing the jury everything from rose petals to whips and stilettos, the prosecution has officially wrapped its case against Sean Diddy Combs. But now the jury isn't the only group of people seeing the evidence. Because after weeks of sealed proceedings and blackout orders, the images that were shown during Jane's testimony, they are finally out in the public. They were not shown in the courtroom today, but they were released by the Department of Justice. And let me tell you, these are not your typical exhibit photos. I want to explain to you exactly what's in them and why the images are significant, because on face value, they may not be. They will take a little bit of context. All right, now back to the newly released photos that the government just released, the same ones that Diddy's jurors got to see last month. In one picture, Diddy is flat on his back while a woman is giving him a massage, one leg lifted way up in the air like he's posing for an X rated Pilates ad. This is important because it corroborates the testimony that Jane outlined for the jury because she told them that after free coughs, they would often get massages in their hotel rooms, right? To recover from the days and hours and all the rest of the sex. And there that was. There was the picture showing exactly what she described, lest the jury think that Jane was just making it up. And then in another picture, Diddy is riding a stationary bike with a glass of champagne in hand, because, you know, apparently that's how you balance cardio and cocktails in Diddy's world. But again, this. This backs up testimony about Diddy working out in between free coughs and even when traveling with a personal assistant who doubled as a trainer. But the Photos got a lot more racy than that, especially when it came to the supplies for the King Knights or the freak offs or the. Whatever you want to call them. There were rows and rows of unopened lingerie, several pairs of stiletto heels, bottles and bottles of baby oil and Astroglide. And for good measure, there was a whip. All laid out like props, like staging for something more performance than passion. But then again, maybe that's what sparked hours and hours of passion. The question is, how consensual was this behavior every single time that those freak offs were planned? How consensual was it? And then there was the fantasy suite. A hotel bed covered in red rose petals shaped into a heart with more petals spelling out love on the counter. According to Jane, this was Diddy's idea of a makeup gesture. She told the jurors that in early 2024, after one of their many breakups, he wooed her back with a romantic candle at dinner in Miami. And that exact hotel room set up. She said it was all a cycle. Part of a cycle, she said. Trauma followed by luxury. Love bombing, abuse, then affection. Cassie had also described hotel rooms adorned with red balloons and rose petals in their relationship, too. All these photos, once sealed, are now public. But inside the courtroom, the focus had already shifted. The government's final witness stepped down. And without missing a beat, Diddy's defense team jumped in with the so called legal Hail Mary. Defense attorney Alex Shapiro stood up and made what's called a Rule 29 motion, essentially asking the judge, throw this entire case out. Don't even send it to the jury. Just throw it out. She argued the prosecutors had not proven racketeering, hadn't shown a criminal enterprise, hadn't tied Diddy directly to the predicate crimes listed in the indictment. But hold on to your hat. I have been to this rodeo a few times, like a few hundred times. And if your lawyer does not stand up and ask for a summary judgment just as soon as the prosecutors wrap up their case, then that lawyer ain't worth his or her salt. This is standard operating procedure, folks. It is a. Well, it's hella rare, okay, that it works, but sometimes it actually does. I have actually seen it work one time in my career. But Ms. Shapiro argued there's no evidence of a criminal enterprise. Claiming that employees only handled personal errands and had no knowledge of any alleged illegal activity. Ms. Shapiro pointed to messages where Combs hid his behavior from others, including kk. She said this is proof that nobody knowingly joined a conspiracy. But if I'm the judge. I'mma look at the messages about getting the Gucci bag all primed and delivered to Puff's hotel rooms. You know, the Gucci bag, the. The bag that was always jammed with all his favorite drugs, all the texts about drug dealing, supplying Diddy with his ketamine pops, etc. Look, I am not a wizard, but I know a thing or two about drugs and dealing and moving them is illegal. And pretty much everybody knows that. So why? They hide them when the cops come around, which means if you're texting about it, you know what you're doing is wrong and bad. But Diddy's lawyer continued. She challenged the sex trafficking and forced labor