Yesterday’s updates:
• The prosecution began their closing statements. They opened by stating Combs is “the leader of a criminal enterprise”. “Across all, the defendant used power, violence and fear to get what he wanted. Dozens of witnesses agreed: he doesn’t take no for an answer.”
• They also said Combs used his “small army of personal staff” throughout the years. “No one could stop him, and he managed to do this for two decades because he used his money and influence to cover up his crimes.”
• In referencing the racketeering charge against Combs, the prosecution referred to it as “the Combs Enterprise.” “Defendant was the head of the company. What he said went.”
• Prosecution referred to Kristina Khorram - dubbed Combs’ “manipulator in chief” - as his “right brain”, and his multiple assistants as “foot soldiers” who were “young and eager”. “They didn’t blink an eye when instructed to do whatever it took to make the defendant happy, even when it meant facilitating crimes.”
• They said that the weapons found during the raid at Combs’ house (including two AR-15 rifles) “aren’t necessary for a professional security detail.”
• When talking about the many drugs allegedly used in the “freak offs”, prosecution said they weren’t talking about marijuana, but harder drugs. They made a point of saying Jane - pseudonym for Combs’ ex-girlfriend - told the jury she was instructed to bring him drugs, and that the jury know how these drugs were obtained (his staff).
• The sex trafficking charges are the “brutal heart” of this case. “The defendant again and again forced and manipulated Cassie and Jane into having sex with escorts for his own entertainment.”
• To stop people from speaking out, Combs “counted on shame and silence.” “He thought his fame, wealth and power put him above the law.”
• Prosecution claim there are four elements of racketeering against Combs:
~ There was a conspiracy to participate in the “enterprise”, as his staff did so by helping him commit crimes.
~ It affected interstate or foreign commerce, and Combs was knowingly part of this “enterprise”.
~ Combs knowingly and wilfully became a member as he arranged for drugs and sex workers to travel across state lines.
Combs’ “enterprise” agreed to commit crimes relating to sex trafficking, drugs, bribery and arson to help cover up his alleged crimes.
• Prosecution detailed three acts of alleged kidnap:
~ The first: Cassie in January 2009 after he allegedly “stomped on her face and made her hide in a hotel while her injuries healed”.
~ The second, Capricorn Clark - his ex-assistant - in 2004 when he made her take a lie detector test and was forced to stay in New York with Uncle Paulie - Combs’ then head of security - because she’d been holding expensive jewellery. The lie detector was taken in a locked room in a building, and she was threatened with being thrown in the East River should she fail the test.
~ The third, Capricorn again in January 2011. After finding out Cassie was seeing Kid Cudi, Combs “barked an order” at her, and “told her to come with him to kill Cudi.” Upon Capricorn’s refusal, Combs allegedly said: “I don’t give a fuck what you want to do, go get dressed.” He “didn’t take no for an answer.”
• Combs was “100% behind” the arson involving Cudi’s car in January 2012. “Of course the defendant was behind this. He literally said he was going to blow up Kid Cudi’s car.”
• The jury was shown Cassie’s testimony, and a 2011 email she wrote saying Combs would hurt her and Cudi and would be out of the country when it happened. “Such a coincidence the man Sean Combs hated and wanted to hurt had his car set on fire just two weeks after this email was sent.”
• The infamous 2016 assault on Cassie was mentioned. Combs allegedly tried to bribe Israel Florez - the responding security guard - with a wad of cash, which he said during his testimony that he declined. “He didn’t know the defendant had just beaten Cassie in a public area of the hotel - but the defendant knew what he did. Police involvement would be bad for the defendant. It would be bad for his career and bad for his image.”
• Prosecution then said Combs’ two “most trusted” and “loyal protectors” - Khorram and D Roc - then “swung into action” to try and help Combs cover it up. “Kristina Khorram started trying to get that video surveillance at all costs. They’re desperate for this video - if it’s released, it could ruin his career. They can’t take no for an answer.”
