{"id":5597,"date":"2025-05-02T15:36:48","date_gmt":"2025-05-02T15:36:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/when-it-starts-cassie-tape-freak-offs-more\/"},"modified":"2025-05-02T15:36:48","modified_gmt":"2025-05-02T15:36:48","slug":"when-it-starts-cassie-tape-freak-offs-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/when-it-starts-cassie-tape-freak-offs-more\/","title":{"rendered":"When It Starts, Cassie Tape, Freak Offs & More"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

\n\tSean \u201cDiddy\u201d Combs is about to go on trial over accusations of sexual abuse. But what exactly are the charges he\u2019s facing? Is Cassie Ventura testifying against him? And what in the world are \u201cfreak offs\u201d? Before the trial starts, let\u2019s get you up to speed.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe once-all-powerful hip-hop mogul was arrested in September, charged by federal prosecutors with running a large-scale criminal operation aimed at his own \u201csexual gratification.\u201d For decades, the feds say, Diddy \u201cabused, threatened and coerced women\u201d into giving him what he wanted, including participating in drug-fueled sex parties.<\/p>\n

\n\tCombs, who has denied all of the allegations, will finally head to trial next week to face a jury of his peers. Before he does, here are answers to all your Diddy trial questions.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tWhat are the charges against Diddy?<\/strong>\t<\/h3>\n

\n\tProsecutors have built much of the case against Diddy under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, the federal \u201cRICO\u201d law often used against mobsters and drug cartels. RICO, which allows the feds to target an entire illicit organization over many individual crimes, was designed to target organized crime, where bosses often insulate themselves from actual illegal acts.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn Diddy\u2019s case, prosecutors say the star served as his own kind of crime boss, exploiting the \u201cemployees, resources and the influence of his multi-faceted business empire\u201d to carry out a decades-long campaign of sexual abuse. That operation included numerous sexual and physical assaults, the feds say, but also forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, witness tampering, drug crimes and more.<\/p>\n

\n\tSeparately, Diddy is also charged with violating a federal sex trafficking statute, which makes it illegal to use force, fraud, or coercion to compel someone to engage in commercial sex acts. He\u2019s also accused of violating the Mann Act, an older statute that made it illegal to transport people across state lines for the purposes of prostitution.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tWhat\u2019s a \u201cfreak off\u201d?<\/strong>\t<\/h3>\n

\n\tAt the very center of the case against Diddy are allegations about so-called \u201cfreak offs\u201d \u2014 drug-fueled orgies in which victims were allegedly coerced into having sex with male sex workers while Combs looked on.<\/p>\n

\n\tProsecutors say these \u201celaborate and produced sex performances,\u201d which Combs \u201cmasturbated during,\u201d were a regular occurrence and \u201csometimes lasted multiple days.\u201d The rapper and his associates allegedly plied victims with illegal drugs, which prosecutors say was designed in part to \u201ckeep the victims obedient and compliant.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAccording to charging documents, freak offs were \u201coften electronically recorded,\u201d sometimes without the knowledge of those being filmed \u2014 and the footage was then later used as a form of \u201ccollateral\u201d to keep victims from speaking out.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe events were so complex that they required substantial logistical efforts by Diddy\u2019s associates to pull off, the feds say \u2014 including booking hotel rooms, arranging travel, delivering large sums of cash to pay sex workers, cleaning up to \u201cmitigate room damage,\u201d and providing supplies. Among those supplies were \u201cmore than 1000 bottles of baby oil\u201d \u2014 a headline-grabbing allegation when it was included in September\u2019s initial indictment.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tWho are the alleged victims?<\/strong>\t<\/h3>\n

