On the first day of Sean Combs's sex trafficking and blackmail trial, jurors heard that the music tycoon allegedly urinated in the mouth of his ex-girlfriend Casandra "Cassie" Ventura, making Ventura feel "suffocated". Jurors also saw videos of comb kicking and dragging Ventura in the hotel corridor in 2016.
The prosecutor did not waste any time introducing some of the most graphic and disturbing evidence. Experts say this is a clear tactical decision.
“It’s a strategy of shock and awe,” said Mark Chutkow, a former federal prosecutor in Detroit, specializing in human trafficking cases. Rolling stones. He said prosecutors often try to remove any "positive feelings" as soon as possible when dealing with high-profile celebrity defendants.
“Here (combs) are handsome, charming in the New York area, and for years in the New York area, they wanted to flip that narrative immediately, so any potential retained jurors would be more suspicious of him,” said Chutkow, now a trial attorney for Dykema Gossett. "They really want to impress him on the door."
Chutkow and other experts told Rolling stones They expect prosecutors to focus as much on hotel surveillance video as possible during the expected eight-week trial.
“The thing about video is that you can’t really interrogate the video,” Chutkow said. "In the trial of Derek Chauvin, they showed video of him putting his knee on George Floyd's neck at the beginning, middle and end of the case. This is something that the defense can't really object to." (Former Minneapolis police officer Chauvin was convicted of murdering 46-year-old Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, on May 25, 2020.)
Prosecutors mentioned videos of the hotel attack in their opening statement Monday, but called a former hotel security officer as their initial witness to play the entire juror’s video. Witness Florez testified that he was summoned to the sixth floor of the InterContinental Los Angeles Hotel on March 5, 2016 to participate in the "Women in Distress." The guard not only described seeing Ventura's obvious injury, but also testified that the comb provided him with a bunch of cash to keep quiet. He said, "Absolutely" seemed like a bribe.
"I think it's strategic," former federal prosecutor Braid Bailey said of the decision to put Florez on the first side. "He's a witness in the case of hotel security personnel. He doesn't necessarily own any stake in any one stake. It's very helpful for prosecution."
Bailey said it was important to mention the so-called cash quotes because bribery was one of the predicate acts that prosecutors claimed to be part of Combs’ alleged extortion. Bailey agreed so early on that introduction to the video is key. "It's a very powerful starting point when you can take the obvious power as an example. It immediately casts Mr. Combs with an extremely negative eye, which will be hard to stop the jury from meeting him. It's not necessarily insurmountable, but it's not the image you want in the juror's idea," he said.
Attorney Michelle Simpson Tuegel, representing the victims of several embarrassing American gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, said she was attacked Monday by the opening remarks of Combs defense attorney Teny Geragos. In a speech to the jury, Geragos said that people might hear the evidence and determine that the comb is a jerk, but they should not conclude that the "domestic" violence encountered in the video is evidence of sexual trafficking.
"I think their characteristic of[combing]is trying to take responsibility, saying that he is a complex person who may have committed domestic violence, but he is not a sex trafficker - it's a very dangerous position," Simpson Tuegel said. "Saying domestic violence is completely separate from sexual violence, and in most cases, it's not a reality. Intersection with domestic violence, sex trafficking and sexual assault."
Simpson Tuegel also noted that prosecutors decided to call a male sex worker as the second witness on Monday afternoon. This helped “build the full picture of alleged ongoing commercial sexual activity,” she said. Witness Daniel Phillip testified that he was paid for a commercial sex act with Ventura, who once witnessed an angry comb throwing a bottle at Ventura, and then he pulled Ventura into another room, allegedly hitting her.
"This makes the entire stage of the relationship one of abuse, violence and intimidation, which is important because the defense tries to set it up to (that) she chooses to stay in this relationship," Simpson Tuegel said. "I think this is the jurors now have a broader understanding of what is now - some people stay in the victims, which is not a complete choice. At that moment, they are not their choice for them, they can leave. Violence, intimidation and threats are amplified by the resources and power of people with the hang-dance."
Experts to talk to Rolling stones Both sides agreed that both sides had enough time to provide jurors with more evidence and scores. There are still many unknown places. But if everything goes as planned, Ventura is expected to take a stance as a star witness to the prosecution this week.
Combs, 55, was arrested and charged in September. He pleaded not guilty. His initial prosecution largely reflects the bombshell trafficking lawsuit filed by Ventura in November 2023. Prosecutors have since added additional charges of sex trafficking and transportation in connection with another alleged victim. Victim 2 was identified by prosecutors using the pseudonym Jane on Monday.
The jury of eight men and four women must eventually decide whether the comb is the jury of “The Swinger”, as the defense says, indulging in his eccentric appetite with other consent adults, or a serial sexual predator who are abused in drug-ignited sexual marathons and force women into drug-laden sex marathons, known as the Freak and Wild King’s Night.