charges, saying they don't apply. And she cited examples of accusers like Capricorn, Clark, and Mia who did well in their careers after Diddy or even chose to stay employed by him. To which I say you can be two things at the same time. You can have a really bad go with one boss and then move on and. And, you know, get your life back together. That can happen. You can even have a really bad time with your boss and even stay there because you need the money or you need the job. But finally, Diddy's lawyer argued that there was no fraud or man act violation. That's the law again, that says it's illegal to bring someone across state lines for the purpose of prostitution. Did. His lawyer insisted those escorts were paid for their time, not for their sex, and called the escorts entertainers, not prostitutes. I'm gonna tell you right now, folks, the escort named Jonathan Odie, he told us on News Nation that he was 100% paid for sexual performances that he put on for Titty and his ladies for flat out said the money was for sex, not for time. There you go. And not for his dancing. So there you go. I mean, think about this, guys. These sex workers get up on the stand and they tell you their story, right? There's all this texting back and forth about leave the money for them at the front counter, $5,000 or whatever it is, right? You don't get that for a little dance. And I think we should give the jury more credit. Again, it's what you are. It's what's reasonable to you. Like, is that. Are the jurors that dumb that they think, oh, no, you're being paid for your time, not for your sex? I don't think so. I just don't think the jurors are that dumb. I think these escorts that stay there for hours and hours and Sometimes days on end, being directed by Diddy and Cassie where to do what and what to put in what thing. I think they're going to know they're being paid for sex and not for their time. They weren't there to chat. They weren't there to dance. As for Diddy's lawyers and what they were asking for to toss out the case before the jury even deliberates, the judge said that he would, quote, reserve ruling under Rule 29B, meaning he's going to hold off on deciding whether to toss out the case, at least for now. But I'm going to tell you, don't hold your breath, folks. I'd be a monkey's uncle if he was going to toss this case out. There is plenty of evidence by the government to meet the standard to allow the jury to get the case, to allow the jurors to be the finders of fact, Right? So instead of calling new witnesses or offering forensic rebuttals, Diddy's legal team opened their very, very, very, very, very short case with something far more subtle. Text messages. Anna Esteveo, one of Diddy's defense lawyers, stood up and was there before the jury began to read aloud messages that were sent by Cassie Ventura more than a decade ago. Quote, I'm the luckiest woman in the world, Cassie wrote to Diddy in 2012. Quote, I love being in love with you. Read another message. They pointed to more messages where Cassie told Diddy, I want to be your little freak. And another that ended simply, I love you. Diddy's lawyers introduced a stipulation from 2001 involving an escort named Daniel Phillips who admitted to feeling jealous when Diddy had sex with Cassie. Diddy's lawyers then introduced a stipulation from 2024 involving an escort named Daniel Phillips who admitted to feeling jealous when Diddy had sex with Cassie in front of him. They referenced Diddy Dawn Richard's testimony emphasizing that while she described Diddy allegedly throwing eggs at Cassie, she never said he threatened that, quote, people go missing, end quote. They questioned elements of Capricorn Clark's interviews, noting that in 11 out of 13 meetings, there's no mention of her calling a woman named Lauren London from outside of Kid Cudi's house. And when it came to Mia, the assistant, who said that Diddy had sexually assaulted her three times, the defense stressed that in her first three interviews, there were no allegations of sex initiated by Diddy. They pointed out that those details only surfaced in later meetings with the government. Same with Brianna Bana Bungolan. The friend of Cassie's who said that Diddy dangled her over a 17th story balcony. Even though timestamps of photos that she took of her injuries did not match with the dates where Diddy was even in town. Diddy's lawyers said that her report made no mention of Diddy threatening her during a photo shoot. Despite the prosecution's earlier claims, and if you can believe it, Diddy rested his case after 10 minutes. Seriously, seven weeks versus 10 minutes. The prosecution has been at this case for nearly seven weeks with gut wrenching testimony, explicit videos, graphic tests, financial trails, and food freak off logistics. But Diddy's team decided they needed only 10 minutes to defend him. So think about that for a second. Defending Diddy possibly against spending the rest of his life