Cassie Ventura did it.
The singer testified for the past four days in Diddy’s sex trafficking and racketeering trial about the horrors she experienced throughout their decade-long relationship, from allegedly being forced to participate in drug-fueled sex acts with other men, to the beatings he handed out. And it wasn’t easy to speak out the details. She even broke down at one point on the stand. Can you blame her? Reliving the darkest points in your life and defending your credibility at 8 months pregnant would break anyone at some point. Yet the Me & U artist remained strong and got through it.
Related: Cassie’s Husband Alex Fine Speaks Out After Horrible Diddy Testimony
Now, the prosecution hopes Cassie’s testimony will help convince a jury that Diddy is allegedly a sex trafficker who used his power and coercion tactics to pressure and force victims, including the 38-year-old performer, into participating in these freak-offs. But how do all her statements prove he is guilty? Two experts are weighing in…
Let’s start with the coercion part of the sex trafficking charges. Former Assistant US Attorney Neama Rahmani explained to People on Friday that “what separates sex trafficking from consensual sex between adults is force, fraud or coercion,” adding:
“Having to have sex when you’re on your period. Having sex when you have a UTI, that’s all going to be argued at closing that that’s all coercive. You heard testimony from Cassie that Combs would control every aspect of her life. The outfits she wore, her nails, her breast implants, her piercings, everything.”
Even down to decisions about her career and who she spoke to. Cassie claimed Diddy had such a tight grip over her life that he prevented her singing career from ever taking off, and she was “basically a sex worker” full-time instead. So, according to Rahmani, “that’s the coercion argument.”
As for the force part of the argument? Cassie spoke a lot about the physical abuse and fear she experienced because of Diddy during their relationship. For instance, the jury saw that infamous video of the rapper brutally beating her in the hallway of a Los Angeles hotel in 2016. The musician alleged the incident happened when she tried to escape a freak-off session. She also claimed her ex carried weapons and had employees find her when tried to avoid him. Rahmani noted these kinds of allegations are evidence of force:
“Force, of course, is being beaten. He would brandish weapons. He would track her; they would find her if she was unavailable or wouldn’t respond. So those are all the elements of force, and that’s how they’re going to prove the sex trafficking.”
Despite Cassie’s claims, it’s not going to be a piece of cake to prove Diddy committed sex trafficking. It’s very difficult actually. And unfortunately, jurors — and even the public — may think to themselves: Why didn’t Cassie leave him? Why didn’t she report the physical and sexual abuse and wait years later to file a lawsuit, in which she received a $20 million settlement? Rahmani continued:
“There is an argument that this was consensual. And there’s, she did it hundreds of times, you know, willingly, voluntarily. Why didn’t she leave? She loved the lifestyle. She loved the money. I’m not saying I agree with it, but that argument can easily resonate with the jurors. You were forced to do this hundreds of times. You never left, you never told anyone, never reported it. But you filed a lawsuit instead. So, that’s only for the jury to decide.”
Well, there are a few things prosecutors are doing to win over the jury. Former federal prosecutor Mark Chutkow pointed out to People that they are trying to “create an entire narrative that the totality of the circumstances of the relationship between Diddy and Ventura was one of control where she had no choice but to do what he was asking.” He added:
“All those things collectively together paint a picture of Ventura as being unable to escape from Diddy, unable to do what she wants to do. And the fact, at least according to the prosecution theory, that she had no choice but to do this.”
However, Diddy is not only charged with sex trafficking. He also was accused of racketeering. According to Chutkow, a racketeering charge “requires two or more people to agree to engage in a criminal enterprise,” and thinks the prosecution will have a few bodyguards testify about the alleged criminal activity:
“What the government is going to have to show is, it wasn’t simply Diddy, but he had other people that recognized they were engaged in criminal activity and agreed to do it together. What we’re going to have to watch for in this trial is who are those other co-conspirators, and did they truly understand that the behavior that they were engaged in amounted to a racketeering enterprise? Presumably they’re going to put on bodyguards and other people that will have to admit that they understood that what was happening was criminal.”
That said, Chutkow doesn’t know if the racketeering charges will stick. The lawyer thinks the defense will “suggest that the government is overcharging this case,” explaining:
“The racketeering conspiracy is a statute that was enacted about 1970, specifically to combat organized crime, specifically the mafia. This is a looser confederation of people. Here you’re having large lavish parties with lots of famous people coming in and out, and the defense is going to say, how is this a crime scene? Like if everybody else is around here how could he have gotten away with this and for that long? So that’s one aspect I think is that the defense is going to suggest that the charges don’t fit the crime.”
Hmm…
Ultimately, it will be for a jury to decide. And at this moment, given what we’ve heard so far from Cassie’s testimony, Rahmani feels Diddy will get convicted:
“These cases often come down to likability and credibility, that he is not likable at all. Paying someone to urinate in your girlfriend’s mouth is not likable. Filming her and blackmailing her, I mean, people are gonna hate him. And as far as the credibility look, video doesn’t lie. Everyone saw that video of him beating her in 2016 when she was trying to leave a Freak Off. That’s very disturbing. So I do think the government has a strong case, and I do think he’ll be convicted.”
Hopefully, Cassie and the other victims will get justice by the end of this trial…
What are your thoughts on the experts’ takes, Perezcious readers? Let us know in the comments.
[Image via FayesVision/Judy Eddy/WENN]
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