\n\tDiddy has been hit with civil lawsuits by dozens of alleged victims, but the criminal charges against him formally center on just four people, identified in court documents as Victim-1, Victim-2, Victim-3 and Victim-4.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile technically still anonymous in filings, Victim-1 is strongly believed to be Cassie Ventura, Combs\u2019 longtime girlfriend whose civil rape lawsuit in November 2023 helped to spark the rapper\u2019s downfall. Prosecutors have said Victim-1 will testify in the courtroom under her real name, setting the stage for a potentially blockbuster moment at the trial.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe identities of the other three victims remain unknown, and prosecutors have sought to keep it that way. In a motion last month, they cited recent cases against R. Kelly, Ghislaine Maxwell<\/strong> and others in which judges allowed alleged victims to remain anonymous to avoid \u201charassment from the media and others\u201d amid a case that has received an \u201cexceptional amount of media coverage.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAt a hearing last week, the judge ruled that the three other victims could testify without revealing their names.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tWho are the key players in the courtroom?<\/strong>\t<\/h3>\n

\n\tDiddy\u2019s trial will be overseen by U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian<\/strong>, a relatively new federal judge nominated by President Joe Biden<\/strong> in 2022 after a long stint as a litigator at a prestigious New York law firm. Subramanian, confirmed to the post in March 2023, has an understandably short track record so far \u2014 though he is also currently handling the Justice Department\u2019s high-profile antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation and Ticketmaster.<\/p>\n

\n\tDiddy\u2019s lead attorney is Marc Agnifilo<\/strong>, a veteran defense attorney with an extensive background in handling the kind of complex, high-profile charges that Combs now faces. After prosecuting RICO cases against mobsters in New Jersey, Agnifilo worked for years under legendary New York criminal lawyer Ben Brafman<\/strong>, where he represented Martin Shkreli<\/strong>, the so-called \u201cPharma Bro\u201d convicted of securities fraud in 2017, and Keith Raniere<\/strong>, the leader of the upstate New York sex cult NXIVM.<\/p>\n

\n\tCombs is also represented by Teny Geragos<\/strong>, another Brafman alum (and daughter of celebrity attorney Mark Geragos<\/strong>) who joined Agnifilo when he left to start his own firm last year; and Alexandra Shapiro<\/strong>, a well-known appellate law specialist. Brian Steel<\/strong>, a veteran Atlanta defense attorney who rose to fame last year by winning Young Thug\u2019s release from jail on gang charges, joined the team at the last minute last month.<\/p>\n

\n\tOn the prosecution side, the charges against Combs were filed last year by Damian Williams<\/strong>, the top federal prosecutor for Manhattan, who is known for bringing cases against cryptocurrency entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried<\/strong>, former U.S. senator Bob Menendez<\/strong> and New York Mayor Eric Adams<\/strong>. Following November\u2019s election, President Donald Trump<\/strong> has since appointed Jay Clayton<\/strong>, a longtime partner at the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, to fill that post.<\/p>\n

\n\tUnlike the case against Adams \u2014 which was controversially dropped in early April \u2014 there has been no indication that Trump or Clayton plan to back away from Combs. The same attorneys under Williams (Meredith Foster<\/strong>, Emily A. Johnson<\/strong>, Christy Slavik<\/strong>, Madison Reddick Smyser<\/strong> and Mitzi Steiner<\/strong>) are all still on board, and the district attorney\u2019s office has since added Maurene Comey<\/strong> \u2014 one of the lead prosecutors in the sex trafficking case against Ghislaine Maxwell, a top accomplice of Jeffrey Epstein<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\n\tGo read Billboard<\/em>\u2019s full story on all the lawyers involved in the Diddy litigation.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tWhen does the trial start and how long will it take?<\/strong>\t<\/h3>\n

\n\tThe proceedings will kick off on Monday (May 5) with jury selection. Jurors will be pre-screened with a questionnaire about their backgrounds and beliefs; Combs\u2019 lawyers said in earlier filings that they want to ask their opinions of \u201cpeople with multiple sexual partners.\u201d After a broader pool is established, the two sides will spar in court over how to pick 12 jurors who can impartially decide the case.<\/p>\n