in prison, against all of the heinous allegations that had been leveled against him. And doing all of that in less time than it takes to order lunch. Next, the judge turned to Diddy and asked him directly if he planned to testify. And Sean Combs stood up in that federal courtroom, calm and collected. And the judge asked him, how are you today? And Diddy replied, and wait for it. This is awesome. I'm doing great. Your honor, I've been wanting to tell you, thank you. You're doing an excellent job. Well, then, you don't often hear that in a federal sex trafficking RICO trial, I can tell you that. But then came a series of questions, and they're standard for any defendant. What? Waiving the right to testify. Was he under the influence of drugs? The answer was no. Was he in his right mind? The answer was yes. Did he understand what was happening and had his attorneys explained everything to him? Yes, thoroughly, he said. And finally, was it his decision not to testify? And did he looked right at the judge and said, clearly, solely my decision with my attorneys. So no testifying for Diddy. Not that surprising, but still, you just never know with a guy who has a king complex. But I did say at the beginning of coverage, God, I hope he testifies. Oh, my God. Having somebody, you know, who clearly has anger issues, we've seen that on tape, right? He beat the hell out of Cassie on video. And then, according to so many witnesses, too many times to count. So with a guy who has that kind of a temper, it's always good to see, like, really clever lawyers getting under their skin and getting them to say stuff. Right? Like in an Aaron Sorkin movie where Jack Nicholson says, you can't handle the truth, you get so mad. Yeah, but we're not going to get that. We're not going to get that moment. I just had a feeling at one point maybe it would be possible that Diddy would look at his lawyers and say, I know more than you, because I know clients like that. Like Peter Nygaard is like that. He thinks he knows so much more than his lawyers. He goes off and does all sorts of things that his lawyers don't want him to do. Right. He would get up there and testify. In fact, has. Then he's sitting in jail because of it. By the way, I always talk about Peter Nygaard because he's also got a case in the Southern District of New York. Sex trafficking. Right? Almost the same set of, of facts that they've been laying out against Diddy. And I'm gonna link this in the playlist, in the description. We've got like six episodes, so description of this episode. It'll be linked. I highly recommend you go and listen to this because it is a blueprint for what we've been seeing with Diddy. And that's a guy, if he ever makes it to the Southern District, he's got so many damn trials, he gonna get up and testify. Even though his lawyers will tell him, shut up, don't talk. You will not do yourself any favors. Oh, Peter Nygaard knows better. And he will, I guarantee, in all of his trials, he will get up there and he will say, shut your damn mouth. I'm going to get up there, I'm testify. So now, of course, for Diddy, it will all come down to closing arguments where the defense will hopefully for him, make their point crystal clear. And then it's all about who's the better lawyer, who does the better lawyering, who's the better communicator. Somebody who can, like, sum up weeks and weeks of evidence into this nice little gift. A little packet, easy to understand, a narrative, like a bedtime story, right? And you're gonna have to wait until Thursday to find out, because that's when this courtroom shifts into its final phase, closing arguments. And they are expected to last at least a full day, maybe even two, because they're each being given four hours. And I know you're saying, well, four hours times two, that's eight hours. But you can't go four hours in court without a break, right? Usually, you know, there's a morning break that's 15 minutes, then there's a lunch break, then there's an afternoon break that's 15 minutes. And you just can't fit that much closing argument into an eight hour day. Unless the judge decides, let's start early and go late. Maybe they'll get it all done Thursday. But here's the way it works. The government goes first and gives its closing, and then Diddy's defense gets their shot. And then the prosecutors go again. They get one more time for a closing rebuttal. And why, why did they get two bites at the apple when the defense only gets one? Because they have the burden. And pretty much everywhere. I mean, there are a couple states that do it a little different, but generally speaking, the prosecution gets the last word. And in any, this is a federal trial, but in any states, if you see the defense starts and then the prosecution ends, well, then they just have two closings. But they will always give the last word to the prosecutors because the burden is on them. And, you know, for, for a jury, you know, a lot