← Drop Dead Serious With Ashleigh Banfield
Drop Dead Serious With Ashleigh Banfield
“He Watched from the Corner”: Disgusting Day One for Diddy in Federal Court
00:27:31
Loading summary
Transcript1 lines
- [00:00]
Ashley Banfield
Foreign. Hey, everybody, I'm Ashley Banfield, and this is Drop Dead Serious. And yes, I know I don't look like I normally look. I am traveling. So I'm coming to you from a hotel room. But that doesn't mean that I haven't been covering the Diddy Combs case in New York because I, I thought it was going to be big. I didn't think it was going to be this big. But this was not a good day. I got to say, this was not a good day for Sean Combs. It's never a good day if you're charged with sex trafficking and racketeering. Right. In federal court, it's never a good day. But on day one, when the stories start coming out in narrative form to the jury, that it is the good, bad, the ugly, and there are more witnesses that we didn't know about. Yeah, you got your uphill climb ahead of you if you're Diddy's lawyers. And you know what? If you thought coming into this thing, it was going to be he said, she said, think again. It is not he said, she said. It's like he said, they said. And when. I mean, they. I mean, probably at least two or three corroborating witnesses, not just one woman saying, he did that and Diddy saying, no, I didn't. This is different. If the prosecutors are right in their opening statements, there are more than one person in some of these incidents. So I can't wait to hear from all of them. But today we heard from one of them, and it was very, very powerful. So important stuff, if you have been thinking that there's this video, right? We've all seen it on the news. CNN had it. It was a beating. It was horrendous. It was in a hotel hallway in Los Angeles. And it's Cassie Ventura having that, you know, what. Kicked out of her by Sean Combs, by his own admission. Right. He went on social media apologizing for it. So it's out there. It's him, and he did that to her. But he's not charged with assault and he's not charged with domestic violence. Right. He's not. So if you were thinking, what does that have to do with. With sex trafficking and racketeering? Oh, you got your answer today. Because everything that happened before that beating was brought to light through testimony of a guy who was there, who saw another guy who was there, who saw another guy who was there in the hotel room where Diddy and Cassie went back to after the beating. Another guy. What other guy? What's he going to say? Happened right before that beating. That's where the rubber hits the road. Okay, that's big. That's huge. Because, yeah, there could be some coercive sex, there could be some racketeering, there could be a man act in violation here, right? There could be kidnapping. Could be so much. And let me just tell you something. The stuff that was coming from the stand and coming from openings to the gallery and to you and me and everybody else, it was so uncomfortable. It was uncomfortable for everybody. Because whenever you talk about kinky, sexy stuff, it's someone's private business, right? But if it's criminal, kinky, sexy stuff, it's not just their business, it's all of our business, right? We're the community. We gotta act if someone among our community is being hurt. But Diddy's kids were all in the court, all six of them, right? Diddy's mom was in the court. Diddy's kids and Diddy's mom sat through a lot of this until they just could not. And the jury didn't just hear disturbing accusations, it saw disturbing accusations because prosecutors did not waste a second. Right off the bat, they played the video. You know, the video showing Puff Daddy beating the hell out of his then girlfriend, Cassie Ventura in a hotel hallway in la. It shows him dragging her, stomping her, pummeling her, hurling a vase that smashed to pieces. And that was really just the beginning. This is not a celebrity trial. Prosecutors say it is the unraveling of a 20 year criminal enterprise powered by fear and blackmail and brutality. So let's get right to what happened on day one of this federal case. Diddy walked into the Manhattan federal court with a smile. He was wearing a white dress shirt and it was under a light colored pullover and khaki pants. And like I said, his mom and all six of his kids were seated in the second row and they were all dressed in black and white. Nobody's wearing free puff stuff, right? You're not allowed. So they didn't pull that maneuver. And if they had pulled that maneuver like his cousin had done all during jury selection, they would have suffered the same consequences that the cousin did, which is the law. The. The judge said, turn. Turn that inside out or get rid of