Why People Think Diddy’s Team Is “Winning” & How He Might Get A Mistrial!

Summary

Rotten Mango Podcast Episode Summary: "Why People Think Diddy’s Team Is 'Winning' & How He Might Get A Mistrial!"

Release Date: June 8, 2025
Host: Stephanie Soo
Podcast Description: Rotten Mango delves deep into true crime and spooky tales, exploring the darkest aspects of criminal psychology and lesser-known global cases with unflinching detail.

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1. Overview of the Case Against Sean Combs

The episode centers around the high-profile trial of Sean Combs, also known as Diddy, who stands accused of multiple charges, including orchestrating abusive and violent acts against his former assistant, Mia (a pseudonym). The prosecution presents a harrowing account of systematic abuse, while the defense seeks to undermine Mia's credibility, suggesting inconsistencies in her testimony and motives.

2. Mia’s Gripping Testimony

Mia takes the stand to detail her experiences working for Sean Combs from 2009 to 2017. She describes a tumultuous work environment marked by extreme highs and devastating lows. Mia recounts instances of physical violence, emotional manipulation, and sexual assault perpetrated by Combs.

• Physical Abuse: Mia shares vivid accounts of Combs throwing objects, slamming doors on her, and chasing her during late-night incidents (02:40).

  Mia: "He threw a bowl of spaghetti at me aggressively and started cursing me out, telling me to get out of his house." [02:40]

• Sexual Assault: She describes non-consensual sexual encounters, emphasizing her feelings of fear, shame, and helplessness.

  Mia: "I felt terrified, confused, ashamed, and scared. I didn't want this." [07:10]

• Psychological Manipulation: Mia discusses the cycle of abuse, where moments of kindness were used to create a false sense of safety, making it difficult for her to break free.

  Mia: "Sometimes he treated me like his best friend, other times like a worthless piece of crap." [06:00]

3. Defense’s Aggressive Cross-Examination

Attorney Brian Steele leads the defense's cross-examination, employing a strategy aimed at discrediting Mia's testimony. Steele introduces Mia's social media posts as exhibits to challenge the authenticity of her claims.

• Social Media Scrutiny: Steele highlights Mia's positive posts about Combs, arguing that they contradict her allegations of abuse.

  Steele: "Why would you promote the person who has stolen your happiness in life?" [70:22]

• Mistrial Motions: The defense alleges prosecutorial misconduct, claiming that the prosecution knowingly presented false testimony. They argue that Mia’s testimonies are inconsistent, particularly pointing out a discrepancy regarding the date of an alleged assault on Bona, another witness.

  Steele: "How can you do that when she clearly, in this text message, said she found out about the incident from another person?" [09:27]

4. Key Points and Discrepancies Highlighted

• Timeline Conflicts: A significant point of contention is the date of the balcony incident involving Bona. Mia testified that the assault occurred on September 26, 2016, while Steele presents evidence suggesting Combs was performing in New Jersey the night before, creating an apparent alibi.

  Mia: "I saw him bring Bona back over the railing of the balcony and then throw her onto the patio furniture." [07:50]
  Steele: "Mr. Combs was performing in Newark, New Jersey, on September 25th." [09:00]

• Text Message Evidence: Steele introduces a text message from Mia to Christina Korum dated September 30, 2016, where Mia claims to have only heard about the assault, contradicting her courtroom testimony of witnessing it.

  Mia: "He came into my house at 3 am and dangled Bona over the balcony." [17:36]
  Steele: "In your text message, you only heard about it from someone else. How does that align with your testimony?" [17:54]

5. Potential for a Mistrial

The defense has filed motions for a mistrial, arguing that the prosecution's handling of Mia's testimony was flawed and that false testimonies were presented to the jury. They emphasize that such misconduct undermines the integrity of the trial and violates Mia’s rights.

Steven: "The court should grant a mistrial based on prosecutorial misconduct." [17:50]

Prosecutor Smizer counters by highlighting the emotional toll on Mia and the broader implications for future victims who might be deterred from coming forward due to the treatment witnessed in this trial.

Smizer: "Victims in other cases are going to see how victims in this case are treated and may be deterred from testifying." [137:06]

6. Courtroom Dynamics and Reactions

Throughout Mia’s testimony and the cross-examination, the episode observes various courtroom dynamics:

• Defendant’s Behavior: Sean Combs exhibits nonchalant and occasionally distracted behavior, such as drinking from multiple cups and interacting with his family in the pews.

  Narrator: "Sean Combs pours himself water from a stack of Styrofoam cups and occasionally smiles at his sons." [08:10]

• Juror Reactions: There are noted expressions of disinterest, confusion, and occasional smirks among jurors, possibly influenced by Steele’s aggressive questioning and the introduction of social media evidence.

  Narrator: "A juror looks up through their lashes at Combs whilst taking notes." [70:30]

• Emotional Atmosphere: The courtroom is described as tense and emotionally charged, with moments of silence reflecting the gravity of Mia’s testimony.

  Narrator: "Many of the jurors have even paused on taking notes. They're just listening to Mia." [18:31]

7. Public and Online Discourse

Post-testimony, the episode discusses the varied public reactions to Mia’s cross-examination and the trial's proceedings:

• Victim Credibility: Online discussions reveal debates over Mia’s credibility, with some sympathizing with her trauma and others questioning her motives based on her social media behavior.

  Commenter: "This is how abuse works. It's not what most people presume. If you haven't experienced serious abuse, you probably can't understand."
  Another Comment: "Trauma bonding was real. It's deep and it's real."

• Defense Strategy Critique: Listeners analyze Steele’s tactics, acknowledging the defense’s role in presenting a counter-narrative to Mia’s accusations but also recognizing the ethical boundaries breached during the cross-examination.

  Listener: "It's a lot. To the point where lead prosecutor Comey says to the judge, 'We have now sat through hours of a humiliating cross examination for this witness.'" [137:06]

8. Conclusion and Future Implications

The episode concludes with speculation on the trial’s outcome and the potential impact of the defense’s motions for a mistrial. Host Stephanie Soo emphasizes the importance of protecting victims' rights in the justice system to encourage future testimonies.

Host: "This is a reminder that society still wants the perfect victim and that the way victims are treated in court can influence others to come forward." [80:46]

Stephanie also reflects on the emotional weight of the trial, acknowledging both the strength of Mia’s testimony and the aggressive tactics of the defense, urging listeners to consider the complexities of victim experiences and the legal challenges they face.

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Notable Quotes:

• Mia [07:10]: "He has also sexually assaulted me."
• Steele [70:22]: "Why would you promote the person who has stolen your happiness in life?"
• Smizer [137:06]: "Victims in other cases are going to see how victims in this case are treated and may be deterred from testifying."

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Insights and Reflections:

• Abuse and Power Dynamics: The episode underscores the intricate power dynamics in abusive relationships, especially within high-profile environments where public image and legal proceedings further complicate victims' willingness to speak out.

• Legal Strategies vs. Victim Protection: There is a tension between the defense's right to challenge witness credibility and the need to protect victims from re-traumatization and public scrutiny.

• Public Perception and Social Media: Mia’s social media history becomes a battleground for public opinion, highlighting how victims' past behaviors can be unfairly used to question their credibility, irrespective of their trauma.

• Impact on Future Cases: The trial's handling of Mia's testimony serves as a cautionary tale for the legal system on ensuring that victims are treated with the utmost respect and that their testimonies are not unduly discredited through aggressive cross-examination tactics.

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Conclusion:

"Why People Think Diddy’s Team Is 'Winning' & How He Might Get A Mistrial!" offers a compelling exploration of a high-stakes legal battle involving allegations of abuse against a prominent figure. Through detailed narration and analysis, Stephanie Soo presents the complexities of victim testimony, defense strategies, and the broader societal implications of such intense courtroom dramas. The episode encourages listeners to ponder the balance between legal advocacy and victim protection, emphasizing the vital role of empathy and ethical conduct in the pursuit of justice.

Transcript

[Mia]

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[Brian Steele]

Bada Boo.

[Mia]

Mia is not Mia's real name. She is testifying against Sean Combs with a pseudonym. The understanding could not be clearer. If you know who she is. No, you don't. If you don't know who she is, keep it that way. It's a pretty basic understanding. But midway through Mia's multiple day long testimony, prosecutor Johnson stands up. Sorry, your honor, one additional issue we just wanted to put on the court's radar. The government has become aware of an individual who's broken the court's suit on in order in respect to Mia. The individual was present in the courtroom yesterday and the government saw the individual outside the courtroom at the end of the court day, broadcasting her name in a public square right outside the courthouse. We've seen his YouTube channel in which he says Mia's true name and we saw that same individual in the courtroom yesterday. And this is becoming a problem even with Jane, the new witness on the stand. Her attorney has even come forward to tell the court. I just wanted to bring this to the court's attention that there are media outlets, you, YouTube accounts, instagram accounts and others that are seeking to discover and or to reveal Jane's identity. These are active attempts and some are ongoing and many of these accounts and outlets have many readers and followers. And so that is why I felt it was important to make this in a timely manner. This notice to the court. These posts and media outlets threaten her safety and Privacy. I'm just so confused how any of this is happening in 2025. Why are we doxxing witnesses? And the worst part is, if I'm not mistaken, from what I have hear, a lot of the members of the press in that courtroom, we've interacted with someone that later doxxed Mia.

[Brian Steele]

The person that they just.

[Mia]

Yes.

[Brian Steele]

Called out.

[Mia]

Yes. And they seemed so normal. I don't know why they felt compelled to do this. Like, I don't know if I was naive for thinking they were normal or if they. Like, I genuinely don't understand.

[Brian Steele]

Wait, so. But that YouTuber is currently banned from the court, right?

[Mia]

What's crazy is he was banned for, like, 24 hours. I did briefly see him again. Huh. Yeah. And it is so bad that even the defense. I mean, they're not bringing up the doxxing, but in court, they're talking about how they want to admit a Happy Birthday video into evidence. And they note that they received emails of the video from Internet users after they found out Mia's true identity. They found a video of her telling Sean Combs Happy Birthday from, like, a decade ago and started emailing it to the defense team. They say, I think there were people on the Internet who think they figured out who Mia is. And so Mr. Agniphilo, as well as some of us, have received emails or communications from random people on the Internet with the same video. And so we were thinking about using it. But I don't even know if this is the worst part of Mia's testimony. I mean, the doxxing is. But pretty much every single aspect of Mia's testimony gets incredibly tense and just like, what the hell is happening? That's the feeling. And now Sean Combs and his defense team have filed another motion for a mistrial, again for the second time. We would like to thank today's sponsors who have made it possible for Rotten Mango to support Achievement Centers for Children. They're a nonprofit organization helping children and adults with disabilities achieve their greatest potential. Potential. This episode's partnerships have also made it possible to support Rotten Mango's growing team. And we'd also like to thank you guys for your continued support. As always, full show notes are available at rotten mango podcast.com Few disclaimers, there are mentions of essay. There's a lot of distressing content revolving that. So please just be warned. Many of the quotes and statements included have been shortened and condensed for brevity or combined. Now you guys know the drill. Sean Combs is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a Reasonable doubt. That burden of proof is the responsibility of the prosecution, the government, and all of the crimes he has been charged with are alleged until a verdict is reached, which, at the time of this episode, has yet to occur. Any descriptions or observations regarding Mr. Combs, his legal team, the court, anybody in that courtroom during the trial were personally noted by myself or my two other researchers who were present in the room. I will say we are just trying to understand observable behaviors, like when somebody is nodding or somebody is smirking or somebody appears to potentially look disengaged. But any opinion on what that behavior might mean is strictly an opinion, and it doesn't really mean anything because we could be totally wrong. We could have miss saw something. So this is truly not. Don't base any information off of this. So with that being said, let's get started. There is a light bulb out in the courtroom right above the witness stand. And it's like this whole operation to change this little light bulb. The ceilings are so tall that they just use this massive long stick. And at the very end of the stick, it's just like a plunger.

[Brian Steele]

Oh, yeah, the light bulb changer.

[Mia]

Yeah. You've seen these before. I've never seen this. I thought they were gonna bring in a massive ladder that's just a stick with a plunger at the end. And they're sucking it on the light bulb and twisting and twisting and twisting. It's a light bulb plunger. I'm intrigued. And so is Mark Agnifolo. He walks straight in Home Depot dads, this entire light bulb changing process. And he's just, like, in a good mood, which is interesting. I mean, I can't even hear the jokes. But he points to the bald spot on the back of his head. I don't know. Perhaps he's making a joke that the light is shining on his bald spot. Imagine he's not talking about his bald spot at all. And I'm just calling him out for his bald spot. I don't know. My theory is that when Mark Agniphilo gets sleep, he comes in early and he does his little court rounds. That's the best way I can describe it. He goes over to the stenographer, the court reporter, you know, he goes over to the sketch artist. I don't know what this.

[Brian Steele]

And the prosecutors, too, right?

[Mia]

Yeah. And I don't know what this man is talking about, but pretty much anytime court is in session, Mark Agnifolo stands up. Everyone goes, oh, man, what now? It's gonna be filibuster. He's gonna be talking and yapping. But, like, before court is in session, anytime Mark Agnifolo is talking to anybody, people are obsessed. The court reporter is, like, falling out of her chair giggling. The sketch artists, they don't, like, they can't even handle the giggles when they're talking to Mark Agnifolo. And I'm like, what? Is he that funny? Because I can't even hear. I just see them giggling. And now I need to know. Meanwhile, Sean Combs is walking out in a light blue sweater, which definitely brings out the white in his hair. He also. And I was so confused by this, he pours himself a water. There's, like, a stack of. He was recently drinking a lot of water bottles, but then he went back to his styrofoam cups of water. What am I looking at? Okay, but he would go back to his, like, stack of water. He had a stack of styrofoam cups, these little carafes that he pours the water into. And there's a stack of three cups. He pours the water into the stack of the three cup and just starts drinking out of the stack of three cups. He doesn't take it out.

[Brian Steele]

Oh, he's using three cups as one.

[Mia]

Yeah. And I'm just so confused. In other news, if you don't follow us on TikTok, he also had recently turned to a court sketch artist and asked her to, quote, soften me up a bit. You're making me look like a koala bear. I was not in the courtroom, so I didn't hear it because this was, like, during a lunch break. But it's very oddly specific description that is reminiscent of what we said at the beginning of the trial. And just. I'm just saying it's weird. Now. The energy in the courtroom is always, like, a little volatile. Some days, everyone's in a good mood, including what appears to be the defendant. Other days, it feels stressful. But it is just so clear that something's happening recently. Because not too long ago, lead defense counsel Mark Agniflo stands up and he tells the judge, now, side note, some context here. The government stated that they believe they will be finished with their case in chief sooner rather than later. Mark Agnifolo is now informing Father Arun. It may be that the government rests sooner than they were planning to. That doesn't mean that the trial is going to end sooner than we were all planning to, because there are certain things, and I don't want to give it away. One of the Few things we have on our side on the defense is we get to react. It may be that because of witnesses, the government is not calling, we might have more on the defense case. Hmm. It feels cryptic.

[Brian Steele]

So what is he saying? Like, it's going to last longer. We have more. We want to bring more people on now because of that.