of times, the last word, the most important, it's what sticks with you the most. Right. So in this particular case, prosecutors, then defense, then prosecutors again, don't ask me if that second rebuttal is part of the four hours, because I don't know that. But I will be doing the math. So now, as promised on my News Nation show, Banfield and shout out to News Nation, 10:00pm Eastern, I have a crime show, a true crime show. You got to check it out. I asked these two extraordinarily brilliant women, two of the sharpest legal minds in the business to weigh in. One was former R. Kelly prosecutor Maria Cruz Melendez, who knows a thing or two about sex trafficking and racketeering because she won the case. And criminal defense attorney Sarah Azari, who feels like they haven't done it, that the government hasn't done it. I asked them to weigh in on this, on this rodeo. Right. That they've been at. Sarah is not so sure that the prosecutors are going to win this, that they're going to get their man. Right. But I don't know Maria Melendez. She feels like it's pretty strong. Here's what they told me about which side has the upper hand right now. Cruz Melendez. She's a former federal prosecutor who handled multiple organized crime cases, in particular the R. Kelly conviction, which, may I remind you, was sex trafficking and racketeering in, in the Southern District. And Sarah Azari is a criminal defense attorney and News Nation legal analyst and also one of our favorites. Ladies, so good to have you both. I cannot wait for this conversation. Maria Diddy's team bailed. They decided they were not gonna mount a case. They were not gonna. Well, they put a few things on the record, but they weren't gonna call a single witness. Do you believe with all of your background and experience that they really did think the government didn't meet its burden, or do you believe that they couldn't find an unimpeachable witness to get up there and sing Diddy' praises without risk of the prosecution tearing them to ribbons?
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Maria Cruz Melendez
Yeah, I think at the end of the day, they're weighing whether or not they can make the arguments that they want to make on closing without giving access to the prosecution, to witnesses where they could make additional points. And so is it possible that they had a number of witnesses that could have provided helpful information? I think that's absolutely the case. But to use your word, would they have been unimpeachable? Probably not. I think they would have given access to the prosecution to make additional points. And you mentioned earlier the fact that the defense doesn't have a burden. They don't need to put a case on. And so I think at the end of the day, what they're going to end up relying on is the fact that they think the government hasn't met each and every one of the elements that they're supposed to meet.
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Ashley Banfield
So, Sarah, I know from watching so much of your coverage, you have not felt at any point in this trial, to my knowledge, that the prosecution has mounted a racketeering and sex trafficking case. I don't know if you feel the same way about transportation for the purpose of prostitution, but do you really believe that the prosecution hasn't met its burden?
- [37:31]
Unknown Speaker
Ashley? Look, it takes one juror to agree with me, and he's not guilty of sex trafficking and racketeering. And I think that they're definitely overreaching on the racketeering. It's just putting Jane on having two victims going missing. Remember that this jury, when they go to deliberate, they're not going to just be focused on what evidence was presented, but what evidence is missing. Where did those two other victims go? Where is Christina Corum, who's been referenced in text messages and is clearly a co conspirator, So I don't think they have him on that. I do think that they've met their burden beyond a reasonable doubt on the prostitution. We've got male escorts being flown around for the purposes of sex across state lines. And I think that that's a clear thing. But, you know, if I was the defense, Ashley, I wouldn't be mad at that charge. Right, because that helps the jury get this really bad guy on something and don't let him walk out unscathed. So I kind of like the prostitution charge in the mix. As a defense attorney, when I've got these kinds of facts, I don't think they've met their burden on the sex trafficking either. And remember, you know, we've got two different kinds of victims. We have a Jane victim and then we have a Cassie victim. And there are different dynamics, they're different relationships. One's vulnerable, one's actually, to me, an equal. Jane is. And I just, I think this is going to be a hard, daunting task for this jury to think, were these women not just adults who were consenting to this freaky lifestyle or was this really coercion?
