Sean 'Diddy' Combs trial recap: Prosecution expected to rest its case tomorrow

Combs’ defense team said it plans to rest its case without calling any witnesses, but will submit some evidence, attorney Marc Agnifilo said before jurors entered court this afternoon. It appears that instead of witnesses, the defense will stipulate several issues.

Cerciello, an HSI special agent, will continue on the stand tomorrow before the prosecution rests its case. 

A charging conference on Wednesday and summations on Thursday will follow that.

The jury is dismissed for the day and is set to convene tomorrow at 9 a.m.

In December 2021, "Jane" reached out to sex worker Cabral and appeared to initiate a "freak off," according to a text message chain.

Before, however, Jane asked the sex worker to take a PCR test, harkening back to an era when America was still fighting to control the Covid pandemic.

The defense showed jurors explicit video footage of "Jane" having sex in November 2021.

The video was only shown to jurors, the judge and lawyers, as it was shielded from the public's eyes.

It wasn't immediately clear what was in the footage, but the defense likely hopes to show Jane as a willing participant.

In a November 2021 text, Combs' then-girlfriend, identified in court as "Jane," told the music mogul that she couldn't wait to hook up with "my favorite person."

Combs then asked Jane for specifics of what she wanted to do with him, and she responded in graphic sexual detail.

The defense hopes to show that Combs' girlfriends were willing partners and not trafficking victims.

Cerciello, an HSI special agent, returned to the witness stand for cross-examination by defense lawyer Teny Geragos.

Cerciello spent most of the morning as a conduit for prosecutors to show text messages sent by and to Combs, filling in details of the defendant's work and love life.

Court has taken a break until 1:45 p.m. for lunch.

Around the same time of Cassie Ventura's 2023 lawsuit against Combs, the music mogul's then-girlfriend "Jane" texted him that she is "not a porn star" to be ordered to have sex with strangers.

In a series of text messages, Jane said it'd been "three years of having to f--- strangers," telling him that "sex is sacred" to her and she didn't want to be intimate on his command anymore.

When Combs responded that sex isn't necessary for their next meeting, Jane wrote back: "You make it clear exactly what you want."

Jane said she was “mentally and physically drained” of it all, according to the text messages. She also told him she's not going to have sex with "strangers to fulfill your fantasies."

In a voicemail to his chief of staff, Combs wanted someone to bring him his "Apple TV system," whole milk lattes, coconut water, seven bottles of baby oil, five bottles of Astroglide, and some vegetable soup from the high-end grocery store Erewhon.

Combs wanted the order filled so "I don't have to call anybody" about it later, he said in the voicemail.

In a November 2021 voicemail played for jurors, Combs is heard telling his chief of staff that he is out of baby oil.

In the urgent voicemail, Combs told top lieutenant Kristina Khorram, "I can't believe I'm out" of the lubricant he frequently used during his "freak offs."

Khorram assured her boss that a fresh delivery would be left outside his door shortly.

In one text exchange, Combs’ chief of staff Kristina Khorram asked Combs to call her and told him, "Next time you leave when you’re randomly partying, you have to tell us."

She said he can’t take Ubers with a guest because "that’s when bad s--- happens."

She added, "I didn't want to hit you with this, it’s not cool, if something happens it would not be good.” 

Combs and then-girlfriend "Jane" took IV supplements as part of at least one "freak off" session, according to a group text chain.

In a September 2023 chat that included the couple and members of the Combs team, an assistant named Ashley reminded everyone to make sure that sodium chloride, vitamin B12, B complex, zinc, calcium, amino acids, Toradol, magnesium and Benadryl were ready for their IV use.

In another exchange of texts, Bridget messaged Combs saying there was a mistake with the cash payment and the company was owed $600. 

Combs replied, “LOL, he couldn’t even perform.”

Bridget responded that the agency pays for time and companionship and that the cost is the same for clients like Combs — “whether you're sky diving or dancing … you pay for his time.”

