After a delayed start due to a juror running late, Sean “Diddy” Combs’ racketeering and sex-trafficking trial resumed Monday with Dawn Richard, a former member of Danity Kane — a musical group formed by Combs as part of the MTV reality series “Making the Band” — back on the stand to continue testimony that she started last week. Richard’s testimony was followed by that of Cassie Ventura’s former best friend, Kery Morgan.
Here’s what we’ve heard so far, as the court takes a lunch break:
Richard testified that after a 2009 incident, in which she said she saw Combs attack Ventura with a skillet, she “frequently” witnessed him being violent toward Ventura.
“He would punch her, choke her, drag her, slap her in the mouth,” Richard said. “I saw him kick her, punch her in the stomach.”
Richard testified she told Ventura she should leave Combs, but when he found out about those conversations, he warned her to stay out of their relationship “or else we would pay for it,” so she did for her own safety.
During cross-examination, defense attorney Nicole Westmoreland brought up Richard’s career and her business ties to Combs. Richard said she felt “saddened” by Combs’ decision to dismantle both music groups she was part of and noted that she hasn’t been as successful with the music she has released since.
“You felt like Combs ruined your career, not once, but twice?” Westmoreland asked.
“Yes,” Richard testified.
Richard has previously filed a lawsuit against Combs to be “compensated for the work (she) put forth.”
On redirect, Assistant US Attorney Mitzi Steiner asked Richard to confirm that in every meeting with prosecutors, she told them Combs had threatened her and that he had hit Ventura, even though her first meeting with prosecutors occurred more than a decade after the alleged incidents she recounted.
The prosecution then called Kerry Morgan to the stand. Morgan testified that she was best friends with Ventura from 2001 to 2018, but they currently don’t speak. She said they stopped being friends in 2018 because “her boyfriend assaulted me,” specifying the boyfriend was Combs.
Morgan, who met Ventura in 2001 and lived together in New York City starting in 2004, said she was testifying because she was subpoenaed, but she didn’t want to be there.
“I have moved on with my life away from all these people and the problems,” she said.
Morgan testified she saw Combs assault Cassie Ventura on two occasions, adding that Combs was not intoxicated or high during these incidents.
The jury was shown messages between Morgan and one of Combs’ assistants following the March 2016 incident, in which surveillance cameras captured Combs dragging and kicking Ventura at the InterContinental Hotel in Century City, Los Angeles.
Morgan testified she encouraged Ventura to speak with the police that day, but didn’t call them herself because Ventura didn’t want her to.
Morgan testified she was planning to file a lawsuit after Combs assaulted her in Ventura’s apartment in 2018, but ultimately did not.
“He came up behind me and choked me and then boomeranged a wooden hanger at my head,” Morgan testified. “I had finger marks on my neck.”
She said she received $30,000 from Combs and signed a non-disclosure agreement. She added she hasn’t spoken with Ventura since.
