NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 The public knew Sean 鈥淒iddy鈥 Combs as a larger-than-life cultural icon and business mogul, but behind the scenes, he was coercing women into drug-fueled sexual encounters and using violence to keep them in line, a federal prosecutor told a jury Monday during opening statements in Combs' sex trafficking trial.
"This is Sean Combs,鈥 Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson told the Manhattan jury as she pointed at Combs, who leaned back in his chair. 鈥... During this trial you are going to hear about 20 years of the defendant鈥檚 crimes. But he didn鈥檛 do it alone. He had an inner circle of bodyguards and high-ranking employees who helped him commit crimes and cover them up.鈥
Those crimes, she said, included kidnapping, arson, drugs, sex crimes, bribery and obstruction.
On the contrary, the trial of Combs is a misguided overreach by prosecutors, who are trying to turn consenting sex between adults into a prostitution and sex trafficking case, Combs鈥 lawyer Teny Geragos said during her opening.
鈥淪ean Combs is a complicated man. But this is not a complicated case. This case is about love, jealousy, infidelity and money,鈥 Geragos told the eight men and four women on the jury. 鈥淭here has been a tremendous amount of noise around this case over the past year. It is time to cancel that noise.鈥
Geragos conceded that Combs' violent outbursts, often fueled by alcohol and drugs, might have warranted domestic violence charges, but not the sex trafficking and racketeering counts he faces. She also told jurors they might think Combs' is a 鈥渏erk鈥 and might not condone his 鈥渒inky sex,鈥 but 鈥渉e鈥檚 not charged with being mean. He鈥檚 not charged with being a jerk."
Combs, wearing a white sweater, entered the packed courtroom shortly before 9 a.m., hugged his lawyers and gave a thumbs up to supporters seated behind him. The case has drawn intense public interest, and the line to get into the courthouse stretched down the block. Combs' mother and some of his children were escorted past the crowd and brought straight into the building.
Combs, 55, pleaded not guilty to that could land him in prison for at least 15 years if he is convicted on all charges. He in Brooklyn since his arrest in September.
Lawyers for the three-time Grammy winner say prosecutors are wrongly trying to make a crime out of a party-loving lifestyle that may have been indulgent, but not illegal.
Prosecutors say Combs coerced women into drugged-up group sexual encounters he called 鈥渇reak offs,鈥 鈥渨ild king nights鈥 or 鈥渉otel nights,鈥 then kept them in line through violence. He is accused of choking, hitting, kicking and dragging women, often by the hair.
Johnson told jurors about a night when Combs allegedly kidnapped an employee and threatened his one-time girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, whose legal name is Cassandra Ventura and who is expected to be a key witness. Combs told Cassie that if she defied him again, he would release video of her having sex with a male escort 鈥 video that the prosecutor called 鈥渟ouvenirs of the most humiliating nights of her life," Johnson said.
That was 鈥渏ust the tip of the iceberg,鈥 Johnson said, telling jurors that Cassie was far from the only woman Combs beat and sexually exploited.
The prosecutor said Combs last year brutally beat another woman 鈥 identified only as Jane 鈥 when she confronted him about enduring years of freak offs in dark hotel rooms while he took other paramours on date nights and trips around the globe.
Geragos argued that Combs and Jane had a 鈥渢oxic and dysfunctional relationship鈥 and she willingly engaged in freak offs because she wanted to spend time with Combs. Their fight a year ago started when Jane slammed Combs鈥 head down in a jealous rage, Geragos said, noting that she didn't want to justify Combs鈥 violence but that the fight wasn鈥檛 evidence of sex trafficking.
The sex parties are central to Combs' sexual abuse, prosecutors say. Combs鈥 company paid for the parties, held in hotel rooms across the U.S. and overseas, and his employees staged the rooms with his preferred lighting, extra linens and lubricant, Johnson said. Combs compelled women, including Cassie, to take drugs and engage in sexual activity with male escorts while he gratified himself and sometimes recorded them, Johnson said.
Combs would beat Cassie over the smallest slights, such as leaving a 鈥渇reak off鈥 without his permission or taking too long in the bathroom, Johnson said. Combs threatened to ruin Cassie鈥檚 singing career by releasing to the public videos of her engaging in sex with male escorts, the prosecutor said. 鈥淗er livelihood depended on keeping him happy,鈥 Johnson said.
Combs sat expressionless as he looked toward Johnson and the jury as the prosecutor described what she said was a pattern of violence, sexual abuse and blackmail.
Cassie, who was expected to be among the first witnesses to testify, saying Combs had subjected her to years of abuse, including beatings and rape. The lawsuit was settled within hours of its filing, but it touched off a law enforcement investigation and was followed by dozens of lawsuits from people making similar claims.
Geragos claimed Combs鈥 accusers were motivated by money. She told jurors that Cassie demanded $30 million when she sued him, and another witness will acknowledge demanding $22 million in a breach of contract lawsuit.
鈥淚 want you to ask yourself, how many millions of reasons does this witness, swearing to tell the truth and nothing but the truth, have to lie?鈥 she said.
Prosecutors plan to show jurors security camera footage of Combs beating Cassie in the hallway of a Los Angeles hotel in 2016.
Johnson told the jury they will hear the lengths Combs鈥 inner circle went to help him hide the attack and get what they thought was the only video recording. She said a security guard was given a brown paper bag full of $100,000 in cash while Combs鈥 bodyguard and chief of staff stood by. 鈥淭his is far from the only time that the defendant鈥檚 inner circle tried to close ranks and do damage control.鈥
Another witness expected to testify Monday was a security guard at the hotel where Combs assaulted Cassie.
After CNN aired the video of the attack last year, and said he took 鈥渇ull responsibility鈥 for his actions. 鈥淚 was disgusted then when I did it. I鈥檓 disgusted now.鈥
Geragos also conceded that Combs is extremely jealous and 鈥渉as a bad temper,鈥 telling the jury that he sometimes got angry and lashed out when he drank alcohol or 鈥渄id the wrong drugs.鈥 But, she said, 鈥淒omestic violence is not sex trafficking.鈥
Jurors might also see recordings of the freak offs. The indictment said the events sometimes lasted days and participants required IV-drips to recover.
The Associated Press doesn鈥檛 generally identify people who say they are victims of sexual abuse unless they come forward publicly, as Cassie has done.
The trial is expected to last at least eight weeks.
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Associated Press writer Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed to this report.