Combs asked her to “talk nice to me” and again reiterated that he’s a longtime customer. She apologized and said, “not trying tone smart with you,” and he said, “It’s all good, all love.”

Combs was such a frequent user of a male escort agency that the music mogul argued that he deserved cut rates, according to text messages with the provider.

In a chat with a Cowboys 4 Angels representative named Bridget on Sept. 26, 2023, Combs wrote: "Stop raising my rate i am a long timer."

The agent said it wasn't up to the company but the worker himself, Cody, who told Combs, "The best guys have high rates."

Bridget added that she was "contractually obligated to the rates on the website."

Combs said it was OK and asked Cody to come to the Trump International Hotel & Tower New York for a 1 a.m. rendezvous.

Combs' former girlfriend, identified in court as "Jane," lashed out at the music mogul in September 2023 text messages, refusing to meet him in New York City.

She texted him that it's "clear you just want me there for a hotel binge, you’ve got plenty of" other women or sex workers for that.

She added, "I don't want to be used and locked in a room to fulfill your fantasies."

As texts between “Jane” and Combs were discussed in court, Combs hung his head for several minutes. 

Combs, dressed in a white sweater and glasses today, appeared to be reading something in his lap. 

Jurors were shown flight and hotel records for Cabral, a sex worker mentioned frequently in this trial whose travels appeared to be paid for by Combs.

Prosecutors showed that Cabral stayed at Trump International Hotel & Tower in New York in September 2023 after arriving on an Atlanta-to-Newark flight, all on Combs' American Express card.

While this could be one of the more tame, non-explicit pieces of evidence in this trial, it could be crucial for prosecutors seeking to paint Combs as the alleged head of a criminal enterprise.

Federal agents discovered 50 explicit video files in Combs' possession that were created from Dec. 17-21, 2021, the witness said.

The jury was shown two of these video files.

Combs looked around the room as the videos played in court, rather than at the monitor showing the explicit footage in front of him.

At the same time, defense attorney Nicole Westmoreland and Combs' mother, Janice, focused on the jury’s reactions to the graphic videos.

Jurors wore headsets and focused on screens to watch what appeared to be "freak off" videos involving Combs' former girlfriend, Jane.

Cabral, a sex worker who was among the regular partners of these rendezvous, is expected to be in these sets of video.

Joseph Cerciello, a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations, is back on the stand and was asked about text messages Combs sent. 

In one text, Combs' Chief of Staff Kristina Khorram planned his stay in a Las Vegas hotel, where it appears he was planning a hotel night. She texted saying she had a room at the Waldorf Astoria Las Vegas, put Plan B in his nightstand, and said a jeweler selling Van Cleef can meet him in New York.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey told the court that  Joseph Cerciello, a special agent for Homeland Security Investigations, is expected to testify all day.

That means the government won't rest its case in chief until tomorrow, setting closing arguments as early as Thursday.

Court is now in session marking Day 28 of Combs' trial.

On Friday, federal prosecutors walked jurors through text messages from Combs' former girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, to the music mogul.

In one text May 2, 2017, Ventura said she didn’t deserve to be beaten by him. “That’s not love, that’s possession,” Ventura wrote, apparently referring to the 2016 hotel assault recorded on video.

The defense also entered a March 18, 2017, text message from Ventura into evidence. 

“I love our FO’s, when we both want it,” she wrote, in reference to "freak offs." The defense has tried to show some element of dual consent in Combs' and his girlfriends’ sexual encounters. 

Brendan Paul, Combs’ former personal assistant, testified that during his employment, he was instructed to buy thousands of dollars’ worth of various drugs for Combs’ use.

Paul told jurors he once went without sleep for three days and was once asked to buy thousands of dollars’ worth of drugs. He said Combs didn’t take "no" for an answer and compared his staff assistants to the U.S. military’s SEAL Team 6.

New York federal prosecutors are expected to rest their case against Combs today.

Combs' defense team has signaled it will need around two days to present its case. If that rough timeline holds, closing arguments could take place Thursday.