it. Nope. It just showed up in black and white. Black and white. I don't know if there was a message there, but maybe. Right? Think about it. So immediately puff waves to his family, and then he hugged all eight of his lawyers. Eight. Eight. He hugged all eight of his lawyers. That's a lot of lawyers. That's a lot of money. But he's a billionaire. And then he took his seat like it was a business meeting. Because let's not not forget, he is a billionaire. Right? He's an exec. This guy has hobnobbed socially and not so socially with the richest and the famous and the most powerful. He has met and partied with presidents and other billionaires and other millionaires. So this kind of almost looked like it was just another meeting, except for, you know, the whole courtroom and the jury part and then the guy on the bench. So TMZ reported that a lawyer named Karen Agnifolo was also seated in the courtroom today. And you will probably remember that name, Karen Agnifolo, because she represents Luigi Mangione. And she also happens to be married to Diddy's lead attorney, Mark Agnifolo. And before all of the action got underway, Diddy was quietly reading the Bible. Okay, he's reading the Bible while seated at the defense table. Stop for a moment and just picture it. And now I want you to go through the anthology of all Diddy images in your mind throughout the ages. Y' all ever seen Diddy reading a Bible before? Maybe you have. Okay, no judge here, but I haven't. And I can't stand it when someone picks up a Bible when it's convenient. Right. I've seen so many defendants walk into court clutching a Bible and probably because their defense attorney said the optics are good. Makes you look like a God fearing man. And if we're about to talk about a whole lot of sexy, dirty stuff, maybe we need to offset that with some, you know, God stuff. Anyway, Diddy was reading a Bible at defense table. Good on you. I don't know what verse he was turned to, but the optics. You're accused of sex trafficking and coercion and you're flipping through scripture, waiting for things to get underway. I think that some jurors may be smart enough to, like, see through it if they, yes, even saw it. Don't know. Twelve jurors, eight men, four women, all sworn in first thing this morning. Six alternates will also be on standby for the duration of this trial. And then the three extras, the backups. Right. I love that. I'd never heard of backup jurors before. Just alternates. To me, those are backup jurors. Alternates. But nope, you got three backups. He's used to backup singers, probably not used to backup jurors, but he's got him. Diddy's lawyer, Mark Agnifolo, started with some objections to some of the peremptory strikes that the prosecution was using to get rid of jurors. You know, the peremptory strikes are where you can get rid of anybody for any reason. But there are some exceptions. You are not allowed to use race or gender, even though you're not saying why you got rid of the jurors. You're. You're not even allowed to have that in your mind, that race or gender. And then some jurisdictions say other protected classes, too. But if the other side starts to see a pattern, right, with opposing counsel, like I smell a rat, you can bring up an objection. And, you know, Agnipolo thought that the prosecutors were striking too many black jurors. So Mark Agnifolo, like, puts up his hand and he objects. He protested it. But the prosecutors were ready for that. They, they had a story, they pushed back, and they said, no, we were not booting jurors who were black. We were actually seating a diverse panel. And that every single strike that we made had a race neutral explanation. Like bias. Like bias against the police. Some of them had that bias against prison. Some of them had husbands who served time, domestic violence. Some of them had domestic violence in their background. So whether they were black or not, these other things were like cya. You know what that is, right? Cover your ass. So they had the COVID your ass all ready to go, and the judge ended up agreeing with the government. Right. They had a reason. It looked like it was on the up and up and away they went. So whenever you get your jury in place and your objections to any peremptories dispensed with, then comes my favorite. It's almost my favorite. There are two things that are tied for favorite in trials. Opening statements. And what do you suppose that's tied with closing statements? We're a ways away from that. But so opening statements. I was like popping the popcorn, but get comfy. Okay. Because I got to tell you, opening statements are the way that you tell a bunch of non legal people what the hell is going on here, right? And you can win or lose a case here. Like, if