[Mia]

And it feels cryptic, especially when nine days later, another motion is filed for another mistrial. Which, just so you know, this is my personal opinion, the chances of Diddy's defense team being granted a mistrial are probably relatively slim to, at the most, moderate. I don't know. Like, I can't really tell you. It just seems like only a minutiae of federal cases that go to trial are granted a mistrial. And it appears that an even smaller percentage are because of prosecutorial misconduct, which is what Combs, the Combs team is alleging in the motion that they just filed. Diddy's defense lawyers are asking Father Arun to declare a mistrial because they claim the prosecution knowingly presented false testimony to the jury on two separate occasions. This is like a massive ordeal. They're saying that the government knew Cassie and her friend were lying. They're saying the government at least knew or should have known because it was that easily noticeable. And they still put them up on the stand and had them lie. That's what the defense is claiming. That's the gist that I get from it. And it all revolves around this balcony incident in 2016 in Cassie's LA apartment. So, in summary, the assault allegedly occurs when Cassie's best friend Bona is sleeping over at her place. Diddy comes banging on the door, forcing his way into the apartment at around three in the morning. Cassie is in her bedroom asleep. Bonna's on the balcony smoking. And according to both Cassie and Bona, Diddy just books it to Bonna on the balcony, lifts her up, dangles her over the balcony, which is 17 stories high, then throws her onto the balcony furniture, the patio furniture on the balcony. Bona collapses. Cassie screams at Diddy, Diddy leaves, leaves, flees the apartment after assaulting Bona. I mean, we heard about this incident in the prosecution's opening statement, but also when Cassie testified during her direct, she said, quote, I saw him, Sean, bring Bona back over the railing of the balcony and then throw her onto the patio furniture. Then, during Cassie's cross, Estevao, the defense counsel, she shows Cassie a text message in which Cassie indicates that she only heard about Sean dangling Bona off the balcony, to which Cassie responds, I saw what I Saw. So I don't know, almost two weeks of the trial go by. Like nobody really talks about this. We don't really hear about this anymore. And then Bona gets called to testify. She gets up on that stand, she sworn in, and she testifies that Diddy dangled her over the 17 story balcony at Cassie's LA apartment during the early morning hours of September 26, 2016. Now, to support her testimony, prosecutor Smizer admits into evidence a picture of Bona's bruised leg, along with metadata that shows that this Picture was taken Sep 26, 2016 at 9:45am Bona says on the stand that the photo was taken the day of the incident. However, Nicole Westmoreland gets up to do the cross. She just starts ripping into Bona's testimony. You guys remember her from Dawn Richard's cross, which, okay, first of all, the whole cross is not a great look. This was considered one of the bigger defense wins. Nicole Westmoreland asks Bona about her drug usage with Cassie at the time. Okay, you and Cassie would do Cocoa Puff. Yeah. Turn to the ladies and gentlemen of the jury and explain to us all what Cocoa Puff is. It's when you take a blunt and you open the blunt and you put weed in there and then you sprinkle cocaine in it. Okay, that was one of your faves favorites. Yes. How does Cocoa Puff make it feel? It's like add all the weed feelings and then a little like sharp feeling because of the coke. She's asked about a drug dealer. Do you remember a drug dealer, Ray J? I don't know if that's his name. Do you remember a drug dealer that you would send to Cassie often by the name of Ray J? I don't remember that name. Okay, so you have no idea who Ray J is? I mean, he sounds like that singer, but I don't think it's him. Which later again, she's asked about Ray J and she kind of giggles a little bit in her testimony. She's like, I just don't know why he's called that. And it's just like, I don't think, I don't think it was perceived well by anybody this entire testimony. And at one point, Nicole Westmoreland leans on the lectern and even asks Bana, you ever been stuck in a K hole? Yes. But to the more pertinent elements of the cross, Ms. Bangalan, you know that Mr. Combs performed at the Prudential center in Newark, New Jersey, September 25, 2016. True. Westmoreland shows Bona A picture of Combs in New Jersey, because, remember, she said that the assault on the balcony happened in the early morning hours of the 26th. He's performing in Newark, New Jersey, on the other side of the country. September 25th, the night before. It's a five hour flight. I don't know personally, but I see what you're showing me. And you're aware that Mr. Combs and Cassie were in New Jersey on September 25, 2016? True. All right, well, are you aware that on September 26, Mr. Combs and Cassie were in New York at the Boys and Girls Harbor Salute to Achievement Benefit? Are you aware of that? Not aware. Are you aware that on September 26, Mr. Combs was also doing a signing at Macy's? Not aware. Nicole Westmoreland brings up Trump Hotel receipts from Frank Black staying in New York. Arrival date shows September 24th and departure date is September 29th. They are also charging in room dining breakfast for September 25th and 26th, the days that Bana states that she was attacked. Which side note, he does spend $700 on breakfast in one morning in a series of charges, but that is like, neither here nor there. Nicole Westmoreland brings this all home by asking, you agree that one person can't be in two places at the same time. Bana is on the stand and she just responds in like, theory. Yeah. You're not sure? Hard to answer that one. Ms. Bangalan, you told us you testified that Mr. Combs, on September 26, 2016, came into Cassie Ventura's house, hung you over the balcony, threw you into some furniture, and that you sustained several injuries. That's what you testified to the ladies and the gentlemen of this jury. Did you notice Nicole Westmoreland brings up the metadata again of the pictures of Bona's injuries, and she stated that she took it the same day. But if that was the same day, September 26, it seems like Combs was allegedly in New York City. Nicole Westmoreland is trying to bring this home. Mr. Combs did not cause you the injuries that you showed us that we saw on your phone with the metadata from September 26, 2016, did he? I can agree with you, no. So you gave this photo to the government with the metadata showing that this picture was taken on September 26, 2016. True? Yes. And you would agree with me that one person cannot be in California and in New York at the same time? My answer is still the same. In theory, yes, ma' am. You came in here and you lied to the ladies and gentlemen of this Jury, isn't that true? I can't agree with you. I have no further questions, you, Honor. So this is very important to the mistrial. So she is pretty much, I guess in the defense's eyes like disproving that this ever happened. They're like drawing questions of did this happen? Did this not happen? Now you could argue that maybe Bana remembered incorrectly, maybe the incident happened a few days before, which is he might have still been in California and then she took the photo on a different day and she just misremembered that. Or you could argue that she lied, I don't know. Now, soon after this cross examination, the government steps in and moves to admit the evidence of text messages between Cassie and Christina Korum. And it's talking about the balcony incident. So the government is pretty much saying, in my opinion, hey, you guys just disproved, like made it seem to the jury that this balcony incident never even happened. Will this text message, Cassie is talking about the balcony incident to Christina Korum.

[Brian Steele]

When did the government submit that it was okay?

[Mia]

So Bono was on the stand for two days. It was right before finishing up the cross the next day. So I mean, pretty much the damage of the cross examination was already done.

[Brian Steele]

I see.

[Mia]

Yeah.

[Brian Steele]

And that was submitted and then shown to the jury?

[Mia]

Yes. Now the text message reads, from Cassie to Christina Coram, Hey, I just found out some crazy shit. Christina says, yeah, we're here and I don't think I did it. This is like irrelevant. We don't really know what she's talking about. Cassie explains. He came into my house while my friends were here and we were all sleeping. They woke me up because he was ringing the bell. Crazy. At 3am and when he came in, I went to my room and he went to Bona and choked her, then dangled her feet off the bed. Balcony. This is crazy. I have to stay away. The text message is from September 30, 2016. And we all thought that this was so weird, like the way that they admit this evidence to the jurors. Bon is already off the stand.

[Brian Steele]

Uh huh.

[Mia]

And they just like have the jurors come in and they're like, by the way, this is the new exhibit. And they read it. Okay, moving on. Bring in the next witness. It was just so random because usually a witness is on the stand and then the exhibits come up naturally throughout the, the direct examination or the cross examination, it was just like, okay, here's like a random text message and the jurors are like, okay, I guess. Right, okay.

[Brian Steele]

So they Just quickly say, hey, look at this. It was true, by the way. Moving on.

[Mia]

That's kind of the vibe. I mean, they don't say that, but it seemed like the vibe. Then the next witness hits the stand, and then nothing happens until Saturday, the weekend, like, two days ago. Defense files a motion for another mistrial. They state that the prosecution knew that Cassie had lied during her testimony and still allowed it. They said that the prosecution had this entire text message thread when they were doing the direct on Cassie, but they still allowed her to say that she saw Sean Combs dangling Bona over the balcony. So they're saying, how can you do that? When she clearly, in this text message said she found out she was told about the alleged incident by another unidentified person. Nevertheless, they allowed her to continue to insist on cross that she had witnessed this incident with her own two eyes and, quote, left the jury with the false impression that Ms. Ventura saw Mr. Combs dangle her friend over the balcony and this made her fearful of him, when, in fact, if there was any incident, Ventura merely heard about it afterwards, considerably lessening any probative value as to her state of mind. Next, the government doubled down by presenting perjured testimony from Bangladen intended to corroborate Ventura's false testimony. They're saying the government knew or should have known that Bono was lying on the stand because Mr. Combs was not in Los Angeles on September 26th. That's what they're alleging in this mistrial motion. They say, accordingly, the court should grant a mistrial based on prosecutorial misconduct. So we do have a few theories on this. There were some theories circulating online that perhaps Combs flew back to L. A and then flew back to New York. And we wouldn't necessarily be that surprised. Like, he does appear to be very dedicated to his motivations. It's like the man can do he wills, but not will what he wills, like that kind of thing. Like he needs to do certain things. He goes, flies to la, does the balcony, comes back to New York, orders room service. That was a small theory online, but we looked into the concert that he had in Newark, New Jersey. It started at 8pm I don't know exactly when it ended, but we do know that the set list was massive. It's about like 50 songs long.

[Brian Steele]

Wow.

[Mia]

And he had 10 costume changes. So presumably it could not. I mean, it could have easily gone into the midnight, maybe 1am which to then leave, get on a flight, even a private jet to la, that is five hours on a plane, then to get to Cassie's apartment in la, then bring Cassie with him to New York City for the event on the 26th. Because remember, she was in New York city on the 26th. Apparently the timing doesn't really make sense. Which leads us to another practical theory of perhaps the balcony incident took place on the 24th or a few days prior to Bona taking this picture and she just did not remember that or she misremembered that. So those are the theories we have, but we're just gonna have to wait and see regardless of if a mistrust. Yes.

[Brian Steele]

Okay, so even in the text message from Cassie back in 20, what, 16. 2016.

[Mia]

It was September 30th.

[Brian Steele]

Right. On September 30th to KK. Right. She said, hey, I just found out something. Yeah, it's the, the discrepancy here is she's speaking on the stand saying that she saw it, but instead the text message saying she didn't see it with her own eyes.

[Mia]

Yes. And I think, I mean, I think the problem is maybe a lot of netizens would perhaps be like, it seems feasible that it happened. It seems feasible that after a decade people don't really remember the exact dates, but the pictures and you just don't really forget something like that. It seems feasible that maybe some small shifts in the story could have occurred. But it does seem, one could argue online, with no impact to the case. One could argue, I mean, with his track record of things we have seen from him, perhaps it's a feasible thing that he could do. Right. However, I think in court it's a little bit different in the sense of her text message cannot really prove that this happened. It's hearsay. She doesn't even identify who told her. So if she had said, oh, the little rabbit down the stairs told me, then they can subpoena the rabbit and be like, okay, rabbit, did you see this happen?

[Brian Steele]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, that makes sense.

[Mia]

You know, so it's just like.

[Brian Steele]

Yeah, so it's not even about.

[Mia]

You can't take it as fact.

[Brian Steele]

Yeah. Do we believe it happened now? It's the fact that they have the chain of.

[Mia]

Yeah, yeah.

[Brian Steele]

Okay.

[Mia]

So that is why they're filing for a mistrial. And regardless of if a mistrial is granted, Bana's cross might be considered one of the larger defense wins. Which by the way, this is gonna probably go up around the time that Father Arun is going to rule on the mistrial. So I'm gonna leave like a P comment down below. But with that being said, so if.

[Brian Steele]

It'S if, if the mistrial is approved.

[Mia]

We'Re going to do this all over again.

[Brian Steele]

That means, yeah, this is done now. We're just going to wait a while until to do this all over again.

[Mia]

So with that being said, let's get into what a lot of people online have been calling the most important defense win for the entire case. They say it's not bana. They say it is the cross examination of the second victim to testify, Mia. I don't know if this defense win is what they think it is. I do want to note something really quick before we get into the rest of it. Mia's testimony happened before the judge told Combs to stop nodding at the jurors and interacting with them. And a big part of the discourse online has been about jurors reactions to Mia's testimony. So there will be somewhat of a focus on the observable actions of the jurors during the testimony. But just because I observed someone doing something physically with my eyeball, first of all, I feel like eyewitness testimony is crazy. Like there's always, you know, people saying, like, humans are not the most reliable. Does that mean I'm suddenly a mind reader? Because I see someone shaking their head? I don't know what that means. Just to give you an idea, our researcher had really bad allergies in court one day. A lot of people in the pews thought she was crying during the testimony of another witness, not Mia, which the testimony was indeed very emotional. But she also did indeed have really bad allergies that caused her to sniffle the whole way through. So again, everything can be misinterpreted. Everything can have like a different meaning and like a different inference when truly nobody will ever know except the person.

[Brian Steele]

Yeah. So I think you are gonna describe it.

[Mia]

Yeah.

[Brian Steele]

And then you're gonna tell us how you feel. But that's still your feeling.

[Mia]

Yeah, that's just my human experience inside that courtroom. But that doesn't really mean anything, honestly. So with that being said, let's get into it. Mia has been on the stand for a day already at this point. And the defense team is trying to so hard to get this video admitted into evidence. It is the happy birthday video. It's like a 20 second clip of Mia telling Sean Combs Happy Birthday, which the judge is trying to understand. I mean, everybody's trying to understand in the gallery. Why do you need this video to like, what, what is the point of this video? She's just telling him happy Birthday. Like, what is the value of this video?

[Brian Steele]

Is this the video that's submitted by the public?

[Mia]

Yes.

[Brian Steele]

So they, the defense team didn't have this video.

[Mia]

Yes.

[Brian Steele]

That's because of social media.

[Mia]

Okay. So that's where it gets a little bit tricky. The defense, at some point, they were like, yeah, we didn't have this video until yesterday. And then at another point, they're like, no, no, no. We had this video, but we didn't understand the importance, the value of this video until Mia testified. So it's kind of a little wishy washy.

[Brian Steele]

Got it.

[Mia]