• Jurors were shown a slide of all the escorts Cassie and Jane had sex with, 27 in total. “On multiple occasions, Combs made Cassie and Jane have sex by threatening them, drugging them, lying to them, and being violent.”
• Combs “started grooming Jane”, who was “chasing the intense feeling of love”. By doing this, he was “slowly introducing her” to the elements of the “freak-offs”. The jury was shown texts from Jane complaining that said “freak-offs” would last 30-40 hours straight. “He was never satisfied. He was always pushing Jane to do more.”
• Combs was seen shaking his head dismissively when the prosecution said he was “about to stop paying Jane’s rent” when she tried to avoid a “freak off” - or as she called them, “hotel nights”.
• The jury heard audio recording from Jane in August 2023 saying she didn’t want to take part in a “hotel night” Combs had planned with three entertainers. “Ain’t nobody threatening you”, Combs said. “But you better get on your job. You got me on my job”, adding Jane would be in for a “rude awakening”.
• Prosecution: “Defendant’s conduct had one purpose - to get Jane to agree to do hotel nights. The defendant knew exactly what he was doing. This was sex trafficking. He would gaslight, interrupt and talk over Jane.”
• Combs “went ballistic” after Jane said she felt as though she was being “exploited”. Combs then “went on to attack and in the heat of his anger, the defendant called Jane and said he’d release hundreds of videos of her having sex with escorts to the father of her child.”
• In September 2023, during a trip to New York, Combs “tricked Jane into thinking she’d have a proper New York weekend, before revealing it was a freak-off”
• The jury was then shown text messages from Jane stating that she didn't want to go to New York to participate in sex marathons. “He led her to believe there would not be a hotel night. But if he was going to get a hotel night he had to make sure she came. He lied. As he’s telling Jane there won’t be a hotel night, he’s setting up a hotel night.”
• The prosecution say this is a “blatant example” of Combs “using fraud and coercion to get Jane to come to New York for a hotel night.”
• During this time, he also gave Jane ecstasy.
• Jane sent Combs a text in October 2023 stating she was “not an animal” during a “sobriety party”, the last Combs was going to attend before getting clean. This turned out to be a “freak-off”, in which Jane had sex with three different men. Due to overwhelm, Jane vomited, but Combs wouldn’t let her stop. “The defendant used coercion to make her keep going. Yet another reason the defendant is guilty of count four.”
• Prosecutors allege that on June 18, 2024 - three months after his houses were raided - Combs arrived at Jane’s house for a “fun date night”. This soon escalated into an argument regarding another woman, leading to Jane calling him names and Combs to kick a locked door that she ran behind. “He wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
• Jane hit Combs, who then punched her twice in the face, with her injuries still visible under make-up days later. She then ran into the yard, Combs followed and dragged her into the house by her hair. “Up to this point it was a brutal assault of domestic violence. But brutally assaulting Jane, the defendant decided it was time for her to have sex with an escort.”
• When Anton - the escort - arrived, Combs “gave her a pill' and said 'take this f***ing pill, you're not going to ruin my night.” Jane then said she didn't want to, to which the defendant replied: ‘Is this coercion?’ He used that very specific word. Was this coercion? The answer couldn't be clearer. She was afraid of the defendant because he’d just shown her in uncertain terms what he was capable of.”
• Khorram made $600k a year working for Combs, and Brandon Paul, another assistant, “only” made $100k. “The defendant used the money and gravitas from his business to facilitate the crimes he committed. Over and over, the defendant and his inner circle agreed to commit crimes together. That’s what a racketeering conspiracy is.”
• Combs gave Jane a “new drug” - liquid molly - during a “hotel night” in July 2024. “The defence showed you clips of movies from that hotel night. They’ll argue in those videos that Jane was into it, but what those videos really show you is she was super super high - just like she told you.”
• After describing instances where Combs allegedly forced Jane to have drug-fuelled sex, the prosecution stated: “This is not an adult woman making a free choice. This is a woman who repeatedly told the defendant she doesn’t want to do this but relented to avoid any number of bad things happening to her.”
