A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Nearly a dozen witnesses testified about Sean "Diddy" Combs in the second week of testimony of his federal trial. The music mogul faces federal charges, including racketeering and sex trafficking. He has pleaded not guilty. Cassie Ventura, who is at the center of the prosecution's case against Combs, spent much of last week on the witness stand, and the details are disturbing. She testified that Combs beat her, forced her into sex acts and generally controlled nearly every aspect of her life. NPR's Isabella Gomez Sarmiento has been in the New York courthouse since the trial began.
Listening to, this week, to nearly a dozen witnesses, who testified, and what do they share, Isabella?
ISABELLA GOMEZ SARMIENTO, BYLINE: Yeah. This week, we heard from several people who largely supported Cassie Ventura's version of events. So yesterday, the musician Scott Mescudi, who records as Kid Cudi, testified about his brief relationship with Ventura. He said they dated in 2011, which was in the middle of Ventura and Combs' decade-long on and off relationship. Mescudi said after Combs found out he was dating Ventura, someone broke into his house, and later, his car was set on fire in his driveway. Mescudi believed Combs was behind both of these incidents, although the hip-hop mogul and his attorneys deny that. Another witness was Dawn Richard, a singer who assigned to Combs' label and recorded music with him. She said she saw Combs punching, kicking and dragging Ventura by the hair.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah, pretty shocking allegations. The thing is, though, Combs is not being charged with trespassing or domestic violence. So how does their testimony tie into the charges?
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: You're right. And that's actually a point the defense has made again and again, because they admit that Combs is violent, but this isn't a domestic violence case. So these witnesses serve a few purposes for the government's case. One, they're there to show that Combs was allegedly not only threatening Cassie Ventura, but also the people around her. So it theoretically helps the government's narrative that Ventura feared for her safety and that Combs could've leveraged this fear to get her to comply with whatever he wanted, hence that sex trafficking by coercion charge.
There was another witness this week, Ventura's mom, who testified that Combs was so mad she was dating Mescudi that he demanded $20,000. So Ventura's mom said she had to take out a home equity loan to get the money, which was ultimately returned to her account. Combs' attorneys did not deny that this happened, and they chose not to cross-examine Regina Ventura. But in their cross-examination of other witnesses close to Ventura, like her former best friend, the defense homed in on the fact that Combs and Ventura's relationship had a lot of ups and downs, but they really loved each other. And the defense is suggesting that's why she stayed with him for as long as she did.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. So what happens now, and how long is this trial expected to last?
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: We have about six weeks to go in the trial, so we're still going to hear from a few more witnesses, and then the defense is going to make its case.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. That's NPR's Isabella Gomez Sarmiento. Thanks a lot.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Thanks, A.
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