- [39:02]
Ashley Banfield
So I'm glad you brought that up because, Maria, I would love you to weigh in on this. All the way along, I have felt like Cassie was beaten into submission. From the evidence that I saw, she just tried to go to a party once and she was yanked out by her hair and beaten black and blue just for going to a party. God forbid she leave the man. So I feel as though the terror was real for Cassie that she had to perform lest she deal with that, you know, on a regular basis. And when I say regular, many of the witnesses could not count how many times they saw her beaten in black and blue. But Jane was different. She had a $10,000 a month apartment that she didn't want to lose. Does that matter to these jurors or could they just say, I see sex trafficking with Cassie, I don't see it with Jane, but that is still a predicate act for racketeering?
- [39:54]
Maria Cruz Melendez
Well, I think at the end of the day, I agree with Sarah in that the Mann act, the prostitution charges are likely to see a conviction with those. But Jane is different in terms of the relationship. And I think that's where the defense has poked the most holes in the government's case in their cross examination of Jane. And so I do think there's a stark comparison between the two of them. And so the jury can decide at the end of the day, count two is the sex trafficking with regard to Cassie Ventura. So they're going to find guilty, find him guilty on that, I think it's likely they'll find guilty. As we mentioned on the man act of the RICO is sort of a toss up because I do think it, it hinges on their ability to show that there was a coconspirator. And I think the defense counsel has an opportunity to say here, we didn't see Christina Corum. This is the co defendant or the Excuse me, the co conspirator. We didn't see Christina Corum testify here and there's not enough evidence to show this. So I think we could see a split verdict. We could very much so see a situation where they look at Jan and they say you were a consenting adult. There are lots of text messages that suggest that you either enjoyed it or perhaps maybe it wasn't your cup of tea, but you did it because you were his girlfriend and you did it because you wanted to please him and because you loved him, not because you were scared of the consequences of not doing it.
- [41:17]
Ashley Banfield
There is that financial fear though, that he was dangling over her head in several messages saying, I can take that apartment away at any time. We both can stop what we do in this contract at any time. So I do wonder how the jurors will feel about that.
- [41:29]
Maria Cruz Melendez
But actually, yeah, but the defense counsel.
- [41:36]
Ashley Banfield
Start with what you were saying, Maria. You said that was a form of go ahead.
- [41:39]
Maria Cruz Melendez
That is financial constraints and coercion is one of the ways that they can prove their case 100%. And if the government, if a jury is convinced of that, then the government can use that versus fear of physical attack. But during cross examination, defense counsel was able to show that it's Jane wanted to leave at any moment. She was financially secure and she could have supported herself and wasn't 100% dependent on Sean Combs. And so I do think there's room for reasonable doubt with respect to Jane and the sex trafficking.
- [42:11]
Ashley Banfield
Well, actually that's what I thought, Sarah, because she was a model, right? She was an only fans model making 10k before she met Diddy.
- [42:19]
Unknown Speaker
Right. I don't know how much money she was making as an OnlyFans model, but she had a three month security deposit on that $10,000. Let me tell you, I'm from LA. That's a lot of rent in LA. Okay. And that's, you know, she, she wanted providers, she liked men to pay for her. That's a choice. Right. And as much as Diddy was holding up the rent card, I'm going to pull the rent if you don't do this and that, don't get on your job. You know, in one of the text messages she was pulling the hotel night card, essentially saying, if you don't get back here from that vacation you're taking with this other woman that I'm jealous of, you're not going to get a hotel night. So there was very, I did not see a power dynamic at play in this relationship. I very much Saw her as somebody who stands her ground, is a first aggressor in an altercation that they had. She's the one that attacks them first. So she's not the same person. To me, there's really a split screen between her and Cassie. With Cassie, we have a control. She was younger, she was vulnerable. We have control of her career, we have control of her. Like you said, her, who she hangs out with, what she does. You know, there was a lot more control there. And honestly, look, to Maria's point, they could find him not guilty as to Jane, sex trafficking Jane, but guilty as to Cassie. I mean, he's still doomed, you know, So I don't, you know, I think this would ultimately be sentenced on sex trafficking that would run concurrently. So at the end of the day, you know, guilty on one is the same as guilty on two.