you're not good at telling the bedtime story in a. In a really good flowchart that makes sense and sticks in your mind. If you're not good at telling the narrative in your way, then you stink and you shouldn't be a litigator. So that's why I love opening statements, because the jury really gets everything spelled out for them, and then the evidence will like fill in right next to everything that was said during opening statements and be proven by the evidence. Right? So opening statements, super important. And in these opening statements, the prosecutors painted Diddy, AKA Sean Combs, AKA Puffy. You name the moniker. They painted him as a criminal machine. They said that for decades, he used threats and violence and drugs to force women into degrading sexual acts and to keep them under his control. One woman, known only as Jane, AKA Jane Doe, allegedly endured forced sex, according to prosecutors, in what has now become infamously known as free coughs. Kinky sex with male escorts. They said Diddy refused to allow condoms, berated Jane for vomiting, and once broke down the doors in her home and kicked her to the ground. Prosecutors also alleged that when it came time. Well, when it came time to talk about Cassie Ventura, Diddy forced an escort to urinate in her mouth. You heard me. Remember when I told you things would be, like, gross? The prosecutors said that Diddy forced an escort to urinate in her mouth during one of those encounters. I know that's really rough. And imagine how uncomfortable that would have been in the courtroom with his family. Right. The prosecutors alleged that she felt like she was choking, but, quote, knew she had no choice. End quote. Prosecutors also previewed testimony from Diddy's former assistant, who alleges that Diddy sexually assaulted Cassie. They also previewed an employee who claims that he was forced into an SUV at gunpoint. And get this. The prosecutors say a chef is expected to testify that he was made to procure drugs for Diddy. And then the government played the tape. Cassie Ventura, seen barefoot in a hoodie and blue pants, seen at the elevator of the Intercontinental Hotel in Century City, California. That's, like, right in the LA area. And in that video, Diddy grabbed Cassie from behind, slammed her to the ground, stomped on her, kicked her, punched her, and dragged her out of view again. Sean Combs went on social media and admitted and apologized for it. So you can say he's allegedly on the tape, but at this point, he admitted to being on tape, and then he, you know, deletes his social media after moments later in the beating, Sean Combs throws a vase and it smashes. And the jury saw photos of the broken glass in the courtroom. Diddy's reaction in the courtroom was like, I guess you could say kind of muted. But at one point, he sort of leaned over and then he exhaled. But for the most part, he just sort of sat somberly, barely even looking up at the screen of what was playing because, you know, do you really Want to see that? If it's you, your worst moment. I don't know. Maybe it wasn't his worst moment. I suspect that his lawyers will say it's his worst moment ever. But who knows what else the prosecutors have? I don't know. Diddy's daughters, however, had a different reaction. They were, like, chewing their lower lip. They were looking away. They covered their faces. His sons leaned forward and watched. And then it was time to hear from the defense and their opening statement. And it was powerful. Right. Remember, you come into a court with the presumption of innocence. So when you hear the opening statement of a defense attorney, it's important to know you've got a not guilty guy. And that other side over there, they have to prove it. Okay? And his defense lawyer said, this case isn't even about crime. It's about messy relationships. The defense attorney, Tenny Garagos, Mark Garagos daughter, told the jury that, quote, he's not charged with being mean. He's not charged with being a jerk, end quote. She acknowledged the hotel video. This is what she said. Quote, horrible, dehumanizing, violent, terrible, end quote. But she said it was a fight over a phone, not evidence of rico. And if you like court, you probably already know that RICO is short form for racketeering. She warned jurors not to confuse unconventional sex with criminal conduct, saying that, quote, you may know about his love of baby oil. Is that a federal crime? No. End quote. The first witness was a man named Israel Flores. I said get comfy before. Now I need you to really get comfy. And this stuff, this is pretty rough stuff. Mr. Flores is now an officer with the LAPD. But in March of 2016, he was not. He was instead a former assistant director of security at the