Alexandra Shapiro states, as we indicated, it's the defense's belief that the aspect and demeanor of the witness is essentially a false Persona that she's presenting to the jury. If you watch, you can see that her demeanor is night and day from what it has been during the direct testimony. They're saying that this video shows a completely different Mia, which, I mean, I would imagine that everyone behaves differently. Like, I think I would behave very differently singing Happy Birthday to someone versus testifying in court in a federal criminal case. But Mark Agnifolo argues, I believe that the jury may conclude that her affect on the stand is an act. I think that's possible. I think the jury might conclude that. And this video makes that conclusion clearer. The judge allows the Happy Birthday video. And Combs has started to get a little bit more comfortable in the courtroom. I feel like he used to be a little bit more reserved in his mannerisms in the beginning. I mean, clearly the judge is sick of his interactions with the jury. But there are other things. He started doing this thing. Whenever he's leaning back in his chair, he'll lean forward to grab a post it. He'll lunge himself forward right on the post it on the table. And then when he sits so his back is on the back of the chair again, he just falls back. He just uses gravity as if using his core strength is not even worth the effort. He seems rather relaxed for Mia's testimony days. Even the very first day, he seems ready. Dreaming of a modern oasis. All Modern has you covered with the best of modern furniture and decor all in one place and all hand vetted by our design experts. Whether you're on the hunt for a new outdoor dining set or a versatile sofa, our premium quality designs bring form and function to any space. And they're available in every style of modern for real. Every single style. Oh, and did we mention it's all delivered for free in days, not weeks. 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Mia is walking in dressed in a blazer, and when she walks in, she does not look at anyone in the pews, which I mean a lot of the witnesses don't, but this one's like a little different. She does not look at anyone in the pews at all because she's just staring at the ground like she's staring at her hands. And as she's walking to the witness stand, you can see her playing with her thumbs like she's rubbing her two thumbs together and she walks straight forward. I think the only time she might even glance up just a little bit is to make sure that she doesn't run straight into the lectern. Her shoulders are so scrunched up it looks like she's kind of shrugging the entire time. And her on the stand, she has a very particular demeanor. I think it's one that we haven't seen so far in this trial. She is constantly looking down. She rarely makes eye contact, at least for the direct testimony. It appears she has, like a little puff ball in her hands, like the type of puffball that you might have at the end of a keychain. And she's kind of fiddling with it in her lap. She barely looks up. And when she does look up at the prosecutor, it's like a glance and then she quickly looks away. So like I was saying, a lot of the other witnesses, like Cassie, she would kind of almost look to the prosecutor for comfort, ease perhaps, because I'm sure, you know, they're a little more familiar with each other. And she'll smile, and the prosecutor will smile back, not Mia. Like, she will glance up and then she'll quickly look away as if the eye contact is making her very uncomfortable. She seems skittish. She also cocks her head a lot from side to side when she responds. The best way to describe it is it almost appears like she is. Is painting her nails and she's like trying to get the sides perfectly painted. So she's kind of tilting her head whilst she's maintaining a conversation with the prosecutor. Now, obviously that's not what she's doing. She's not doing any of that in her lap, but that's just giving you a visual. Her posture on the stand is a little slouched. It's not crazy hunched over, but it feels like she's kind of folding in. And she has these face fold framing curtain bangs. She just lets it hide her face. And when she does talk, she speaks very quietly. The members of the press, I would say, like half of RP at one point, they're all leaning forward, just trying to listen. Every time someone on the squeaky little folding chairs on the side, everybody's holding their breaths. Like, she is that quiet. And she has this demeanor that she's very flighty. I don't know how to describe it in a way that doesn't make it seem less serious, but it just feels like she could flee at any moment. Like her head will flicker at the slightest movement and word, and then she'll very quickly go back to looking downwards. When waiting for questions, she'll glance at the ceiling, she'll glance at the jurors, she'll glance at the prosecutor, and then she'll quickly look down. She just seems really intimidated, almost kind of. Kind of reminiscent of a deer in headlights. And again, I'm not trying to make this analogy so that I can diminish any of, like, the severity of this entire case. But just, just so you get the visual, when she starts her testimony, Combs has his head also cocked all the way to the left. And he's just staring at her. And she does not look back, like, ever. Mia is a former assistant that worked with sean combs from 2009 to 2017. Mia explains that while working for Combs, she was not only getting overworked, but he was just so violent. What are some of the violent things that Mr. Combs has done to you? He's thrown things at me. He's thrown me against the wall. He's thrown me into a pool. He's thrown an ice bucket on my head. He's slammed my arm into a door. He has also sexually assaulted me. Did Mr. Combs sexually assault you on one occasion or more than one occasion? More than one. Combs shakes his head no, ever so slightly. At one point, his elbows are slightly bent and it almost looks like he's gripping the chair. And this is how Mia's testimony begins. Mia starts off by explaining that the very first interview that she had to even get this job as the personal assistant, the head of human resources. Vashta escorts her to Sean Combs apartment. He opens the door and he's just, like, in his underwear. Vashta introduces Mia and then leaves. Combs eventually does indeed put on clothes. And Mia does indeed ends up getting the job. And she's just so excited. She says, I was so excited and just. I was so excited. So nervous, but. And just really eager and excited, I guess. To which, again, he shakes his head no. But Mia explains her job duties on the stand. She said, protect him at all costs, his privacy, etc. Stay attached to his BlackBerry 24 7. Stay within his eyesight unless he advises otherwise, always while on duty, listening, asking, hearing, prioritizing and translating situations. She states that she has to make sure everything was good for Combs from the moment that he wakes up until the moment he falls asleep, anticipating his needs, whims and moods. She said every single day was different. He could ask you to do 17,000 things at one time that range from cracking his knuckles. What? Yeah, like he wants you to crack his knuckles. To writing his next movie, to doing his taxes. He can also just have you standing next to him for 22 hours and not ask you for one thing. Which side note, at this point, Combs is leaning all the way back in his chair. His left hand is propped up and he's stroking his chin. And he looks back at the clock multiple times. And, like, all we can say is, I don't really think you have any other places to be, so I don't really know why the time is so important to you. And all of this would take all of Mia's day. That's what she's explaining. She would go five days without sleep sometimes because her job as a personal assistant, she said he could. Got so bad she would finally get some sleep because, quote, I had, like, a physical. And I guess, like, I had, like, a physical breakdown. Like, I remember just like my hearing went. Like, it felt like I was underwater and my equilibrium was off. And I started, like, not seeing things, but, like blurred vision or like lights that weren't there. And then out of nowhere, like, I didn't mean to, but I burst into tears, hysterical, and like, I couldn't stop crying. Which, again, this sounds reminiscent of the other three former workers. David, James, George Kaplan, Capricorn, Clark. They all testified they were so overworked. Mia's only getting paid, like, $50,000 base. Wow. Not sleeping for five days. Mia says if she does not do her job well, quote, I guess there's various ways of punishment. It was a lot of just getting cursed out, humiliated, berated, but also my intelligence insulted and my job threatened quite a bit. Interestingly enough, Combs, at this exact moment, glances at the jurors and it looks like he does a very dramatic sigh. Like, that's what it looks like. I mean, it could just be coincidental. And then he looks back towards the front. I don't know if he's just got seasonal allergies as well. That could be entirely true. Also, whilst Mia is just up there on the stand, Combs is looking over his shoulder and smiling at his three sons who are sitting behind him in the pews. And it's kind of like a. Like a small, thin smile that could be interpreted to me as, like, a smirk. And sure, I don't think that there's ever a great time to. To smile at your kids during the midst of your own criminal trial, but I just felt like the timing could have been, like, a wee bit better. At a high level. He treated me like. Sometimes he treated me like his best friend, his working partner. Sometimes he treated me like a worthless piece of crap. At one point, Combs even rolls his neck and cocks his head to the right. Kind of like a very lazy. He would humiliate me. He would curse at me. He would go on, like, really long, extended rants about how incompetent and stupid I was, yeah, just threatened my jaw, just. Would he do anything to you physically? Yeah, he's thrown things at me. Once he threw, like, a bowl of spaghetti at me. Turkey meat, a phone, a computer. The bowl of spaghetti Incident happens around 3am Sean Combs, MIA and a bunch of other people had come back home from, like, a club appearance. There's like 40 other people. He tells Mia to go to IHOP right now. But she starts walking towards the room in his house that she's supposed to stay in. And why were you going to your room? Because we had been out since, like, 8 in the morning, like, go, go, go. And I was next to him and barely got a break, and I was on my period and I needed to change my tampon immediately. But this is pissing off Combs. He tells her, quote, like, yo, girl, I didn't tell you, like, when I told you to go to ihop, I meant, like, now, I didn't tell you you could go to your room yet. And I tried to say something, and he just, like, it made him more, like, aggressive and louder and going on sort of a really humiliating rant in front of everyone. And what did you try to say to him? Well, after it went on for so long, there was. There was literally blood dripping down my leg. And I finally just said, I just have to change my tampon. I have blood dripping down my leg. And how did Mr. Combs react to that? He immediately, like, he had a bowl of spaghetti in his hand and he immediately, like, threw it. Like, threw it at me aggressively and started cursing me out and telling me, like, I better get the out of his house, and started. And then he chased me outside. Did the bull hit you? No. Combs just, like, a small shake of his head, Mia explains. Another time, they were on a movie set and they had just gotten there to the trailer. The WI fi's not working, Mia says. So I ran to go find the production assistant and just let them know and see if they're fixing the situation. And they were. She goes back to the trailer I was trying to regurgitate. I was trying to tell him what the production assistant had told me, that they're working on it. But he didn't let me finish. He cut me off, started screaming at me, I shouldn't come back here until I figured out the WI Fi myself. Something about, I don't care if you have to call Bill Gates and then chuck the computer at my head. Did the computer hit you? No. At this point, one of Combs besties in the pews shakes his head no. It's like kind of a dramatic no that I couldn't really interpret it as anything else. It's like this. And it could be him shaking off an intrusive thought about something completely unrelated, or it could be him upset and thinking, no, this can't be true. That's not the Sean I know. Or it could be like, why are you complaining? It didn't even hit you. I don't know which one. It could be nothing. He could be talking to himself. And how did you feel when Mr. Combs threw things at you? Terrified. And so humiliated and so confused. She ends up sobbing a little bit and, like, kind of her voice starts breaking down, like, what did I do so wrong that something is wrong with me that I would make him so upset? Mia also states that one time he slammed the door on her arm. She says, quote, and at first I thought it was an accident, but then he did it multiple times more. So, yeah. And how heavy was the door? It was like a commercial building, so it was pretty heavy. Yeah. At first I thought, like, there's no way this isn't going to be broken, but I just had bruises. As Mia is telling the story, there will be times where she starts looking downwards and her voice just gets smaller and smaller. She kind of starts trailing off like she's getting lost in her own thoughts or perhaps mumbling a little bit, which. And my perception could be wrong, but at one point, Combs. Combs looks at Mark Agnifolo and the look to me looks like I can't even hear her. Like, what is she saying? Like, what? What is she saying? There's a lot of parallels in Mia's testimony that we've been hearing from others, like hotel nights. Mia, too, testifies that she had to set up hotel rooms and she had to take care of, quote, all his lotions and potions, like baby oil, Astroglide and condoms, and a mixture of cheap and expensive candles. And when Combs was done with the hotel room, she would have to go and clean it up. And she called it a nightmare. What do you mean when you say a nightmare? Just, they were really destroyed, really messy. I saw a lot of candle wax everywhere that was just impossible to get out. There would be lots of wet towels everywhere. I've seen broken glass, water all over the floor, sometimes blood oil all over, you know, furniture and walls and things like that. You mentioned blood. What, if anything, did Mr. Combs tell you about the source of the blood? That it was period blood. Mia states that she also Took drugs a few times with Mr. Combs. She states that one time they were all at Burning man, which is like a festival. Mia says he had put all the blackout shapes up and, like, put the disco lights on and pulled out three plates. And there was white powder on each plate. And it was presented as some sort of game. He said one was Molly, one was cocaine, and one was ketamine. And people were taking turns going up, I guess, playing the game, the guessing game. She said she tried to nicely tell him, no, I don't want any, but quote, his tone started to change, like I was gonna mess up the whole vibe. And he was monitoring because I tried to fake it. I tried to fake snort it. And he got up close to my face and was upset that I tried to, I guess, fake it. And how did Mr. Combs react to that? He was humiliating me and then going, he was just gonna separate, basically monitor and separate the amount that I needed to take. What did you do? I did. But then when I got away from him for a minute, I tried to blow a lot of it out of my nose because I was so scared of the ketamine, watching what it did to others. Mia's asked, when you were working with Mr. Combs and you were around Mr. Combs and Cassie, what, if any kinds of violence did you yourself see? Which side note, Mia was close with Cassie when she was working for Combs, and even to this day, she's close friends with Cassie. She responds, I've seen him attack her. I've seen him throw her on the ground. I've seen him crack, like, her head open. I've seen him chase her, things like that. She says one time she heard screaming just, like, thuds coming from the second floor outside. She sees. She looks outside the window, sees Cassie hiding behind a bush. Quote, she looked at me with the most terrified look in her eye and was kind of like waving her hands, like, don't look essentially like she doesn't want anyone to know she's hiding here. At this point, Christian Combs Holmes leans to the right so that he seemingly can get an unobstructed view of Mia. And it just feels like the entire family is very engaged and absorbed, at least in the beginning portion. And they are staring right at her, which makes sense. You do want to look at the people who are talking, but it. It could probably also make things feel a lot more intimidating. In one part of Mia's testimony, she's explaining how they were all in Turks and Caicos once Cassie Kim's screaming into her room, saying that Combs is going to kill her. She's screaming for her life. They end up fleeing out of the resort, running away, to which Mia has these very specific memories of. I just remember we were running, like, so fast down the beach, and I remember being shocked at the fact that we could still be attacked by mosquitoes as we were running. Which to this story, Combs is shaking his head no and lets out what I feel is an animatedly large sigh. He. He rolls his neck back and then he just looks around. But Mia continues that Combs starts chasing after them, after them on the beach. He's running back and forth on the beach. They end up wading into the water on these paddle boards. And then all of a sudden, a storm approaches and they start freaking out. Mia said, I was thinking, I was trying to weigh if it was scarier to face Mother Nature or to go back to Puff. What did you end up doing? We eventually went back to Puff. It just took a long time. Eventually, the direct testimony leads to the more serious allegations of sa. Over what period of time did the sexual assaults occur? Over. I'm not sure of the years, but they were sporadic. Mia says Cassie was never there when it happened, and Mia never told her about any of it. Where were you the first time you remember Mr. Combs essay saying you? At the Plaza Hotel in New York for his 40th birthday. Mia says it was Combs's 40th birthday. She's working while he's hosting his party at this massive hotel. She had just gotten the job a few months ago, and now she's running upstairs to the penthouse, running back to the main party in the hotel downstairs. She says she's supposed to stay with an eyesight and earshot. So she's presumably very busy that night. At some point, she says Combs is like. Like, let's talk in the kitchen of the penthouse. He has everybody leave, and she says once they were alone, quote, he was saying that he noticed what a good job I was doing and that I didn't have to be nervous or scared to come to him because at the time I was just going through Malcolm, the other assistant, to ask questions, or I wasn't really, like, going directly to Puff. And he was saying that he had noticed and I was doing a great job. And sort of like, we're going to be working closer together, so we should, you know, things like that. Then he poured us shots of vodka. Two cheers for his birthday. She says that she just remembers these two shots hitting her really hard, which Was confusing to her because I mean, she wondered, did I not eat enough? Like what's going on? Afterwards, quote, he was just talking and I just remember my back, I was like standing against the wall and I just remember he was talking and all of a sudden his face got closer. I remember my aunt eyes couldn't focus on his face because it was so close and I didn't really know what was happening. He put his arm next to my head up against the wall and leaned in to kiss me and put his other hand up the side of my dress. She did not consent to kissing him and she did not want to kiss him. She says my next memory is I just remember being on a chair like in the main room in the penthouse and like coming to the chair and the sun was coming up. She was clothed and she doesn't really know what happened. As she's sharing this part of the testimony, Combs is like full businessman posture. He's leaned back, his right elbow is on the armrest, he's got his thumb on his cheek and his index finger like curved over his mouth. She says, he was my boss. He was a very powerful person. He was to me like he's younger than my dad, but I looked at him like an older, like adult. He is the boss or the king, like very powerful person. Mia starts putting her hand on her chest at this point and it looks to me to be a self soothing action. I mean she might have heartburn, but it feels like sometimes when I get anxious I like rub my chest up and down it, feel it. That's what it reminded me of. I thought it would never happen again. I thought, oh my gosh, he's so drunk and I will never tell anybody. It was probably like a huge accident and I was throwing of like confidentiality and I just kind of, I didn't want. I thought that he would have never remembered that and that it was a huge accident and I was never going to have. I was just going to act like nothing happened. The more damning part of the testimony, Mia recounts a time where she's staying at the Beverly Grove home, the mansion in la. Not this one that was raided, but a previous one. The room I was staying in was upstairs and it was, it had bunk, so I was asleep on the bottom bunk bed. She's not allowed to lock doors though earlier in the testimony she stated because Puff said like, this is my house, no one locks my doors. That's so like my room was essentially not really, you know, that was just a place I was staying. In it was still his house. So the door is unlocked. She wakes up feeling, quote, the weight of a person on top of me. And during this part of the testimony, Combs is, like, very subtly shaking his head. No. He. He's grabbing post its. He's furiously writing. Meanwhile, Mia's friends, a few of them, they're in the row right in front of us. A few of them are dabbing their eyes. Some of them are just, like, letting tears fall. Some of them are staring down Combs's family on the other side of the courtroom. Yeah. Who is on top of you, Puff? Mia says she just remembers. And when she describes the assault, it's in, like, almost in slow motion. I think she has a hard time articulating what's happening. And so she does ramble a bit. She does trail off a bit. And sometimes she just has a hard time even just getting the words out. And so when she's responding, she will say the next step of the assault. But it takes a very long time in the courtroom. So it's almost like everybody is sitting there, and we know where this is going, and, like, we can see how hard it's affecting her on the stand. To articulate it. She'll say things like, I remember. I remember it was sort of like him telling you that somehow be quiet. And using. This just happened so fast. Using, like, one hand to get, I guess, his hands or whatever off. So, like, she'll trail off. She further states that Sean Combs put his. He assaulted her. But she uses, like, the more, I guess, step by step terms, like, more medical terms. How did you react when that happened? I just froze. I didn't react. She is very incredible on the stand. She's breathing, like, heaving breaths into the mic. She said that she felt terrified, confused, ashamed, and scared. She didn't want this. And the assault was, quote, it was very quick, but it felt like forever. How did it end? I don't remember, but I knew that he didn't. That he didn't like leaving the job unfinished. He wouldn't leave a job unfinished. Yeah. Whenever he was done or satisfied or got what he want, basically saying, like, he's not the type to never leave a job unfinished. Is that when it would end? Yes. It's a very devastating moment in the courtroom. And at this point, it just feels like. It feels like the air is heavy. Many of the jurors have even paused on taking notes. They're just. Just listening to Mia. Mia is asked about another incident in Combs's closet, and she says I wasn't paying attention. It was going so fast. But the next thing, I look up, and he was, like, standing right in front of me, in front of my face. He had his private parts out, and he, like, grabbed my head and put it in there. And she, like, shakes her head as she's telling what happened. Kind of like she's trying not to think about it or visualize it or shake away the memory. She's just shaking her head, and then she's looking down, she's wiping tears from her face. A few members of the jury, they do look over at Combs, perhaps to see his reaction, perhaps just to get a look in that general area. So Mr. Combs took his penis out, is that right? Yes. So that's just an idea of, like, how graphic the testimony does indeed get. Mia states she was forced to perform oral action on him. How did you react when that happened? I just froze, and I didn't do anything. I just let it happen. It made her feel, quote, like trash and scared and ashamed and defeated and like an idiot. Mia, other than what we have described so far, were there any other times in which Mr. Combs sexually assaulted you? Yes. Sitting here today, do you remember the details of those assaults? No. What generally do you remember? I just remember, like, a feeling, like, a specific, horrible, dark feeling in my stomach that I would get surrounding certain places, but I don't remember. Can you describe an example of a memory you kind of have with that dark feeling? I remember one time we were flying on a private jet, and everybody was asleep. Our team was asleep. And in the back, between the main area and the bathroom, there was a separate place where there was a bed that he would keep get to sleep. And it was normal if you had to go to the bathroom, you just walk through there, and it was like, yeah, everyone was asleep. I went to the bathroom, and I remember when I opened the door, that he was standing right there and basically trying to push me back inside, which I don't remember what happened. Do you remember getting pushed back into the bathroom? Yeah, I remember trying to, like, kind of squiggle out of there. Like, no, no, no, no, no. I would always, in order to get out of things, if I ever could, I would make it about other people that could potentially hear or see whatever. I remember being like, no, no, no, it didn't work. I just remember feeling, like, helpless and like I have lost some layer of protection and just so unsafe and just terrified. Mia, was there ever a time in which you initiated sexual contact with Mr. Combs? No. No. Were you able to predict when the essays would happen? Never. Never. They were so random. They were sporadic. It would go so oddly spaced out where I would never think that it would happen again. And the way that our dynamic was, I was constantly there, like there were no boundaries. So it wasn't weird for me to be in his room at all hours of the night or waking him up or talking to him while he's on the toilet. And it never happened in situations like that or like during a party? It changed. Just. No. After an assault, what was your expectation about whether Mr. Combs would ever engage in sexual contact with you again? I always thought, like, that was the last time and the next time I would. If there ever was a next time, I would somehow be more prepared. You have now described several times in which he has sexually assaulted you. Just to be very clear, during any of these incidents, did you want to engage in sexual acts with Mr. Combs? No. Did you actually tell him no? No. I only tried to squiggle out of them if I could, but otherwise, no. Why didn't you tell him no? Because I couldn't tell him no. I couldn't tell him no about a sandwich. I couldn't tell him no about anything. There was no way I could tell him no because then he would know that I thought what he was doing was wrong, and then I would be a target. Combs lightly shakes his head no, then rests his right cheek on his right knuckle, which is not something I see quite frequently. Meanwhile, the jurors, a lot of their bodies are physically pointed towards Mia at this point. What were you afraid would happen if you told Mr. Combs no with regard to sex? That he would fire me and ruin my future and somehow twist the story into making me look like a threat. Why were you afraid of those things? Because I knew his power and I knew his control over me. And I didn't want to lose everything that I worked so hard for. Like, for this world. That was the only thing that I had anymore. Mia says that Combs would threaten her with the SA incidence. He threatened that he was going to tell everybody and he was going to telecast as though I had something to do with it. As if you had something to do with it? Yes. How did that make you feel when you threatened to tell everyone? Desperate and terrified and, like, the worst, scariest situation. I would have done, like, anything to not have it happen. Like it was my fault. Mia, when Mr. Combs was essaying you, did you tell anyone about it? No. Why not? I was going to die with this. I didn't want anyone to know, ever. She says the first time she told anyone about the essay was within the past year and a half. Without getting into any discussions that you had with your lawyer. Why are you talking about the essays today? Because I have to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. And also I now have a moral obligation. Because when you're scared into silence, these things continue to happen to others. Objection. Ms. Miser, again, another question. Do you want to be talking about the essays today, Mia? Absolutely not. Why not? Mia? Because it is the most traumatizing. It's the worst thing and the most shameful thing that has ever happened to me. The first day of direct examination ends around the time of the conversation of the essays, which could potentially be intentional. So the jurors can go home, and that's the last thing that they remember. And they sit with the weight of this testimony all night long until they're back in court again the next day, regardless, as the jurors are dismissed for the day. This was kind of strange, or at least I perceived it as strange. Combs jumps up out of his chair before the judge is even fully dismissing them. Because the judge has his, like, don't talk to anyone about the case. If you see it on tv, turn it off. Don't go on social media. Don't look up anything about this case. Like, he has these juror instructions. As he's talking. The jurors are still in their seats. Combs, like, jumps at up, and he's standing, and he starts stretching his chest in the air, which was just such an odd series of movements. It was just so odd. Once the jurors are out of the room, he's the first to sit back down. And everyone in the courtroom is still standing. Because usually we're all waiting for Father Arun to be like, please be seated. So then he glances around, notices everybody's still standing up. So then he hops back up, and it's just like a really weird series of movements. I don't know if that indicates nervousness. I don't know. Because, like, I think nervousness is not indication of guilt. It's just. Would you not be nervous if you were a defendant? Does it indicate he's excited for the cross? Not excited, but he's very confident for the cross. Like, I don't know what it indicates. Maybe he's very confident for the cross. Which Brian Steele will be doing the cross examination. We were so shocked by that. Everyone wholeheartedly thought One of the female attorneys. Attorneys would have done the cross examination, but no, Brian Steele. And I will say, to his credit, normally, Brian Steele is a very charismatic attorney. There's really no other way to put it. Does that mean that everything he says is agreeable or that he makes solid points or that we should like whoever he defends or even like him? No, but there are certain people where the charisma. And regardless, it's hard not to feel some of their likability when you. You spend eight hours looking at them. So it's another thing. If I'm not in the courtroom, I could just be like, oh, well, I wouldn't defend someone like this. Or you could have all these different opinions about these defense attorneys. But when you're forced to stare at them for eight hours a week, it's hard to not at least see some of their likability. Even when he talks to the judge, he's overly formal. I wanted to alert this honorable court. He's a strong Southern gentleman flair. When he describes not seeing eye to eye with the prosecutor, he tells the judge, the honorable prosecutor and I have a disagreement. I mean, this man just lays it on thick. He's also kind of a gramps, which works in his favor. He calls the VMAs. The VMAs. During a sidebar, the judge is asking him, you understand the objection, Mr. Steele? Not 100%, but I'm sure I will, you, Honor. Like, what does that even mean? But it's just like when you're in that courtroom and I wonder if it happens the same effect on the jurors. It's very difficult to hate the defense team. For example, we've run into Xavier Donaldson all the time near the bathrooms. And, like, I don't think he's seen our videos, because that would be very awkward if he has. But he is very kind, very courteous, honestly charismatic. Like, he is always smiling. And I will say that some people did have very strong opinions about the defense team. After this cross examination, though, after Brian Steele. Yes. Because Brian Steele starts his cross by asking, because of Sean Combs, you suffer a great deal. Yes. And then after confirming Mia's story and trauma through a series of questions, such as? Because that's the trauma that you've carried since meeting with. Working with Sean Combs. Right. And he made you. You told the jury in front of this honorable court, do things that are unthinkable. Is that fair to say? And that includes sleeping in a room without a lock. Right. Coming into that room and violating you in the most unthinkable manner. True. And then pretty much immediately afterwards, Brian Steele starts admitting a ton of exhibits. Mainly social media posts from Mia's personal accounts. One from January 30, 2013. It's a picture of Mia with Ciroc bottles. And the caption is what we do when you're not around Amdiddy Cirack. Which I think the point of this is just to ease us into the exhibits because the next one is a picture of Cassie and Mia with bracelets. Then Another one from October 2, 2013, it's MIA and Combs at a coffee shop. The caption reads, just the number one guy on the Forbes list getting me a vanilla latte. No big deal. Regular people shit. Am Diddy. Starbucks. On your personal account, you post a picture of Mr. Combs. Yes. The person who terrorizes you. Fair. Yes. Then the cross examination questioning pace picks up the jurors. A lot of them just look like they're at the US Opens. It's like a ton of just bouncing back and forth between Brian Steele and Mia. Look at the next one, which is in evidence. 1705. Now, this date is November 4, 2013, right? Yes. And November 4, 2013 is a memorable date in your life. True. In his life or my life? I guess both. It's his birthday. Brian Steele has Mia read what she posted last non b day. Shout out to my mentor at I am Diddy. Thank you for always letting me give birth to my dream dreams. The accompanying picture is of Mia in a hospital gown and Combs is delivering a fake baby from Mia's hospital gown. It's for a video shoot, but Brian Steele asks, and you have here that you posted on your personal account, your rapist delivering the baby. Right. Which I think the R word throws her off. I mean, I don't know. I just know that it kind of threw me off. It came out of nowhere. A juror looks up through their lashes at Combs whilst taking notes. Which I guess if I were a juror, I would want to see everyone's reactions as well. Mia kind of starts stuttering. This was a comedy video shoot. So that I didn't write. And this was. But the phrase, the phrasing. Could you ask me the question again? I'm sorry, you chose to post this to your personal account. Right. And it's the image of Mr. Combs being a doctor and delivering a child. Your child. True. The character. Yes. It's a funny video that I was proud that Andy Samberg directed. So I was proud that I was in a funny video. A few of the jurors have their eyebrows crinkled together, like, kind of like scrunched up faces, almost like they're wincing, but not as dramatically. It's kind of like, like kind of a little bit like this. And what's interesting is when you're watching the jurors, you really don't know what they're thinking in the sense of they could be reacting to bias, Brian Steele's line of questioning and his usage of the R word. They could be wincing at the photograph, the exhibit. They could be wincing at Mia's response to it. It's just hard to say. And maybe each juror has a different reaction for that wince. But she's asked. And you wrote, thank you for always letting me give birth to my dreams, right? Yes. Then another social media post. There's like 90 trillion of them in this cross examination. One particular photo is of the two of them wearing Cosmos costumes in what looks like a trailer. It clearly looks like they're doing something for work. And Combs is posing whilst kind of holding his private parts through his pants. I feel like that's a pose that you might see on Instagram from a lot of guys I don't know. But, like, I imagine that would be something. And Brian Steele has her read the caption, Happy anniversary to your birthday last year. Since this year, you've changed your birthday date on some real Puff Daddy shit. Thank you for constantly inspiring me and giving me an extended family for life. You are forever one of my greatest friends. Thank you also for being funny because you're fucking funny. Like, really, really, really funny. I love you, Amdiddy. And you post this image of you in what I'll call a tutu. Is that correct? Correct. You're next to Mr. Combs, right? Yes. Right. The person who terrorizes you, right? Yes. And he's holding it, looks like. And please correct me, his private parts in his hands if that's what you see. I guess so. And this is what image you picked out, right, Mia? Yeah. And you put this on your page, right? Yes. Your friends get to see it who are on social media with you, right? Yes. Your family gets to see it who are on social media with you, right? My family. Some of my family, yeah. And you are proud of Mr. Sean Combs and that's why you wrote this, right? No, I wrote this because Instagram was a place to show how great your life was, even if it's not true. And because I had his fans following me as well, his official Diddy fan site. And I also didn't want my family and friends to know the misery I was in. So of course you post the great times. The highs were highs and the lows were low. And he also saw my Instagram. You chose to write thank you for constantly inspiring me and giving me inspire an extended family for life. Exclamation point. You are forever one of my greatest friends. That's what you wrote to the man who traumatized you, right? Yes. And it's just nonstop photos and captions. Brian Steele asks in any of these postings so far, or any of your postings, do you ever, ever say anything that you can bring forth here that Mr. Combs violated you? Never. You were in fear of Sean Combs every day. Is that true? On the days that he would, he was calling me his best friend and treating me like that. I wasn't in fear of him. You weren't in fear of the man who took your innocence, which like I think some people had some issue with that wording.