\n\tOnce a jury is selected, the trial will really get under way on May 12, first with opening statements by both sides, then with witness testimony. The trial is widely expected to last at least eight weeks, though that\u2019s only an estimate. Back in 2021, the trial of R. Kelly \u2014 another major musical artist facing RICO charges over allegations of sexual abuse \u2014 took six weeks to complete.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tHow will the prosecution make its case?\t<\/h3>\n

\n\tIf R. Kelly\u2019s trial is any guide, prosecutors are likely to offer jurors mountains of evidence and hours of witness testimony aimed at painting a vivid picture: of an all-powerful man abusing his role at the top of an organization to coerce women into sexual activity against their will.<\/p>\n

\n\tThat will likely include not just the alleged sexual assaults, but all that happened before and after them, including threats, isolation, financial dependence and blackmail. \u201cThese are the tools of coercive control,\u201d Nadia Shihata<\/strong>, one of the prosecutors in the Kelly case, told Billboard<\/em> last year. \u201cIn the R. Kelly case, we called it the \u2018Predator\u2019s Playbook\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn court documents filed early in the case, the feds said they had interviewed more than 50 witnesses during their investigation, \u201cmany of whom saw or experienced the defendant\u2019s abuse.\u201d They also said they had pulled evidence from over 120 cellphones, laptops and other electronic devices.<\/p>\n

\n\tOne explosive piece of evidence that jurors will definitely see is the infamous 2016 surveillance video of him assaulting his former girlfriend Cassie Ventura in the hallway of a Los Angeles hotel. Though he initially apologized, Diddy\u2019s lawyers have fought hard to keep it out of the trial, arguing the clip would \u201cunfairly confuse and mislead the jury.\u201d But prosecutors called that a \u201cdesperate\u201d attempt to avoid \u201ccrushing\u201d evidence, and Subramanian ruled last week that it could be played at the trial.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tHow will Diddy\u2019s lawyers defend him?\t<\/h3>\n

\n\tSince the earliest days of the case, Diddy\u2019s lawyers have signaled that they plan to build their narrative around the idea of consent \u2014 that the star\u2019s sexual encounters with the alleged victims, while perhaps weird and unseemly, were ultimately still consensual<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\n\tAt a bail hearing days after Combs was arrested, Agnifilo hinted at that argument, telling the judge that the star and then-girlfriend Cassie had brought sex workers into their relationship because \u201cthat was the way these two adults chose to be intimate.\u201d And at a hearing just days ago, Agnifilo suggested that Diddy was a \u201cswinger.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lifestyle called swingers, call it whatever you will, that he was in, that he might have thought was appropriate,\u201d Agnifilo said, according to Reuters<\/em><\/a>. \u201cPart of the reason people think it\u2019s appropriate is because it\u2019s common.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\tWhat happens if Diddy is found guilty?<\/strong>\t<\/h3>\n

\n\tShort answer: Lots of prison.<\/p>\n

\n\tIf Combs is convicted on the racketeering charge or either of the sex trafficking charges, he\u2019s facing a potential life prison sentence; the trafficking charges alone have a mandatory minimum of 15 years, which would leave Diddy in federal prison until he was 70 years old. The Mann Act charges carry lesser penalties, with a maximum of 10 years in prison.<\/p>\n

\n\tRecent RICO cases against alleged sex abusers don\u2019t offer a rosy outlook for Diddy. In the R. Kelly case, the singer was sentenced to 31 years; Raniere, the NXIVM cult leader convicted of turning vulnerable women into sexual \u201cslaves,\u201d was sentenced to 120 years.<\/p>\n

\n\tEven if acquitted on all charges \u2014 and court watchers aren\u2019t optimistic \u2014 Combs is still facing a rough future. His reputation will be difficult to repair, and much of his once-formidable business empire is already crumbling. He\u2019s also facing dozens of civil lawsuits, where he could still be held liable for monetary damages even if he\u2019s cleared on the criminal charges.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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