InterContinental Hotel in LA, the same hotel where that hallway beating was recorded. He testified that on the day of the assault, he got a call that there was, quote, a woman in distress, end quote, on the sixth floor. And when he got there, he said he saw Diddy in a towel and socks, pacing with a, quote, devilish stare. He also testified that he saw Cassie hiding in the corner, covering her face. Officer Flores said that the hallway was trashed. The flower vase was shattered. He said he told Diddy, you're gonna have to pay for that damage. And then he testified that he escorted them both. Both back to their room. I'm going to pause here for a hot minute. I hope I get more information on this, because right now I don't. And I am super pissed, because why any Security officer would come upon a scene like that, knowing there's a woman in distress on the sixth floor, and then come upon the broken vase, the dude in the towel, knowing it's Diddy. He recognized him. And then escort them back to their hotel room. Why would you escort her? Why wouldn't you escort her right the hell out of the hotel? Get her a car, call the police, get her a ride, but don't escort her back to what may have presumably been the scene of where the crime began. Anyway, that's all we know. I'm upset. We're all on a learning curve, according to Some, after the MeToo movement, but you okay, I'm done with that. So once back inside the hotel room, this former hotel security officer, now LAPD officer, said he saw something huge. My opinion is something huge. He said he saw another man inside the room. What? Hold it. What? This is a big moment for me because nobody had any idea until this point that there was someone else involved in anything that had to do with the Cassie Diddy beating video. But this security guard, now LAPD officer, said there was someone else in the hotel room, and he described that man as a black male dressed in dark clothing. Oh, my God. Did that black male dressed in dark clothing witness what happened before Cassie went flying down the hall, pursued by Diddy, before getting the yit knocked out of her? Is that man going to show up at trial, or do we know who he is? Is he going to be a witness? Is he going to give us the preamble? Because up until now, I saw an assault, and Diddy's not charged with assault. I want to know what happened in that hotel room prior to the. To the run for your life business. Here's the deal, and this is big for the defense. That security guard did not write that down. He didn't write that part down. There was some guy in the hotel room, black male dressed all in dark clothing. He didn't write that in his report at the time. And the reason he didn't write that in his report at the time was because, quote, the man wasn't engaging, meaning he wasn't engaging in the incident that he witnessed that the security guard witnessed as Cassie left the room. Officer Flores said Diddy offered him a stack of money, and he said the bundle was the length of his hand. He said, like, thumb to pinky, Thumb to pinky. And I don't know if that's start of the thumb and start of the pinky or all the way out to the ends, because that could mean A whole lot. And I don't know what kind of bills, because if they're hundos, $100 bills, that would be a lot. If they're $1 bills, not so much. But that's the testimony. You got a stack of bills the length of his hand. And he said, quote, it was to take care of this, don't tell anyone. That was the, quote. Take care of this, don't tell anyone, end quote. That's what Flores said Diddy said to him. And Officer Flores said he interpreted that as a bribe. He also said he refused money. The prosecutor said that money, $100,000 in a brown paper bag, was part of a deliberate effort to keep the incident quiet and to suppress that video. But Flores did not stay quiet. He recorded the surveillance footage from the hotel on his own cell phone. And he told the court that the reason he did that was so that he could show it to his wife. Because he said, my wife would not believe what I had seen. And that video was shown to the jury in full and then broken down again frame by frame. Remember when I said this was a bad day for Diddy? Under cross examination, Diddy's defense attorney, Brian Steele, pointed out that Officer Flores's incident report did not include some of the very big details that he had told the court. Like describing Diddy's stare as, quote, a dark, devilish stare and Cassie having a purple eye. Not in his report. And that extra phantom guy in the hotel room, the black male dressed all in dark clothing. It's not in the police report. But Officer Flores held his ground. It wasn't combative, but he was like, really matter of fact, he said, quote, what you're