[Brian Steele]

Yeah.

[Mia]

Oh, I wasn't in fear. Yeah, I was in fear anytime. Puff was not happy yet because I wanted to make sure he was because then I knew I was safe. Then more social media posts, mainly pictures of Mia posting on Sean Combs birthday. And after each exhibit is shown, not each, but very often, Brian Steele would ask her something along the lines or some variation of that's again November 4, 2015. Right. The anniversary six years later of you starting with Mr. Combs and he supposedly sexually assaulted you. God forbid. Right. It wasn't the anniversary of when I started, but again I didn't recognize that date as a celebration. Can I ask you a question? If I interrupted you? Go ahead. No. When you say that you did not recognize Mr. Combs birthday of November 4th of every year as significant, that he supposedly drugged you and sexually assaulted you. How did you not put that together? Because she had said that the assault took place on his 40th birthday. How is that not a significant date in your mind? Please explain that to the ladies and gentlemen of this jury. It was Puff's birthday. This is what the date was. And I tried to forget that night and shoved it down. I never wanted to think about it again. I know it was Puff's birthday. Then another post, Brian Steele has her read out loud, Puff Daddy, noun. A larger than life cultural phenomenon known for his world changing legacies and inability to tolerate bitch assness. Also see legend, King Swag. Rapper, actor, entrepreneur, cheesecake lover, bad boy for life, my friend. Heart emoji 46 years ago, an extraterrestrial was born. Happy birthday, Puff Daddy. Thank you for showing me the path to Pluto and beyond. I love you. Heart, heart, heart. When you wrote that on your personal social media account, you just put aside the fact that you tell this jury that you have been sexually abused by Mr. Combs. Absolutely. You just put aside the fact that you saw Mr. Combs abuse, supposedly abuse your best friend, Ms. Ventura. Yes. You put aside the fact that Mr. Combs made you go sleepless for five days where you got physically ill. Yes. You put aside the fact that Mr. Combs made you not use the bathroom while on your time of the month where you bled out. Yes. You put aside the fact that Mr. Combs comes into your bedroom, gets on top of you, and does the unthinkable according to you. Yes. You put aside the fact that you live in terror because of Mr. Combs. Yes. And November 4, 2016, the jurors will remember. It's the day that you remember as Mr. Combs birthday. Nothing else attached. Right. Now that you bring it up, I remember it, but I was always. It was Puff's birthday to me, and Puff's birthday to you also included you being sexually assaulted. Right. It was not. I didn't associate the two until you brought that up today. Read what you wrote. So he brings up another post and he's like, read what you wrote. Happy birthday, Puff Daddy. Thank you for the birthday dinner and a movie night. You're the coolest alien rock star, unicorn pizza slice, and we fucking love you emojis. Did you feel that way when you were writing this? Did I feel like, happy birthday, Puff. Thanks for the birthday dinner? Yeah. I mean, during this post, how about, you are the coolest alien rock star and unicorn and pizza slice and we effing love with multiple V's. You with two exclamation points. I did do a little bit of. I did believe that he was the coolest alien rockstar unicorn. I was just trying to compliment him in a unique way.

[Brian Steele]

So the whole time he's arguing, here are your social media just praising, loving, showing all of these things about Diddy, which to me it sounds very, very expected. That's what I would expect.