• Prosecution described the bond between Cassie and Combs as “intense” and “not normal”. Combs “regularly threatened and beat Cassie, and also piled her high with drugs to the point that she became reliant on them.” He also “forced and coerced her to have sex with escorts in front of him. Like with Jane it became her job, it became her shame.”
• Combs’ goal was to have “total compliance” over Cassie. His “efforts to control her” defined their relationship, according to the prosecution
• Prosecution claim the defence would like the jurors to refer to Combs’ alleged abuse of Cassie as “just” domestic violence, but that “misses the point”. “The defendant was having freak offs with Cassie. The freak offs happened before, after and sometimes during the defendant's violent episodes. They were intertwined. The cloud of defendant’s abuse was hanging over Cassie’s head. Always hovering.”
• Jury were shown images of Cassie’s injuries allegedly inflicted by Combs, including of a busted eyebrow after he is said to have knocked her into a bed frame. “Any one of these attacks could have been terrifying and life changing but for Cassie it became normal because the defendant's violence was so unpredictable it was destabilising. There was no safe space for Cassie. All the violence, threats of violence, the other ways the def controlled Cassie, they were part of the same pattern of coercion.”
• Combs would allegedly have escorts urinate on Cassie, or sometimes do so himself. “She obviously didn't want an escort urinating in her mouth while she was laying on the floor, or the defendant. The freak offs became a way to coerce into doing freak offs.”
• Jury was once again shown the video of the infamous hotel assault on Cassie from March 2016. “The incident should leave no doubt the defendant committed sex trafficking; he chased her and beat her and tried to drag her back to the room.” He was using “force and coercion”, and that the video was “proof” of what happened when Cassie said no.
• When the pair were in Cannes, they got into an argument causing Combs to “kick Cassie off the boat” without any of her belongings. When flying back to New York, Combs “spent the entire flight holding Cassie captive and making her watch videos he recorded of freak offs and threatening to release them.” He “demanded a freak-off” upon their landing, which Cassie “didn’t believe she had a choice” but to go through with.”
• The “freak-off” videos show Combs’ fantasies - not Cassie’s. She was “following the defendant’s instructions, just like Jane did. Don’t be followed into thinking it’s anything other than a performance.”
• “Everything Cassie told you about freak offs is true - they were orchestrated, directed.The defendant is moving the camera around, at times focusing on the escorts. It’s clear this was his fantasy, not Cassie’s.”
• Prosecution reviewed travel itineraries for sex workers who were often flown all over the country, along with the payments made for each trip; all of which were put on Combs’ American Express card, and also referenced Cassie and Jane’s travels with the escorts around the world.
• Mia - pseudonym for Combs’ former assistant - was a victim of forced labour.
• Prosecution claimed that the HR department of Combs’ company acted as a “puppet” for him as they didn’t advocate for his employees.
• Capricorn Clark - who worked for Combs between 2004 - 2012 - was repeatedly threatened personally and with her job. Combs allegedly tore up a paper she gave him with a request for $80k in unpaid overtime, and HR didn’t do a thing about it.
• After Cassie filed her lawsuit, prosecution allege Combs knew he was in hot water. Due to swift public opinion, he “worked to neutralize two of the people who could damage him most: Jane and Mia.”
• At the time, he instructed Khorram and D Roc to assist with the fallout. “But this time paying people off with $100,000 in a brown paper bag was not an option. He needed to stay under the radar.”
• Prosecution’s final statement: “A lot of evidence was hard to hear, hard to see. The defendant ran his criminal enterprise with total control and with the loyal assistance of his inner circle. Foot soldiers, personal assistants, who knew their one job was to say yes to the defendant. All of this paints a clear picture of how the defendant committed crime after crime for two decades, how he didn’t take no for an answer. Up until today the defendant was able to get away with these crimes because of his money, his power and influence. That stops now. It’s time to hold him accountable.”
Whew, that was a LOT! But all 4 hours and 49 minutes of the prosecution’s closing statement is above; with a similar amount of time allocated for the defence today. I’ll be posting some of their closing statements later. And apologies for the bloat and any errors!