saying is I should have added extra info that didn't need to be added, end quote. When Diddy's lawyer asked if the hip hop mogul was in a presidential suite, Flores said very bluntly, quote, a presidential suite on the sixth floor? I don't think so. I'm adding the tone, but that's kind of how it was said. And then it was time for the second witness to take the stand. Daniel Philip, a 41 year old male escort who ran a male review show for women in New York in 2012. Okay, I've told you a couple times, like, things were gonna get racy and dirty until, like, buckle up or get a drink or get comfy. I'm gonna reiterate that right now. Cause things are about to get kind of dirty again. So Daniel Phillips said he first met Cassie through his boss and that he was first hired by Diddy and Cassie to strip for them at the Gramercy Park Hotel. But when he arrived, he testified that it was not a party. It was just Cassie and Diddy. And his description of meeting Diddy for the first time was like. Like right out of a. A movie script. He said Diddy was sitting on the sofa, watching from the corner, wearing a white robe and a baseball cap and a bandana tied over his face, obscuring everything below his nose. Over the nose and everything below. Mr. Phillips said that he was paid by Cassie to have sex with her while Diddy sat nearby and masturbated. He was told not to use a condom, but that baby oil and Astroglide and candles, those were all in full supply. He said Diddy filmed everything, like, with a camcorder and. Or a phone. And even took a photo of Philip's driver's license, which Philip said he took as a threat. He said he met Cassie and Diddy many times in many places in New York, like Diddy's New York apartment, Cassie's New York apartment, and various hotels all around Manhattan. He testified that sometimes Diddy would command him to ejaculate either on Cassie or inside of Cassie anyway. This witness said that he would sometimes wait for hours in the suite while Diddy and Cassie disappeared into the bedroom. He told the courtroom that he was paid between $700 and 6,000, depending on how long he stayed. And at times, he said he was there for around 12 hours or so, maybe more. But that was not the worst of what he had to tell this courtroom. Philip testified that once inside Cassie's West End Avenue apartment, he saw a liquor bottle fly across the room and hit the wall. Then he said Diddy grabbed Cassie by the hair and dragged her into the bedroom, where he heard slapping and screaming. He. He testified that when the couple emerged from the bedroom, he said Cassie was visibly upset, but that Diddy just looked at them both and said, quote, are y' all ready to continue now? End quote. Philip told the jury that he couldn't perform after witnessing that. And as Philip left the courtroom for a break, Diddy stared him down. When his testimony resumed, he told the jury that he didn't report what he saw because he was scared for his life. He said, quote, my thoughts were, this is someone with unlimited power. Even if I did go to the police, I'd end up losing my life, end quote. Philip said he tried to build a friendship with Cassie and told her she was in danger. He said he begged her to. To leave, and then told the jury something deeply, deeply personal about himself. He said that after witnessing the abuse, the fear, the violence, he developed erectile dysfunction. Diddy's daughters left the courtroom partway through his testimony and they did not return. But his sons, they stayed put. And while the jury took notes, there were no dramatic reactions from them. They just appeared quiet and focused. The court wrapped up promptly at 5pm But Philip will be back on the stand on Tuesday morning because Diddy's lawyers have about an hour of cross examination left. And later in the day on Tuesday, we're expecting to hear from Cassie Ventura herself, star witness. And if you think that won't be dramatic, it is reportedly the first time Cassie and Diddy will have seen each other in six years. I'm going to be following this trial every day with wrap ups. I'll get all the details to you as they unfold. So one thing I ask you, make sure you subscribe. I don't want you to miss any of the updates, but I really also don't want you to miss the bonus episodes because every so often I go crazy and I drop a bonus episode and if you're not subscribed, you're not going to get it. And a lot of those bonus episodes are, I don't know, shall we say off the cuff, which means anything can happen. So subscribe, you don't want to miss them. Until next time, everyone. I'm Ashley Banfield. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you so much for watching. And remember, please, the truth isn't just serious. Drop dead serious.