[Mia]

She.

[Brian Steele]

For her to post for 10 years working under Diddy. I don't think this means anything whatsoever.

[Mia]

Yeah.

[Brian Steele]

So he's arguing. Otherwise, like, why would you even say that on social media now? What does the jurors and. And everyone in the courtroom feeling looking at this? Is he making sense to everyone?

[Mia]

I have no Clue what they're feeling. Of course, I can only see what I can observe with my eyes. Right. It's interesting because a lot of people in the courtroom, not the jurors, but people from the public, the gallery, I have seen some of their online posts, and I think a lot of people have sympathy for Mia, but they also think that Brian Steele did what he needed to do in this cross. And I can see how they feel that way, because when I look at the jurors, it does kind of, to me feel like maybe Brian Steele is making some points with them. Did I feel like I'm sitting there in the pews, like, oh, he's making so many points? No.

[Brian Steele]

So you're saying some people does agree with his logic?

[Mia]

Again, not in the jurors. I don't know, because I can't, like, really tell you how the jurors think. Yeah, I know that some people in the public agree with his logic. Some people in the courtroom, some people in the overflow rooms, they agree with his logic. They think he ate this cross. They think this is one of the biggest defense wins. Like, they needed this win.

[Brian Steele]

But I'm saying, like, even thus far, like, this whole social media thing, they're like, oh, yeah, that's correct. Why would you ever say that? Yeah, that is so weird that that's that so far. I mean, that's what I would expect her to post on social media, especially 10 years working under someone like him. Like, what else do you expect her to post?

[Mia]

Yeah, and I also. Another thing. I don't think any of these captions are particularly intimate or emotional. It's like, you're my greatest inspiration and mentor in life. It's like you're just throwing out empty words. It's not like, remember that one time? And I feel like you. Like, it's not.

[Brian Steele]

Yeah, I'm not understanding the logic here. Like, it doesn't mean anything to me.

[Mia]

Okay, one thing I will say that when you are sitting in that courtroom, there is something about stimulation because you are sitting there for eight hours a day and you are listening to people talk. And I think this is about, oh, my goodness, it's probably what, like 20 hours condensed into this one video. But when you're sitting there for 20 hours, different witnesses have different cadences, different modes of speaking. Different attorneys have either very high paced, very high stakes crosses, or they're like going in circles. And you're just like, what's happening right now? And even though, you know, the subject matter is so tense, it almost becomes monotonous. Because you're like, I don't even know what they're talking about. Like, why are they asking about this? Like, I'm so confused. Like, you can see a lot of people are falling asleep a lot of the days.

[Brian Steele]

Yeah, yeah.

[Mia]

So clearly something is happening inside that courtroom. Now, anytime you get visual stimulation exhibits, I think the value of it goes up more. I think seeing the pictures feels like we're seeing something we shouldn't be seeing.

[Brian Steele]

Right.

[Mia]

Even though when you look at it, you're like, there's nothing to see. But when you see them pop up and they're like. Like, defense exhibit. You're like, ooh, I'm seeing something like an expose. That's almost the feeling because we're so understimulated visually. Visually speaking.

[Brian Steele]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Mia]

So it's very interesting how there is.

[Brian Steele]

That aspect I see.

[Mia]

And, I mean, the defense does do a good job at just doing, like, photo dumps. That's what they're doing here. They're just dumping photos. And even during the rereading of the Coolest Alien Rockstar Unicorn, I don't know if it's the way that it's read, but I did see some people in the room kind of grimace or look kind of like, yikes. And I don't know if it's yikes because they think this caption is damning. I don't know if it's yikes because it's like, ugh, kind of cringe. Unicorn, coolest alien. But there is this very fascinating part where Brian Steele has her read the caption to another post. 21. Stop growing up. You're making me feel old. I love you, my little brother. So proud of all you've become. And you're about to Happy birthday. @PrinceJDC. Tell the jury who Justin is. Justin is one of Puff's sons. The jurors see a picture of Justin and Mia, and then a few of them, a lot of them look over at Justin in the pews as well. And Justin Combs, I don't know if he was prepped, which would make sense. I would be prepped too. But his body language is facing towards the jurors, which doesn't seem to be a natural sitting position. And side note, later, Brian Steele will do it again, where he will just have Mia list off random people in the this massive group photo that nobody knows they're not celebrities. Nobody cares. And it's like, I don't know who any of these people are. And then I feel like I see the Point of the photo. And there's Mama Combs. And it feels like everyone in the courtroom is turning to see Mama Combs, Christian Combs, Justin Combs, and everyone. Again, it's like, what do I know about the evidentiary value of something like this? But it just felt like a way for Brian Steele to say to the jurors, see, that's his family sitting in the pews. Look at his family over there.

[Brian Steele]

Got it.

[Mia]

That was the vibe, because I didn't know what I was getting out of that. I think the reason that a lot of netizens are talking about the jurors reactions to Mia's testimony is mainly because it just felt like a lot of them were having some obvious observable reactions. What those reactions actually mean, nobody will ever know. Like I can tell you, a juror shook their head. At this time of questioning, what do we know that they're shaking their head at? It could be something unrelated to the case. It could be at the defendant, it could be at the witness, it could be at the attorney's, it could be at the US Marshals. Brian Steele shows another text message thread. December 15, 2019. Sending you and the family love and prayers today with a heart emoji. Just reaching out to Mr. Combs. Right. Kim's birthday. And then another text from December 31, 2019, then another from May 14. Later, Mia explained some context to another message where Mia is telling Combs that she's gonna look for some footage to send him. She says that Combs made her carry around a little flip camera. This is before he hired full time videographers. And she would record a lot of things. And he was making a documentary recently, so she was gonna send them stuff. Brian Steele asks her a bunch of questions before asking, so my question is, do you have any recording of Mr. Combs berating you? Objection. Overruled. No, I would not have been allowed to film that. I was filming whatever he wanted me to film. But did you ever just put on your iPhone recorder to capture Mr. Combs in a moment of rage like you described to the jury? Absolutely not. Do you have any text message that you sent to a friend or family member of what was going on, according to you, that Mr. Combs was somehow berating you, being violent to you, humiliating you? Do you have anything like that? Objection. Overruled. I would, like I said before, I never told anybody outside and I never would have. That would have been a huge break of trust, loyalty, and confidentiality. But Brian Steele is saying, it's just weird that there's no messages showing her talking about the abuse, which she says she would never. He says all of these messages are positive. Would you agree with me? Yeah. At this point, Combs turns to Mark Agnifolo, whispers something and then smiles, showing almost a loving relationship from you to Mr. Combs. True. Brian Steele has her read another message. Can you read to the jurors what you wrote to Mr. Combs? Life is fucking insane, and supposedly it all happens. Just go a little slower. Okay. Thank you. Life is fucking insane, and supposedly it all happens for a reason, in order to elevate us in our human experience. But it's rough. I've been tapping into spirituality a lot lately, and it really makes shit make sense. I've also been thinking about you so much and feeling your pain. And just so you know, I love you with all my heart. And I. I'm still here for you forever. We have so many hilarious ass memories and stories. Omg. Gg I will send you the videos and even random notes I have in my phone titled, like, quote, funny shit, Puff said. Do you have any random notes in your phone talking about being brutalized by Mr. Combs? Objection. Sustained. Do you have any notes like you did here, like you memorialized here in this text message that Mr. Combs was violent towards you? I don't know. I don't think so. I would never have. I don't think so. I mean, Puff used to make me follow him around and write down all the funny stuff he would say that day. That's why I have stuff like that. Mia, didn't you have time away from Mr. Combs where you could write a note to yourself today, he sexually assaulted me. God forbid. No. Objection. Overruled. I did not. Did you ask me if I had time away to write that? Of course. That's my question. No, I did not. And I would not have. There are other mannerisms that a lot of people have pointed out that might have made some people feel less engaged with Mia's testimony. On one occasion, Brian Steele plays a video for Mia to refresh her recollection. She wears headphones. We only get to see her watching the video. This is the birthday video. And she kind of has a soft smile, and then she looks confused, squints, and then she smiles as she's watching it, which a lot of people think there's no way that I could be smiling if I was watching myself giving a happy birthday video to my abuser, especially in hindsight, once I know what he's done.

[Brian Steele]

Okay.

[Mia]

I don't I think the conversation around Mia is multifaceted. I think there's. There is clearly a conversation about why victims might not be collecting evidence as they're being traumatized. I think, as well as there's another conversation of why victims might still show affection towards someone that's abused them. I mean, there's so much conversation to be had there, but there's also conversation to be had on the fact that I think a lot of people are nitpicking Mia's mannerisms and demeanors in the courtroom. I think it's interesting that because she's quiet and timid for the most of the testimony, then if she shows herself not being timid and quiet, it comes off as fake. Fake.

[Brian Steele]

Yeah.

[Mia]

I think it just reminds me that society still wants a perfect victim. I also think it's a reminder that society likes to group, specifically, I think, a lot of women into different categories. So if you're a weak and timid woman, you should always be a weak and timid moment. If you show strength, if you show courage, then maybe you were faking being weak and timid.

[Brian Steele]

Yeah.

[Mia]

Maybe you were manipulating people into thinking you were soft so that you could have this moment where you win. Like, it's always, like, you need to have a very rigorous. Like, this is your personality, and this is it. Like, it's a very strong category that I think a lot of women are put into. I think that's a good conversation to have. And it's just interesting that a lot of people only feel sympathy for victims if they are the type of victim that we wanna see on the stand. Now, that's not to say I don't think that we should ever just, like, go on a criminal federal case and say, hey, whatever they're saying on the stand is the truth. I think that it's okay to think into process of, is this a believable story? Does this make any sense? Does this make factual sense? I think that's a good thing to do. However, just nitpicking on her demeanor is bizarre to me.

[Brian Steele]

Yeah.

[Mia]

One thing I kept tallying and just felt like maybe the jurors were not as engaged within certain parts of Mia's testimony. It has a lot to do with the word psychology and. And therapy. Sometimes Brian Steele would ask Mia a question, and she would reference psychology or her therapist, which appeared to me visually through my notes, that many, multiple of those times, a juror or two would physically look away from Mia or would do a downturned frown, like one would even smirk again. It could be a coincidence, it could be something else. It could be that maybe they don't like this particular method of answering questions. Brian Steele asks why Mia kept promoting Combs on her personal social media accounts. He asks, well, why would you promote the person who has stolen your happiness in life? Which I hear someone from the public side go, mmm, which I thought was kind of insane. Mia responds, the, well, those are the only people I was around. So that was my life. Promoting was part of it. You know, you had to support the things that Puff supported. And it was also very. I'm not a psychiatrist or a psychologist, but was a very confusing, like, cycling of ups and downs and violence and things that I guess I'll leave up to the experts to go into. It felt like anytime. Mia said she's not a psychologist, a lot of people didn't particularly seem engaged or receptive to that response is the feeling I got. I could also be feeling things that don't make sense. But in another part of the cross, Brian Steele asks her, how do you have a good moment with Sean Combs when you're terrified of him? Because it's. It's easy. Because the dynamics would shift. So when things were good, you felt really safe and you forgot. You almost forgot about those things. How do you forget about being woken up with a man on top of you, getting his way with you because it's too horrible to think about. So you don't. And you don't have time to either, and you just want it to go away. You were in constant fear, right? Constant fear. I said, when he was abusive, I was in horrific fear. I was in fear of being in trouble. I was in fear of upsetting him. I was in fear of any moments that were not the best friend, good moments. How are you best friends with a person who has treated you the way that you said to the jury? I mean, I guess we can ask my therapist. It was a very psychological. He was vulnerable with me quite a bit. So I feel responsible for helping him. And then I would feel bad for him and then I don't know. I mean, I mean, I can describe it, but I'm not a psychiatrist or a therapist. I don't think I'm allowed to. Now I will give some context. Previously in the direct testimony, Mia says that she hasn't been able to work because of, quote, I suffer from complex, like, severe ptsd. Okay. This is my theory as well. I don't know, maybe this is like a conspiracy. I have. It appears that money and lifestyle have a strong impact on the juror, it seems like even when Mia stated that she can't work because of complex severe ptsd. But then when you kind of see how she is dressed, it's more of like the LA Hollywood. And then you see how the jurors are dressed, and then you kind of see like small, like pursed lips. When she states things like this, I can't tell if they feel bad for her or if it's kind of like they feel like. Like it's a cop out. Not saying that it is, but I do think it's like a very complex socioeconomic.

[Brian Steele]

I mean, like, even just looking at social media, you see these sentiments are like, yeah, oh, you chose this for the money, for example, right?

[Mia]

Yes.

[Brian Steele]

So the jury pools could be a reflection of the world.

[Mia]

Right.

[Brian Steele]

There's bound to be a percentage of people feel certain way about money and suing or working with Diddy and this and that. So it does. Does make a lot of sense. Totally. Right.

[Mia]

And I think it also plays into how society still wants the perfect victim. So if she's not working, I think society wants a perfect victim who is not put together at all, who does not look well tailored in their attire to court. I don't know. That was just like a speculation I had that has nothing to do with anyone's innocence or guilt. Just like a pure food for thought. But she said that she suffers from complex, severe ptsd. And Brian Steele objects. And there's a brief sidebar where Steele argues that's a diagnosis from a doctor. We are not examining the doctor at all. I would like it to not be coming through this witness. I have no idea if she has PTSD or not. This is a diagnosis from a doctor. I don't know if it's truthful or not, or if it's being used for the truth of the matter. To which the judge does tell the prosecutor. Ms. Miser, I think you can avoid the objection by making sure that. That the witness understands to not be referring to any diagnosis just based on her feelings and experience why she is unable to have a job. You can ask it that way. So maybe that's why she keeps saying, I'm not a therapist, I'm not a doctor. Like, maybe the prosecutors told her in her direct. Like, because she can talk to the prosecutors while it's direct, once the cross starts, she cannot talk to the prosecutors. So maybe they told her in the direct, like, hey, maybe when we ask you these questions, don't put diagnosis on. On it. And maybe that's why in the Cross, she kept saying, I'm not a therapist, I'm not a psychiatrist. I don't know, I'm just speculating. But it was very frequent and I don't think a lot of people received it well. It kind of gave like cop out answer vibes. But I can see maybe why.

[Brian Steele]

So like every time they ask something like a little bit like challenging, she just goes, okay, but I don't know, I'm, I'm not a doctor certain times.

[Mia]

But there's other times where I think she explains it in a way that makes sense.

[Brian Steele]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Mia]

So it's, it's. Maybe it's like she was told not to say. I don't know. I see now. Later, Mia explains that she can't work because, quote, I would have to leave because I would be triggered by really normal situations with an overwhelming sense of fear. Being in trouble, like overreacting to normal just overwhelmed me. So she said, misinterpreting simple emails or if someone said, where are you? Like freaking out and thinking and trying to explain where I was and why I was there. And it could be someone I just wanted to see if they wanted to get coffee. If someone called my name, if someone said my name from across the room, all those feelings of getting in trouble would come flooding back. I just triple guessed myself in everything I did. Then later in the direct, Brian Steele asks about why she wrote such sweet things to him when quote, the man who you stay has ruined your life. This is what you write to him at the time. As low as he would make me, he would also make me feel the opposite as well. Again, I can tell you what my therapist is said, but I'm not a professional to explain that. How is it possible that you are even around Mr. Combs after the way you say he treats you and your best friend and your other loved ones. It's called like psychological abuse. Again, it wasn't horrible all the time. If it was, it would have been easy getting punished after reacting to his violence where then I'm confused and begging for, to make it all better so that I could ignore what happened. Like, nobody around, no one around us ever reacted to. Everyone acted like it was normal adults that I thought were authority figures in the office, they all upheld his behavior and punishment towards me. I didn't have like, yeah, it was a fun recipe. At this point, we noted that Combs appeared to have rested his right cheek into his right index finger leaning on the side of the chair. Meanwhile, Brian Steele is just gearing up. He's Locked in. He has his arms crossed. What could be more horrible than how you described this supposed conduct that you endured at the hands of Mr. Combs? Objection. It's argumentative. How did you find any goodness with Mr. Combs after what you described to the ladies and gentlemen of this jury? Easily, because no one in my life had ever said the mean things that he had said to me. No one in my life had treated me like that. And the second that it went back to good, I was elated. I was. I was searching for that sort of approval because I was confused what I had done wrong. Again, I'm not a psych major. I didn't know what was happening. It's very. But I think there's a lot of textbooks out there that will explain it very easily. It's an abusive relationship, the cycle of violence. But you're not dating Mr. Combs. A relationship doesn't mean it has to be romantic. A relationship could means anything. Ma' am, why do you blame yourself when you're trying to use a bathroom on an airplane and Mr. Combs comes and confronts you and you say, no, no, no, no, no, and then don't have a memory. What did you do wrong?

