On Thursday, the public prosecutors of the Southern District of New York began to bring their extensive charges of sex trade and conspiracy to organize crime against Sean Combs in order to convince the jurors, that the hip-hop mogul is guilty of all five charges.
“It is his kingdom”
In the past seven weeks, the jury of 34 witnesses-including Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, the musician Kid Cudi and several former assistants from Combs-learned how the charismatic Combs supposedly used its billion empire to force and take advantage of Ventura and another ex-girlfriend to participate in sexual actions with male escorts.
The 55-year-old founder of Bad Boy Records, who threatens life in prison when convicted, is accused of having turned the love of women into forced compliance. The women explained to the jurors that they had “committed” to participate in the drug -driven sexual encounters with sex workers or even make them easier to fulfill Combs’ voyeuristic fantasies. According to the public prosecutor, Combs paid the escorts personally and sometimes let them fly across the country to take part in days of sex marathons. The women described these nights fueled by Ecstasy as “freak-offs”, “Hotel Nights” and “Debauchery”.
In her final complaint, the deputy US prosecutor Christy Slavik said that Combs had rely on an inner circle of security guards and “loyal people” in order to keep women under control in a conspiracy for organized crime. Whenever the relationships needed attention or were short of the breakdown or public unveiling, the group acted of “foot soldiers” and committed crimes such as bribery, arson, kidnapping, witness to influence and drug trafficking. A chief of staff, Kristina Khorram, was paid at $ 600,000 annually because she supposedly helped keep combs’ criminal network going, said Slavik.
The power of the inner circle
“The accused was a very powerful man, but he became even more powerful and dangerous by supporting his inner circle and his companies,” said Slavik according to CNN. She explained to the jury that Combs had been the boss, and his co -conspirators had worked to “protect” him.
“It is his kingdom,” she said about Combs. “Everyone was there to serve him.”
Combs ‘lawyer team rejected this narrative and explained that Combs’ relationships were “toxic” and sometimes physically violent, but not criminal. Throughout the process, they concentrated their cross -experiences on details that allegedly showed that Combs kept his private life separately.
A proof of his power: Combs is supposed to suppress stressful hotel material, which shows him when attacking Ventura, by presenting a brown paper bag with $ 100,000 in cash. The Porsche of his romantic rival Kid Cudi exploded in the middle of its entrance – the case is still unclear. Three witnesses stated that Combs or persons commissioned by him had spoken to direct murder threats – and they had taken the warnings seriously.
Evidence and conclusion of the arguments
As part of the procedure, the prosecutors ran on thousands of text messages, email processes, explicit videos, photographic evidence, notes, police reports as well as banking and travel documents that go back to years.
The final Splädoyers of the prosecutor Christy Slavik are to take advantage of the entire Thursday, the defense will present their site on Friday before the jurors begin the consultations on Monday. US district judge Arun Subramanian assured the jury that he assumed that the case was completed by the independence day (July 4).
The rows of seats in the courtroom reserved for Combs’ family were filled with his sons and relatives on Thursday. In the last days of the trial, Combs seems to be satisfied with the performance of his top -class lawyer team – he hugged his lawyers warmly after completing their defense on Tuesday after only 25 minutes. The music manager rejected a deal before the trial started and advocated not guilty in all charges.
Violence, control and intimidation
The public prosecutor accuses Combs of chasing his two friends afraid. Ventura said that physical violence in her ten -year relationship started early. In January 2009, according to Combs and Ventura, a 39-year-old COMBS was said to have hit and kicked the then 22-year-old so violently that they had to hide in a hotel for a week until their injuries had healed. In addition to domestic violence, Combs is accused of using his control over Ventura’s music career as a weapon by threatening to publish freak-off videos, threw it out of the gifted apartment and took away her cell phone and car.
“Jane” said she was once physically abused in June 2024, and Combs had regularly threatened her to take the end with her if she hesitated to continue to take sexual acts with other men. When Combs began paying $ 10,000 monthly monthly rent in the context of a “love treaty” in 2023, he often used this as a means of pressure so that she continued to participate in hotel nights.
Some employees said they were aware of Combs’ potential for violence-a former assistant said that a dispute between Combs and the girlfriend Gina was the last trigger for his termination-but they were so part of the sworn bad boy family that they were afraid of giving up the supposed dream job.
Co -snacks from the closest circle
The prosecutors accuse Combs’ familiar inner circle of also being involved in the criminal conspiracy. Security guards are said to have helped with three alleged kidnapping from Ventura and the former assistant Capricorn Clark.
His long -time chief of staff Kristina Khorram is said to have pressed a security officer from the Intercontinental Hotel until Combs received the video material that showed him in March 2016 when attacking Ventura. When Ventura’s sex trade lawsuit became known in November 2023, the prosecutors found a sound recording on Khorram, in which Combs tried to assure Jane that she had to “not worry” as long as she supported him.
Several personal assistants had the task of setting up red lights and candles, delivering baby oil and sometimes also getting drugs and thousands of dollars in cash for the freak-offs. When Combs and his girlfriend finally came from the chaotic, “nightmare” rooms, assistants were sent to remove drug traces, collect sex articles left behind and stack polluted sheets and towels with body fluids to minimize damage to the hotel.