- [43:52]
Ashley Banfield
And I hate putting people to the test with math on command, but Maria, I'm gonna do it. If there's a guilty verdict for Cassie's sex trafficking, and they do see that it falls into the rubric of RICO and of course the man act, the transportation for the purposes of prostitution, which I agree. I think that one's dead to rights. What would he serve for that? What's the possibility there, Maria?
- [44:18]
Maria Cruz Melendez
The sex trafficking, the way they've charged it, carries a 15 year mandatory minimum. And with RICO, it can go up to 20 years. And as Sarah mentioned, there's a likelihood of that running concurrently. And so we, you know, we could see as much as a 20 year sentence, but ultimately it'll be up to the judge whether or not they think any. Any mitigating factors exist. But if he's convicted on the sex trafficking, 15 years mandatory minimum.
- [44:47]
Unknown Speaker
Well, and I think Ashley, I mean. Right, right. It's the rest of his life. But the defense here is consent. Obviously, money grab is the defense's star witness. And then don't forget the drugs. There was a lot of testimony elicited on cross examination about whether or not he was under the influence of when he did all these bad things. The blackmailing, the threats, you know, the forced labor and all these things. And so that matters not just at sentencing as a mitigating factor, which is huge at federal sentencing, but also in closing arguments that the man that you would think is guilty of these things is not that man. That man was a monster on drugs. I expect the defense to argue that heavily.
- [45:28]
Ashley Banfield
I have yet to see a DUI case where it was like, well, I was really drunk. I didn't mean to kill them.
- [45:33]
Unknown Speaker
No, it's not a.
- [45:34]
Ashley Banfield
It's not a do that.
- [45:35]
Unknown Speaker
Yeah, it's not a dirty defense, but it's an explanation. Look, we got to explain it.
- [45:39]
Ashley Banfield
Defense lawyers, you guys both have to come back because this has been one of the more insightful discussions that I have seen on this case. And I just can't stand when people throw their attitudes out there, but without backing it up. So thank you both Maria.
- [45:51]
Unknown Speaker
And I really liked Maria. I thought she was a straight prosecutor. I appreciate those prosecutors.
- [45:57]
Maria Cruz Melendez
Thank you so much. Happy to be here.
- [45:59]
Unknown Speaker
Come back.
- [46:02]
Ashley Banfield
And one last note. There were reports that were swirling around that the defense might actually use their closing arguments to question the government's priorities, even citing the recent bombings in Iran as an example of maybe more important things that the federal resources should be spent on. I can tell you right now from again, being at these rodeos a whole lot, that would be the biggest effing objection. You can't just bring that in. You can't just say that stuff. But before, before that could even happen, the government made it crystal clear on the record they would object to any attempt to bring in politics or global conflict into the courtroom. And defense attorney Mark Agnifolo, he quickly assured the judge that there was absolutely nothing to worry about. So either he backed off on trying to wedge something in like that. Cuz sure, you could say it. They can object that bell got rung. You can't unring it. You can object, but the jury hears it. So either he backed off on the plan or the rumors were just not true to begin with. I'm actually siding on the rumors were not true to begin with because I think that would be really stupid. So it's been seven weeks, my friends, and we have heard about beatdowns and bribes and escorts and baby oil and lube, but the most important speeches of the trial have not happened yet. There is no court on Wednesday. And then on Thursday and Friday, it's closing time. You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here because the jury is going to get the case. Then they will go behind closed doors and they will begin to deliberate. And you don't get to see it. You don't get to be there for it. You just have to wait. But we are going to be here for every minute of it. So make sure that you're subscribed on your favorite podcast platform, because trust me, the verdict could come in at any minute and you will want to be ready. Also, if you enjoy the podcast, I would love, love, love to hear from you. And the best compliment you can give me is a review on Apple or Spotify or just let me know what you think in the comment section. If you're watching this on YouTube, I'm Ashley Banfield. And listen, whether you're watching or listening, thank you so much for watching, for being a part of this little community. And remember, the truth isn't just serious, it's drop dead seriously.