[Brian Steele]

What.

[Mia]

So, because she was saying that she kept blaming herself for the essays. And I think the question was, at least the feeling that a lot of us had was, I'm sure every essay victim could explain why they felt like they were in the wrong. Like, that is pretty much a pillar of essay trauma, which he states, again, I think that could be explained with any sexual assault versus victim and the shame that they carry. I'm not sure in hindsight, everything, but when you're in it, I don't know how to explain it. I was young and manipulated and just eager to survive again. I'm unraveling a lot of this now. In therapy. Nobody told me. Nobody was there to say these things were happening, were wrong. There was no. There were no, like, streaming documentaries. There was nobody standing up. There was nobody around us ever even flinched at his behavior. So I don't know how to explain that. I was always in trouble, and I was just trying to find ways to not to be in trouble, then things were great. Things were so great because. So if I'm just looking objectively at the situation that I have no involvement with, of course. But when you're my logic brain and my trauma brain and my trauma brain wins all the time. And. Okay, the feeling that I get is that I feel like she really is just unpacking it recently in Therapy, like, the words and how she describes it, it's like it still sounds like she's trying to understand. And these sound to me like things perhaps, maybe her therapist is telling her to try and get her to understand, but it feels like she hasn't fully grasped it. It doesn't feel like she's fully, maybe emotionally absorbed. A lot of it. To be able to sit there and confidently tell people, like, okay, so this is what I know it to be. Instead, it's just like I don't even really know how to feel about it. But, like, my therapist. Therapist is telling me this is normal. And so I'm just trying to tell you what my therapist is telling me. Yeah, that's the feeling I get. She's saying my trauma brain wins, you know, all the time, everybody. I mean, eventually it becomes normalized, and you're just trying to get back to the good. I mean, you make excuses for people. I'm a people pleaser. I'm an empath. I'm a rule follower. I just wanted to do. Just wanted to do my best and make everybody happy all the time. So I tend to take a lot of more than normal people. I don't know how to explain that. I. I don't know if I should apologize for that. I forgive people all the time for things like that. Very soon after this line of questioning, there is a brief sidebar where we noted Combs turns around and appears to make eye contact with Justin Combs, his son. And they're both nodding at each other. Brian Steele gets back to the lectern and gets back to the line of questioning. Mia, you're not a weak person, are you? I'm not sure. It depends. In another part, she's asked about reading text messages where she says, again, it's a pretty long psychological explanation. She goes on to explain the context of the message. But I think those statements. I could see, hypothetically, why some people might speculate of it rubbing the jurors the wrong way. Because I think just sporadically, and maybe the delivery in which she said, you can. Again, you can ask my therapist. I guess it could come off, yeah, that she's not trying to answer the question. And just throughout the days of Mia's testimony, I personally felt. And again, I. I don't know any of these jurors. I don't know what they're thinking. I'm not a mind reader. But it just appeared to me visually that a lot of the jurors were becoming less and less engaged as the testimony went on. Even during the cross, one of the jurors in the front were picking up their nails. Do I know what they're thinking? Maybe that's how they focus, is to fidget with their nails. But the body language to me I observed was not engaged and not really resonating with Mia's testimony, even compared to the other testimonies we've had thus far. There would be moments throughout Mia's testimony where a juror is smirking. Everybody knows who this juror is because in the hallways, people would talk about like, oh, this juror was smirking. And everyone's like, oh, I know exactly, exactly which juror you're talking about. Others are staring at their nails here and there. Others are glancing around the room a bit more. It feels. Which, mind you, the witness sits really close to the jurors. And this is why I think maybe they're less engaged or less resonating with Mia's testimony. The witness is close to the jurors than we are.

[Brian Steele]

Can you explain, like, how far they are? Because when you told me, it's like, crazy close.

[Mia]

Like, how you're sitting. You're sitting, like, what, two feet from me?

[Brian Steele]

Okay, let's say we're six feet apart, and that's really freaking close. I can see everything on your face.

[Mia]

So it's the judge, it's the witness, and then the jurors, like, they're really close. I think they're honestly closer than we might be. It's a pretty cramped space. I mean, I haven't been able to walk up there, obviously, so I can't tell you exactly. But from my perspective, it looks very close. It looks like. I mean, they see her whole face. They see everything. They can see every minute. Facial expression. And so a few times. Times during sidebars, the jurors are just kind of leaning over and chit chatting. The energy feels so light during sidebars. And this is. The sidebars during Mia's cross examination are intense. Brian Steele keeps asking questions that get sustained. And they're very intense questions of like, this is the man who terrorized you. Why are you. Like, they're very. Some call it aggressive. So these are high tense moments. Sidebar happens. White noise comes on, and the jurors are kind of chit chatting. Some of them. Okay, there's like a few that are chit chatting. Not a lot. Some of them are just kind of sitting. Like, they seem very. The demeanor comes off casual. I don't know what that means.

[Brian Steele]

While Mia is sitting, like, right there, a couple Feet away.

[Mia]

Yes. Do I know what they're thinking? No. I'm just thinking if I were in the juror seat and someone story is resonating with me and they're telling me some of the most traumatic things in their lives, I don't know if during a break I would just be like smiling at the person next to me whilst she's sitting right there.

[Brian Steele]

Yeah.

[Mia]

One of the researchers wrote during a sidebar, a few of the jurors seem to be chatting, giggling, yawning. And at one point, one of the jurors even uses their notebook to cover their mouth from the pews to talk, talk to the other juror, which I thought was weird. Then on the other side of the courtroom, a few others don't look as engaged as well, which again, what do I know? But at points Combs is glancing at the jurors. Other times he looks like he's dozing off. My researcher and I were passing notes and this is speculation. Sean Combs statue because he might be dead asleep. Question mark, question mark. At one point he even starts rubbing his eyes mid testimony with his thumb and his index finger, like very, very vigorously. His son Justin is in the back. He looks like he's in REM sleep. At one point, it appears that his grandmother looks at him and gives him a look because he looks like he's dozing off. Christian King Combs, he's not dozing off, but he looks like he's fighting every inner demon to not fall asleep. But it looks like all of his brain power is to stay awake. Sometimes Combs would just scratch his head like a bored kid in class. This is diddy. Or he will be very still. My researcher writes Combs is sitting there like a 14th century royal king getting his royal portrait painting. Just so, still not moving. There was another time though, where Combs turns around and it appeared that one of his family friends is just fully asleep. And I don't know if he was doing this towards a family friend or whoever. This is just the motion that I saw. He looks back at the pews, at his family and friends and then he very dramatically forehead palms and then turns back to the front. And then later the family friend wakes up or appears to be more awake than before. Real businesses rely on spectrum business for the fastest, most reliable Internet starting at $40 a month when bundled and backed by the spectrum commitment. Get get Internet speeds to fit your business needs starting at 500Mbps bundle with TV, phone and mobile for more savings. Level up your speed for a three year price guarantee. Find a bundle that is made for your [e-mail] business restrictions apply. Services not available in all areas this Father's Day at Lowe's Score free gifts for the greatest dad right now Get a free Blackstone 8 piece accessory kit when you buy a Blackstone 28 inch griddle. Plus get two free select Craftsman V20 tools when you buy an RP brushless drill and impact driver combo kit. Shop these deals and more this Father's Day at Lowe's we help you save valid through 6:15 while supplies last selection varies by location. If you're an experienced pet owner, you already know that having a pet is 25% belly rubs, 25% yelling, dropping and 50% groaning at the bill from every vet visit. Which is why Lemonade Pet insurance is tailor made for your pet and can save you up to 90% on vet bills. It can help cover checkups, emergencies, diagnostics, basically all the stuff that makes your bank account nervous. Claims are filed super easy through the Lemonade app and half get settled instantly. Get a'@lemonade.com pet and they'll help cover the vet bill for whatever your pet swallowed after you yell drop it. And I'm just going to be transparent. Some of the jurors also looked tired. Some of them looked, in my opinion, again, these are just opinions. I don't know if they're tired. They looked slightly annoyed. Okay, so let me tell you, there would be times when Mia would respond to a question and would say a very specific phrase. And a few jurors looked like they wanted to roll their eyes. One specific juror, kind of just like a lot of them would, okay, like one of them would side eye and look away every time Mia would say it. Just like, wow. And their lips would kind of press. Some people would. Some of the jurors, well, one juror in particular would be taking notes and anytime she said this phrase, their lips would kind of press and their neck would go back a little like I don't know what that means. I guess it could be anything, right? Mia starts off the testimony when asked about what it's like working for Combs, and she says it was chaotic. It could be toxic. It could be exciting. The highs were really high and the lows were really low. Then not too long after she says about Cassie's relationship with Combs, it was a cycle of like highs and lows. Then later she's asked again by the prosecutor, you testified about how the highs were really high and the lows were really Low when you worked for Mr. Combs, is that right? Yes. And at the end of the day yesterday, you spoke about different times, times in which Mr. Combs sexually assaulted you, Is that right? Yes. Were those times some of the lowest lows? They were the lowest lows, yes. And like, I think at this point, it's not that repetitive, but then it just becomes more and more and like, this phrase just ends up coming up. I don't even think it came up that many times, but I think it's so distinct and specific that every time it did come up, it felt like at least one or two jurors had some sort of observable reaction of, like, a crinkle in their brow or like one always at the neck, back, and, like, small pursing of lips. Like, I think the defense caught on. And perhaps because she frequently used this, or maybe they caught on that. Maybe some of their guesses also are that jurors don't like it based off their body language cues. But during the cross, Brian Steele even asks Mia, and you're telling the jury you used the term. The highs were highs, the lows were lows. Do you remember saying that multiple times? The highs were super high and the lows were super low. Correct. Similar reactions. But my question I would like you to answer, if you don't mind, is how could any high cover up the lows that you talked about being threatened with your life? Objection. That's overruled. One of the jurors adjusts forward in their seat to listen to Mia's response. Oh, because I felt safe and I felt like everything was great again. When you were with your family or friends outside of Mr. Combs presence and outside of your work environment, why wasn't that time to explain the horror that you're describing to the jury? Like, why aren't you telling them? Because it's way more complex than that. Again, the highs were super high. The lows were super low. The dynamic shifted all the time. I mean, there's so many reasons. In reference to another picture she posted where Muhammad Ali had passed away, Brian Steele asks her, this is the type of things that you were doing at times in your job. True. The highs were high and the lows were low. Yeah. Then another one, November 4, 2014, and this is also Mr. Combs 45th birthday. Does that sound right? I guess so, yes. And tell the jurors what you wrote. Happy birthday, Puff Daddy. I was very close to posting an open mouth sleeping pic to return the favor of my birthday post, but you signed My paychecks. Thank you for being the good kind of crazy and continuing to inspire me every day. And thank you for all the quote, unquote people, right. Write books about this shit moments. I know there are many more to come. And thank you for being a friend and bringing friends into my life that I can call family forever. I love you at I am Diddy with all my heart. Welcome to the Seventh Element. Happy birthday, puffdaddy. Hashtag can't stop, won't stop. Hashtag broke people sleep. Hashtag Happy birthday, Diddy. Hashtag I'm so hot, I'm throwing panties at myself. Hashtag revolt, Puff Daddy. It's Sean Combs and you or Sean Combs himself in the pictures, right? Because it's like a collage of pictures. Correct. And you had Mr. Combs shirtless in two of the pictures. True? Yes. He's always shirtless next to you in for the pictures, right? Of course. And at this point, you have taken in so much trauma from him. That's what you told the jurors, right? I've taken in so much trauma from him, sure. Yes, I have. But again, it was when the highs were high and the lows were low. You just fought so hard to stay in, like, the highs. Brian Steele argues you remember telling them that the sexual assault occurred so often, more times than you can count. I don't remember phrasing it that way. I remember saying that there were more. I don't remember all the times I did, but I don't remember how many. Well, by this time, on November 4th of 2014, it is five years. And you have been sexually assaulted multiple times, Right? I don't know about. I'm just guessing. So, yeah. And this stays with you to this day. This has ruined you, right? What has ruined this part? Your testimony, if I'm correct, and correct me, is that Sean Combs conduct towards you, sexual abuse towards you, has made you broken. Right? Sexual abuse was part of the ways that he ruined me. Yes. There were many other ways as well. Well, in addition, there are other ways. But in 1718, on the fifth anniversary of the initial sexual abuse, you were saying to Sean Combs on your social media account for everyone to see, thank you for being the good kind of crazy and continuing to inspire me every day. Right? Of course. Because I want my friends and everyone else to think I want to highlight the highs. I don't think people wrote bad stuff about their life on Instagram back then. Then later, she rephrases it, saying that on social media, she never posted the Bad stuff quote. So these are all the high points. You know, back then, you at least didn't post the low point. She's later shown a scrapbook that she put together for one of Combs birthdays with all the archival articles about him. And there's a few notable moments where it felt like a few jurors had the same thin lipped press. Like when taking notes during Mia's response. And it's when Brian Steele shows her the scrapbook she made and asks her, and this is something that you did. Yeah. So nice of me. One more time. Yes, I was very. Mm. I'm sorry. I heard you say it's very. And then I couldn't hear you. Sorry. Yes, I did. I was saying it was so nice of me, but I didn't mean to say that. And I saw like a thin lipped press. Then he shows a handwritten card from Mia to Combs for his birthday. And I guess arguing that she wasn't just posting about it on social media as part of her job. This would be 45th birthday, so this would have been November 4, 2014. Is that fair to say? Yes, if you can go slow and read that to the jury, what you wrote to Mr. Combination Puff. Sometimes life goes by. I'm gonna interrupt you and I apologize. Can you read it slower? Sure. Sometimes life goes by at catastrophic speeds where you never get to live. I think. I don't know why. It just looked like. It just looked like. Some people in the courtroom had very distinct facial expressions to this. Like, I guess it goes to the. Maybe she had a more timid demeanor and it sounded maybe a little more like passive aggressive almost. But I don't know if that's like. I don't know if that has anything to do. Discredit her story.

[Brian Steele]

Yeah.

[Mia]

Because it's just like. So if you're timid, you can't ever get mad because, like, Brian Steele was going in on her for two days.

[Brian Steele]

Yeah.

[Mia]

And asking. I mean, some people thought a lot of out of pocket questions. And so she can't even have a moment where she's like, okay, you know what? I'm gonna be passive aggressive. So it's. I don't know. I mean, a lot of people are interpreting it differently.

[Brian Steele]

Yeah.

[Mia]

Another time she's asked about this very lengthy birthday card that she writes him where it's talking about how much she loves him. And Mia says that it was prior to all of this, he had come to her and said that he feels jaded with life. He's already kind of done everything. And she just felt he. She just felt it was a depressing conversation. So she wanted to make him this birthday gift, the scrapbook, and write a beautiful birthday card to make him feel better because he felt like he was in a vulnerable place and she wanted to help. And she says, quote, that is just my empathic nature. And previously when she said empath, someone behind me kind of sighed. I don't know if it's like a society thing. I feel like we have an adverse reaction to the word empath. Like when people call themselves empaths. I felt like people don't like that.

[Brian Steele]

That really?

[Mia]

Yeah. Cuz I don't know what's been happening. Cuz I think like when people call themselves empaths, they're usually not empaths. Has been the sentiment online when you have to keep telling people I'm an empath, I'm an empath.

[Brian Steele]

Okay.

