Sean 'Diddy' Combs' lawyers point to Cassie's loving texts

25/6/2025 6:11

Sean "Diddy" Combs'

lawyers spent a half-hour on Tuesday putting on their defense

case at their client's sex trafficking trial, paving the way for

jurors to hear final arguments before weighing the hip-hop

mogul's fate.



The defense included showing jurors text messages in which

one of Combs' accusers, rhythm and blues singer Casandra

Ventura, said she loved him and suggested she enjoyed

participating in sexual performances known as "Freak Offs."



Federal prosecutors rested their case against Combs earlier

in the day, after more than six weeks of testimony.



Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to five counts of

racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to

engage in prostitution. He decided not to testify.



Defendants in U.S. criminal cases are not required to

present evidence, and judges instruct juries not to hold a

refusal to testify against defendants. To win a guilty verdict,

prosecutors must prove their cases beyond a reasonable doubt.



The government's case against Combs included accusations

that the Bad Boy Records founder forced two former girlfriends

into sexual performances with male sex workers while he watched,

masturbated and sometimes filmed.



Witnesses included the former girlfriends Ventura, known as

Cassie, and a woman known in court by the pseudonym Jane.



Over several days of testimony, both said Combs beat them,

threatened to cut off financial support, and threatened to leak

sex tapes.



Combs' lawyers have acknowledged that their client was

occasionally violent in domestic relationships, but argued the

"Freak Offs" were consensual.



On Tuesday, defense lawyer Anna Estevao read jurors several

messages, ranging from tender to sexually explicit, that Ventura

sent Combs during their decade-long relationship.



In one message from 2012, Ventura wrote Combs, "Besides

making love, talking to you is my favorite thing."



Five years later, Ventura told Combs in a series of messages

that she missed him, asked him to send a picture of his

genitals, and pledged to "be your little freak."



Outside the jury's presence, Estevao told the court the

messages showed Combs believed the "Freak Offs" were consensual.



"That she's telling Mr. Combs that she will be his little

freak is probative as to his state of mind as to whether or not

she was willing to engage in this kind of sexual activity,"

Estevao said.



One prosecution witness, forensic psychologist Dawn Hughes,

had told jurors that victims of sexual violence often develop

"trauma bonds" with their partners, making it difficult to leave

abusive relationships.



U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, who has overseen the

trial in Manhattan federal court, is expected on Wednesday to

meet with lawyers to discuss jury instructions.



Closing arguments are expected to begin on Thursday, and the

jury may not begin deliberating until late Friday or Monday.



If convicted on all five counts, Combs faces a mandatory

15-year prison sentence and could face life behind bars.