[Mia]

So I don't know if it's that, but it just felt like every time she said it's my empathic nature or I'm an empath, wonder had again the thin lipped press while taking notes of.

[Brian Steele]

Like, yeah, got it.

[Mia]

That's a very loving card. Would you agree with that? Yes. I'm a very loving person. To the person who sexually abused you. Yes. Much of Brian Steele's cross examination is on the fact that Mia does not have proof for the jurors about the abuse that she suffered at the hands of Sean Combs. Now that's his point. Something very, very important to note. The witness has no burden to bring forth evidence of what they're testifying to. That is not their responsibility or burden. In a criminal trial, the burden of proof solely lies on the government. It is not Mia's responsibility to show proof that these things happened. So technically, the defense constantly asking her for proof in some way, shape or form is, according to prosecutor Smizer, quote, totally improper in front of the jury to be suggesting that the witness in this instance should be bringing forth evidence to support her claims. The judge agrees. However, Brian Steele can question her on if she has has proof. He can't ask her to bring it to the court and prove it, but he can just be like, hey, do you have something in your possession? You do have something in your possession. Okay, great. Like that's, I think what is being implied. Brian Steele continues his line of questioning asking about the running away debating of mother Nature or Sean Combs is scarier. That incident when they're on the paddle boards, remember Cassie and Mia in Turks and Kosher yeah, in Turks. Are you aware of any text message or email or other recording that that incident happened? I don't think so. Any photographs? No. We were on paddleboards. Mia, was that just made up by you? No. How is it that all of these events have no photographs or text message or email from you? Can you explain that, please? Objection sustained in one text message from 2020. Combs texts MIA, glad you're well, love. Please send me all the footage cuz we're working on our doc. And know that I only remember the good times. Love you. Want you to know that. Yes. Now, did you respond to him? You know, it's 2020. The MeToo movement has been strong for approximately two and a half years. And you should remember what you did to me. You didn't say that. Objection. Mr. Seale, can you rephrase the question? When Mr. Combs wrote to you, I only remember the good times, why didn't you respond? Well, I only remember the bad times. Sorry, why didn't I say that? Because I would have never responded that way. Because it's not true. Is that true, Mia?

[Brian Steele]

Wait, what? That's Brian? Yeah, he's like whispering like.

[Mia]

Because none of this is true, huh? Is that true, Mia? Objection. Overruled. I'm sorry, what was the question? Your testimony statements that it was you were the victim at the hands of Mr. Combs brutality and sexual assaults. Is not true, is it? I've never lied in this courtroom and I never will lie in this courtroom. Everything I've said is true. So can you read what you wrote to Mr. Combs in response to his writing to you? Send me all the footage. And we're working on our documentary. I only remember the good times. Love you. Want you to know that. Love you too. And the only things I remember are the good times that. Can you just go slower? Oh, sorry. Love you too. And the only things to remember are the good times. And those are the only memories I have. Haha. Like fucking hysterical ones. I'll send you everything I've got. I remember even before you had videographers with us, I carried around the little eye vid thing. I found those too. Completely forgot about them. So many magical hilarious things. Like drinking 1942 on the parrot Cay beach. And champagne under the eiffel Tower at 4am in the dark. And singing with Jimmy at Interscope and Mick Jagger trying to. Trying to take me home. But I ran away in Ibiza Caves where I got a 7 inch scar. In Hawaii 5.0 when you punch that dick. Fuck for talking shit to me and that and launching revolts and that random underground baccarat game where JLO wouldn't pay out. And I stayed only. And you won 650 grand. And that little prick ran away from me. And Leo grabbed my pink bedazzled BlackBerry and you said that that Titanic motherfucker doesn't know shit. He won 10k, I won 650k. Side note, Brian Steele starts shaking his head as she's reading like. Like a dad that is very disappointed. Haha. Gosh, there are trillions of stories that are amazing. Of course I'll send it to you. And also, what documentary without me? I will say I reflect back. And I know I did really fucking great with Can't Stop, Won't Stop. I was just bamboozled by Heather because I didn't realize how shitty people could be. And I believed everyone was good. But you taught me so much, and I appreciate that. When you said in this message to Mr. Combs, it's in the fifth line up from the bottom, starting at the center. I was bamboozled by Heather because I didn't know. I didn't realize how shitty people could be. Yeah. Brian Steele doesn't curse in court. And I believed everyone was good. You see that? Yes.

[Brian Steele]

You're kidding. So he doesn't like when he. He just spell it out?

[Mia]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Brian Steele]

Always.

[Mia]

Always.

[Brian Steele]

Any curse words?

[Mia]

Yeah, the only one. Yeah. The only one that did curse was raspberry air. Jason Driscoll. Yeah. He, like, recently was talking to the judge in open court and he was reading a message and he just said, like. And everybody was staring at him because I don't think they were.

[Brian Steele]

Usually they just skip over the curse word.

[Mia]

It really depends on the attorney. Some people will just say it because it's in there.

[Brian Steele]

That is so interesting. Like, because they're talking about some of the most crazy vulgar.

[Mia]

Like. Like. Well, I don't know if vulgar is the right word, but I see what you mean. Yes, yes.

[Brian Steele]

Like some.

[Mia]

Some, you know, like some of the more not vulgar, like dark things of humanity. And then it's like, oh, but we can't curse. It is interesting. Yeah. Why didn't you say. And Mr. Combs, you bamboozled me as well, because I was still brainwashed. Who brainwashed you, Mia Puff? How did he brainwash you into thinking that it's okay to be woken up from your slumber with a man's private part being inserted into your person without permission? Objection. Sustained. How did he bamboozle you to believe it? Was okay when you were orienting different items in a closet? Objection, you, Honor, that. Sustained. How did he be? Why didn't you write how he was one of the people that caused you to believe that not everyone was good? Because I was brainwashed. That's your answer? Objection. Sustained. What does brainwash mean? Objection. That's overruled. Brainwashed meant I was in an environment where the highs were really high and the lows were really low, which created a huge confusion in me trusting my instincts. I was punished whenever Puff would be violent or I would react. Therefore, again, confusing me and making me believe I had done something wrong. I mean, again, I just. I was constantly seeking his approval. He was my authority figure, the only authority figure. One juror at this point, seemingly still not really paying attention. I mean, they could be. I don't want to say that they're not, but just they're like hardcore looking at their nails. Maybe that's how they focus. In the direct, though, Mia says that she never went to the police because, quote, I believed Puff's authority was, of course, above the police. She also states this was also a time period. This is years and years before social media, MeToo, or any sort of example where someone had stood up successfully to someone in power, such as him. Also, like, I was taught to believe that this all fell under the confidentiality or loyalty of Puff's business. Well, now, in the cross, Brian Steele is asking, you told the jurors yesterday that part of the reason that you never said anything about the essay, you remember, you gave several reasons. Yes. You explained that the MeToo movement, it was way before that. You stated that social media wasn't kicked in. Right. Not in the capacity as now. There was no TikTok. There was nobody talking about sexual abuse. There was no. At this time, Instagram was all about highlighting the highs of your life, not the lows of your life, and just showing people the great times that you were having. That's what I meant. Social media is not like it is today. Well, by 2017, the MeToo movement was viral. Not until about a few months. Months after the initial person was brought to the forefront of the MeToo movement was months after I left. That was October 15th of 2017. Does that sound correct? Correct. That's when the MeToo movement went viral, Right? I don't know when the movement went viral, but I know the catalyst for it was somewhere around that time. Then he brings about her messages to Sean Combs. Brian Steele says you were aware of the MeToo movement for years. By August 29, 2020. Right. One that he was not affected by. Correct. Well, what does that mean? He was not affected by it? By August 29th of 2020, you were already aware for years of the MeToo movement. Right? Correct. And you told the ladies and gentlemen of the jury, one of the reasons you did not outcry earlier was because there was no MeToo movement around when you worked for Mr. Combs. Right. I was saying back then, there was no Me too movement, that there was no social media. There was no mental health awareness. Sorry, social media, as though it is today. Every adult that I reached out to within the organization or the people that witnessed what happened to me, nobody acted like what was happening to me was wrong. And threats about that he was going to tell Cassie about what happened made me internalize blame and shame. So your testimony before the story is that Mr. Combs told you, threatened you, is your word that, hey, I have a mind to tell Ms. Ventura that I sexually assaulted you? Objection. Overruled. That was not his wording. He threatened to tell Cassie everything. I can't hear you. The words you used were not the words he used. He threatened the words. He threatened to tell Cassie everything, which made me feel like I had done something wrong. I don't know how to explain what that does to a person. Are you finished? Yes. Why didn't you respond by saying, great, let's tell everyone what happened, that you violated me? Objection. Sustained. Why didn't you respond by saying, absolutely tell Ms. Ventura and everyone else. That would be great. Objection. Sustained. Let's move on. By 2020, August 29, you knew, according to you, what you said earlier on direct examination, that you have a moral obligation to speak up. Do you remember saying that to the jury? Objection. That's overruled. I now have a moral obligation. Yes. Why didn't this moral obligation happen in 2017? You said, why did it? Why didn't it? Why didn't it? Yes. Why didn't it? Why didn't you have the moral obligation to say, this is my experience with Mr. Combs because I was terrified and I was brainwashed. Why in 2018 didn't you have the moral obligation to come forward and make these allegations against Mr. Combs, that he has sexually abused you? Objection. It's overruled. The same reason why in 2019? Same question. That's sustained. Next question. When did the moral obligation come to your mind that you need to say this information that you're putting forth, that Mr. Combs violated you in a sexual manner and other ways? When I Started witnessing him being held accountable for his actions and being told what happened to me was wrong when it began, I guess when it all came out in the media and he was being held responsible, that's when you said, me, too. No, that's not the first moment I did. It's been a long process. Again, I'm still untangling things. I. In therapy, like, there's a lot of support I've been given that I didn't have or know what to do with before. Then. Brian Steele brings up another text message where Mia, I guess Sean Combs was visiting Mia's hometown, but she was leaving because her grandma was in hospice care, so she wasn't going to see him. And she sends a very lengthy message of, like, you're doing great things. Miss you disappointed I can't see you, and you were disappointed that you won't be able to see him in person? Right? Well, that's what I'm saying, but, yes. Well, isn't it true? No. Why isn't that true? Because I did not want to. I was just saying that. I can't hear you. I did not want to. I was just saying that. Mia. Yes? Who made you write this text message to Mr. Combs? What? Objection. It's overruled. Nobody. Why would you lie in this text message that I wanted to. To see you, but you really didn't want to see Mr. Combs? Because I didn't want to see. I don't know. It provided me with, like, safety, I guess. I didn't want to let him know. I never said something direct and mean to him before in my life. I wasn't going to start. Why write this at all if you didn't Want to see Mr. Combs? Because he was going to be in my hometown, which, again, doesn't get that sort of. I believe that I would have almost been, like, expected to be there. That's all. When did Mr. Combs ever expect you to be anywhere after you left his employment in March of 2017? Objection. That's sustained. Would you agree to me that all of these messages that the jurors have heard that you have authored, everything is positive and loving from you to Mr. Combs? Would you agree with that? Yes, of course. You just keep on this communication with this man who you are terrorized. Excuse my language. Objection. Why don't we get a fresh question? Brian Steele brings up another text message. It's dated November 4, 2023. He added, asks her to read it out loud. It says, happy birth. Yay, Puff Daddy. With A black heart emoji. However, Mia does. She states she does not recall sending this message, but Brian Steele is doubling down, stating just a few days Later, November of 2023, Cassie Ventura's lawsuit is public. And do you remember in the lawsuit that Ms. Ventura alleged sexual abuse at the hands of Mr. Combs? Yes. And by the 16th day of November of 2023, you were aware of the MeToo movement. True. True. And by November 16, 2023, social media had billions of users. True, True. True. And by November 16, you are no longer working with Mr. Combs in any type of everyday or even casual relationship where you would see him. True? Correct. And there is strength in numbers for people who have been truly victimized of sexual assault. Objection. Sustained. Did you tell your sister, Ms. Ventura, like, best friend, sister? After reading the lawsuit and her claims of sexual assault? Me too. That. Sustained. You've got to rephrase the question. Did you call Ms. Ventura after reading her allegations against Mr. Combs of being sexually abused? Are you done? Are you just asking me? Did I call her after her article? Correct. Did I call her or communicate with her? Yes. Huh. She called me afterwards. Did you advise Ms. Ventura in November of 2023 that you alleged Mr. Combs supposedly did to you? Did I tell her then? That's my question. Absolutely not. Why? Just because you find something doesn't mean you just immediately snap out of it. I was still deeply ashamed, and I wanted to die with this. I never wanted to tell anybody ever. December 2023, did you learn that the United States Attorney's office and federal agents were looking into an investigation concerning Mr. Combs, which included sexual assault? I'm not sure when I learned about the investigation, but I did learn about the investigation. Until you get a lawyer in 2024, you never, ever claim to anyone that Mr. Combs was sexually violent. He was. That true. Unless it was to my privileged therapist. You're correct. When you say privileged therapist, could you waive that privilege? The judge interrupts. Let's move on. Next question. But he will come back around and ask when. Smart. All right, let me ask you. Do you recall being given the opportunity to have your therapist notes permitted to be seen by the parties? Objection. That's sustained. There's a brief sidebar where the judge asks. All right. Now, since this is the third or fourth time we're addressing this therapist issue, which was in previously raised to the court, what's the issue? Let's figure it out. Brian Steele says the government met with and asked the lawyers for Mia whether Mia would sign a release and waive confidentiality for her therapist's notes. And the 3500 says that they would not do so. Okay, but how can you possibly ask this witness about those discussions? It's her agent. It's her lawyer. And I believe that constant statements and testimony of this witness saying, you have to ask my therapist. And my therapist told me. And this is all explained in my therapy, and my therapist explained to me. I think that opens the door. The judge turns to Prosecutor Smizer. Let me clear up the record, you, Honor. First of all, the government never asked for Mia's therapist notes. There was one text message exchange. When we searched Mia's phone, we didn't realize it was with her therapist. We were going to use that in trial. And then her lawyers and Mia asserted privilege over that. That was the end of that conversation. So I just wanted to make that clear. The judge states the objection is sustained. Brian Steele goes back out there with regards to you being here today. You're still represented by Counsel Trooper. True, True. And isn't it true that you sought a lawyer because you wanted to sue Mr. Combs for money? No. And that you joined the MeToo money grab against Sean Combs? Is that true?

[Brian Steele]

What?

[Mia]

Objection. Sustained. There is a person in the gallery at this exact moment. And you hear, I don't know what that means. I don't know if it's. I can't believe he asked that. Or if it's like, good point. I have no clue. It was not from one of the jurors. Brian Steele points out that when Mia first hired a lawyer and you asked for, you told the jury or your Lawyer asked for $10 million. Right. I think. I believe my lawyer started that as the negotiation. The start of the negotiation said no. It just felt. I felt like the entire courtroom did perk up to the mention of $10 million because bona balcony incident. Remember Bona, the best friend?

[Brian Steele]

Yeah.

[Mia]

She's also. So it's a $10 million lawsuit against. I think there was a $10 million demand against Sean Combs. So I think a lot of people perk up with these seven figure numbers.

[Brian Steele]

Ten million is eight figures.

[Mia]

Oh, my goodness. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, eight figure. I mean, they're all like eight figure numbers. Yes. And during that time, you had to articulate through your lawyer why you were owed this money, Right? Yes. You never mentioned at the mediation anything about sexual assault. Is that true in the mediation itself or any part of it? I'm sorry. Well, the answer is no. I just don't know If I'm talking about something privileged, I'm not a lawyer. I want to make sure. Is it true that you never mentioned as part of this seeking of $10 million that you were sexually assaulted? True. Now, by the time that this mediation ended, you were aware of the MeToo movement? No. Did this mediation end October 2017? So she went into mediation after she was let go from her position, and there was a demand of $10 million. She ends up settling for $400,000, and her lawyer takes half. She only gets $200,000, which is a lot of money. But, you know, like, he's. There's a lot of emphasis on this $10 million. And now Brian Steele keeps trying to introduce the attorney that she's hired. And there's a lot of questions about. A lot of objected questions about this. This attorney. At the sidebar, we read the transcripts, and it reveals that Brian Steele is telling the judge that she hired a lawyer that just received an $83 million verdict. Brian Steele argues to the judge during the sidebar. It goes to this witness's motive, interest and bias, and that she will be receiving money back in open court. He tries again because the judge is like, with this line of questioning, it's just not going to work. Isn't it true that June 18th of 2024, meeting with the government and the agents was the first time that you ever mentioned any. Anything about sexual abuse at the hands of Sean Combs? I have no idea when I first mentioned it, I didn't see. I have no idea when I first. Except it was after I had representation, which side note, I do think this is like a personal thing, but when you come forward about abuse is not an indicator of whether the abuse happened or not. I think that a lot of people don't come forward for a very long time, even when it seems like there are opportunities presented where they could potentially say something. But Brian still continues, you want money from Mr. Combs based upon your testimony. True. Don't you? No. No. You testified that you would give up all the money if there was no sexual abuse. Do you remember that conversation that you had with the prosecutor? Yes. Have you had any discussions? I'm not asking for any type of attorney client matters. Did you have any discussions with anybody that you believe that you will be making money by testifying against Mr. Combs in the manner you testified today? No. That's not even a thing. Brian Steele, during the cross, just also casually asks Mia if she told Cassie, quote, told her that the money has to come to her. Just like men get that money, right?

[Brian Steele]

Wait, what?

[Mia]

Yeah. Saying, like, she needs to leave Sean Combs. This was, like, back when they were dating. And he's just saying, you told Cassie that the money has to come to her. Just like men get that money, right? I think it's just to show they're trying to prove that they're, like, obsessed with money. Or, like, money opportunist. I don't know. I don't remember what you're saying. Isn't it true that Mr. Combs never had unwanted, non consensual, forcible sexual contact with you? Isn't that true? I'm sorry. You started with, isn't that untrue? And then you said, isn't that true? What I said in this courtroom is the truth. I have not lied to anyone at all. Isn't it true that although unforgivable for any person to put their hands on a woman, especially a man, isn't it true that it did not happen as many times as you just said to this jury? Everything I've said in this courtroom is true. Then why would you. If you're being sexually assaulted and your sister is being brutalized physically, why are you making a scrapbook for Mr. Combs? It's a lot more complicated than the way you phrase it. It's called. It's abuse on all levels. And I'm sorry. Go ahead. I was just gonna say, I guess you could talk to any sexual victim advocate or any abuse victim advocate, and they could explain it to you much better than I could. What if you're not a victim of sexual assault? Then what? Objection. Sustained. Now, side note, I did notice one of the jurors making a facial expression that one could liken to be a smirk during this part. And maybe their smirk is not a smirk. Maybe that's, like, how their face works. Or maybe they're smirking because Brian Steele is so ridiculous. But I don't know. In my personal opinion, it felt like a lot of people in the other parts of the courtroom, not the jurors, felt like Brian Steele, quote, ate. And maybe that juror also felt that the cross was brutal. It just felt it was a lot. To the point where midday, lead prosecutor Comey says to the judge, outside of the juror's presence, at this point, we have now sat through hours of a humiliating cross examination for this witness. And I just wanted it to be put on the record because I don't know that the transcript will really do it justice. Mr. Steele has. Has yelled at this witness. Mr. Steele has been sarcastic with this witness. Mr. Steele has Been argumentative with this witness by injecting his own views about her testimony, calling it her position, saying things like God forbid, after repeating things that she has said on the stand, saying things that suggest to this jury that she is lying, that he believes that she is lying through his questioning, making statements instead of questions. And meanwhile, throughout that whole tone and approach to this cross, this witness is having to pick apart social media post after social media post after social media posts. Which individually have no probative value. And I understand that individually. Your Honor has found that one by one, looking at these in isolation, there is very minimal prejudice. In particular, the concern is that given the tone of the questions, the number of exhibits that have nothing to do with her credibility and that are only cumulative, we don't think it's appropriate to allow this line of credit cross examination with this victim who has carried herself with remarkable dignity and grace throughout the cross. I just wanted to note that in addition to the prejudice of adding to the trauma of this victim having to testify at this trial, there is a broader prejudice that eyes are on this trial. And victims in other cases are going to see how victims in this case are treated. And they are going to see what level of privacy, respect and dignity they would get if they decided to testify. And so our case, our concern is that if this victim is not protected from further harassment, that it will deter other victims in other cases from saying, yes, I will testify and I will tell the truth. So I just wanted to make that on the record, you, Honor. And it is with that background that we will be continuing to object to additional cumulative exhibits and additional argumentative questioning. I mean, look, I understand that you are making your record. I have not heard any yelling from Mr. Steele. And I have not heard anything that was sarcastic in the questions. To the extent that there were improper questions, the court has sustained numerous objections. My understanding when Mr. Steele says God forbid. Is that he's talking about things that the witness has said that are extreme in nature. And so he's saying God forbid as an apology to him, having to repeat that and recollect that with the witness. That's my understanding of what he's saying. I didn't take that to be an effort in any way to intimidate or harass the witness. Now, that being said, you raise the issue of the questions that are argumentative. Is Mr. Steele here? Yes. Here's the issue. So what we have is that you're repeatedly asking these questions that are where the tone I agree with Ms. Comey may be, you know, on the line, but the form is improper. So I sustained the objection. Then you keep asking these questions, and at a certain point, I'm going to think that you're doing that just to get the question out there so the jury can hear it. If I start to think that, I'll ask you to just move on, and you're not going to be able to ask questions on the topic you're raising. Do you understand? Sure. Yes. At one point, Brian Steele is asking a question. The question is sustained. He just keeps asking it to which the judge tells him, hold on. When it's sustained, that means you move on to the next question. It doesn't mean you keep asking the same question. And usually he's not this firm in front of the jurors. You know, like, usually even when he sustains questions, it's like a soft sustain. It's like, rephrase the question, or like, let's get a fresh question. So he doesn't say, like, that's sustained. You know, he'll be like, let's get a fresh question.

[Brian Steele]

Got it.

[Mia]

We need to rephrase that.

[Brian Steele]

Yeah.

[Mia]

It's like giving them a chance, right? Yeah. But this is like, no, you don't. You can't keep asking the same question.

[Brian Steele]

Wow.

[Mia]

It happens again to the point where the judge calls for a sidebar. I'm getting the sense that they are being asked not so much to elicit any answer, but merely to have you, Mr. Steele, testify for the jury. So that's going to end right now, or I will end this cross examination. There are ways to ask these questions that you are asking in a proper way that does not violate the rules. You can do it that way, and I know you know how, but you're not doing it that way. Instead, you're re asking the same question so that the jury hears your question. And then there's an objection, which I sustain. And then you try to keep re asking the same question in the same improper way. So what's going on? I would not do that, and I did not do that. My questions go to the fact that Mia does not outcry at all. She then hires a lawyer 45 days after a gigantic verdict was reached by the lawyer. This is the debate about the $83 million settlement that was reached by the attorney. And then she hires the attorney, and he's just like, yeah, you're gonna move on. Otherwise, I'm gonna end your cross. And I will say, father Arun is watching. Brian Steele Like a hawk the entire time. And like when you sit. Okay, so sometimes the press pews, especially when you're in the first row, you're kind of sitting right behind the prosecutor or the attorney that's at the lectern and you get like a clear shot of Judge Arun. And like sometimes you're looking up after taking notes. Notes. And you can just tell when he's angry. And then you almost get scared because you're like, did I do something wrong? Because he's very. He's been giving a lot of people in the gallery warnings of not saying things. Like, you know, well, he didn't say it like that, but just no reactions in the gallery. And so it's like a. Like you get very stressed. And he's. The way he's looking at Brian Steele, making sure every single question from that point on is like a valid question. Is it very intense? Like just staring daggers into him? So in Father Arun We Trust and just the whole thing was depressing. Yeah. During the redirect, Prosecutor Smizer takes the stand again. Mia, do you remember being asked on cross examination about Instagram posts that you made? Yes. Did you post on social media as part of your job? Yes. And when you were posting on Instagram, did you post about the good times or the bad times? The good times. Why didn't you post about the bad times? Times. That's not what social media was for. For a myriad of reasons. Yeah. That was like the highlight reel was Instagram. Is that why you didn't post about Mr. Combs slamming Cassie's head into the corner of the bed frame? Objection. That's overruled. Yes. And is that why you didn't post about Mr. Combs throwing a computer at your head? Objection. That's overruled. Yes. Is that why you didn't post about Mr. Combs sexually assaulting you? Objection. That's overruled. Yes. Mia, do you remember being asked about a scrapbook that you gave Mr. Combs for one of his birthdays? Yes. And do you remember testifying that you thought the scrapbook would make him happy? Yes. Why did you try to keep the person who abused you happy? Because when he was happy, I was safe. Mia, do you remember Mr. Steele referring to Mr. Combs birthday as the anniversary of the initial sexual abuse? Yes. Why do you not remember it that way? Because I never wanted to think about that ever again. What were you worried would happen if you disclosed that Mr. Combs sexually assaulted you? You. That I wouldn't be believed and I would be wiped Out I would be abused, fired, and somehow made to look like I was the crazy person making everything up. Okay, Mia, sometime after meeting with the government, did you engage in a pro bono lawyer free? Yes. Are you paying for that lawyer? No. Was your lawyer engaged for the purpose of representation in this criminal case? Yes. Mia, can you explain how you feel about public speaking? Objection. Overruled. Terrified. Have you ever been able to talk about Mr. Combs sexually assaulting you without looking down? No. Why is that? Objection. That's overruled. Because it's the worst thing I've ever had to talk about in my life. Are you getting any money for being here today? No. Are you getting any fame for being here today? No. Do you want to be here talking about this today? Objection. Overruled. Absolutely not. This is just one final question for you, Mia. Why are you testifying here today? I can't look at my niece and my goddaughter in the eyes and ever advise them in the future if they happen to be in this situation. Objection, you, Honor. Move to strike. That's overruled, Ms. Smizer. Anything else? No further questions, your honor. Wow.

[Brian Steele]

And what was the. The reaction from that or the energy, I guess.

[Mia]

Okay, so honestly, Smizer did a really good job with the redirect it. She kind of felt like a mini Comey, because I know Comey's the lead, and I'm not saying that to say that she's not as good as Comey, but Comey's the lead prosecutor, and it seems like she's kind of guiding a lot of them. Everything was so clean cut. It helped. But when I looked at the jurors, the same ones just still didn't look that engaged, in my opinion.

[Brian Steele]

Yeah. Okay.

[Mia]

Yeah. So that is the testimony of Mia. There was no recross. But I will say there are a lot of voices out there. There are voices discrediting Mia. There's also a lot of voices and conversations about what her testimony means. One reads, interesting. A bunch of people think Mia is discredited. I guess they've never been. A similar situation of power, coercive control, physically and emotionally threatened. Another netizen comments. This is how abuse works. It's not what most people presume. If you haven't experienced serious abuse, then you probably can't understand. Another comment reads, my mother abused me relentlessly for 57 years, and still the last thing I said to her was, I love you. Trauma bonding was real. It's deep and it's real.

[Brian Steele]

For me personally, I didn't feel like oh, like, did Brian Gotcha?

[Mia]

Like, the defense got something out of this.

[Brian Steele]

Yeah. Like, there's a moment of, oh, yeah, like, I see that was not true or that was a lie. Maybe it's because, like, he's just been reading positive posts about diddy for like 10 hours straight. It feels like nothing was surprising to me at all. Everything makes sense. I, I feel like, personally, I believe what Mia is saying. And in the, and the Brian's question sounds a little bit like, shallow. I'm like, okay, well, duh. This is why I can't. I totally see why.

[Mia]

I think it's how long these things take. So I think it's weird that I can kind of see both sides of. Sometimes I'll see people in the courtroom and then they will talk about the entire cross examination later. And it's a very, like, specific feeling that you only get when you're in the courtroom for all the days there. Because it's 10 hours of positive posts. It's, you know, it's a lot of energy. And I feel like when someone has a certain energy, you kind of absorb that energy. You're like, ooh, this person said during that part. I'm like, wait, am I supposed to feel a certain way about it? Like, it's, that's why they tell you not to make noises or faces in the gallery. It just, you kind of get impacted. And so it's interesting because when I talk to the people that are in the courtroom, they have a very specific feeling about this cross examination. But then when I go on online and I see people doing snippets of the transcript and I see the comments, it's a completely different reaction.

[Brian Steele]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Mia]

And then it's like, I can see why these people feel this way. I can see why these people feel this way.

[Brian Steele]

Yeah. Because even when you told me, when you came home and told me about the energy in the courtroom and I was expecting something more, I guess.

[Mia]

Yeah.

[Brian Steele]

Because you were saying, oh, oh my God, this is like tough and this and that. And I'm like, oh my God, what happened? But now listening to this and I'm like, well, I think I get what Miya was saying. Like, I think I understand.

[Mia]

And it's like always weird because when I'm in the courtroom, I'm like, oh, my gosh, I don't know how the prosecutors are going to come back from this. Like, the jurors, to me, they don't look engaged, they don't look like they're resonating with Mia's. Story. Like, this is. This is not good. And then everyone around in the hallways, they're like, this is not good for the government. And then I come home and then I'm like, honey, this is not good for the government. And then I go through the transcript and I'm like, wait, okay, this is like, when I go through the transcript, I'm like, okay.

[Brian Steele]

But that's what's interesting. Maybe these are. Let's say this is what happened. This is the facts.

[Mia]

Yes.

[Brian Steele]

And the defense attorney, they're doing their best to kind of spin it or take an angle or with their strategy, the way they ask question to lead the juror to feel certain way about them, Right?

[Mia]

Yes. And that's not just the defense that's going to be doing it. When the defense starts their case, the prosecutors will do it. That's the whole point of all cross examination. So we're not saying, like, the defense is doing it because it's not true. Yeah. Yeah.

[Brian Steele]

So it's like, at the end of the day, you just want to influence.

[Mia]

Yeah.

[Brian Steele]

This group of people to feel certain way. And maybe you can say that they ate, I guess, or they did a good job in this cross because they did influence some juror to feel a certain way about it. Even though the facts is. I get it. But the feeling is like, for certain people.

[Mia]

Yes. So like, even the Don Richard testimony and cross examination by Nicole Westmoreland, when it was happening in the courtroom, it felt like a big blow to the government. It was like, ooh, this is so bad for the government. Everyone's walking out of there like, yikes. I don't know how the government's gonna deal with this type of blowback from the cross. And then you go through the transcript, and then I'm like, talking to people about it. I'm reading Yalls comments, and everyone's like, no, but like, it makes sense. It's like, not like, what's the difference between putting it down, throwing it, or like it hitting her? Like, like he threw the frying pan. Like, it's not that big of a deal. But when you're in that courtroom, why does it feel like, oh, my God. And like, I think that's the whole point of cross examinations. It's like an art. They make you feel like, oh, my God.

[Brian Steele]

Yeah. And then the, The. Even the. With the jurors, I'm sure their feeling also develops. So from when it happens, they may be like, oops. And then a day later, they'll be like, you know what? Yeah. I can see it. I get it. You know, like. Like us, we're processing this information. So I guess we really don't know how all of them are going to feel.

[Mia]

No.

[Brian Steele]

At the end.

[Mia]

Not at all. And I think that's like kind of crazy. Yeah. To be able to see them every day and still not have any clue how they feel about this case.

[Brian Steele]

Yeah.

[Mia]

Is so weird.

[Brian Steele]

Yeah.

[Mia]

Yeah. Yeah. So what are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments. Stay safe and I will see you in the next one. This Father's Day at Lowe's. Score free gifts for the greatest dad right now get a free select Dewalt.

[Brian Steele]

Craftsman or cobalt tool with purchase of.

[Mia]

A select battery kit. Plus get a free Werner 2 foot aluminum ladder when you buy an 8 foot fiberglass ladder. Shop these deals and more this Father's Day at Lowe's we help you save valid through 615 wall supplies. Last selection mirrors by location.