AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Today, the jury in the federal criminal trial of Sean Combs heard opening arguments and testimony from the first of two government witnesses. The charges against Combs, better known as Diddy or Puff Daddy, include sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy. Combs pleaded not guilty to all charges. NPR's Isabella Gomez Sarmiento was in the courtroom and joins us now. And a warning - this reporting will make mention of sexual violence. Hi, Isabella.
ISABELLA GOMEZ SARMIENTO, BYLINE: Hi, Ailsa.
CHANG: So based on the opening argument, can you just give us a sense of the case that the prosecution will try to make against Combs during this trial?
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: The government is saying that for more than two decades, Combs used his businesses in music, fashion and media as a criminal enterprise that carried out all sorts of alleged crimes, including kidnapping, bribery, arson and obstruction of justice, but also sex crimes going back to 2009. These include sex trafficking and transporting commercial sex workers across state lines and abroad. So during opening arguments, prosecutor Emily Johnson alleged that Combs trafficked his ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, and another girlfriend who will testify under a pseudonym. Johnson said this is not a case about a celebrity's private sexual preferences, but rather about how he used his power and influence, enabled by a loyal inner circle, to coerce and threaten women to fulfill his sexual desires.
CHANG: And what about the defense? Like, what's going to be their argument against all of that?
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: In its opening arguments, Combs' defense said this is a case about jealousy, money and infidelity, and that those things have nothing to do with his businesses. They admitted off the bat that Combs has a temper, that he can be violent, and he's a drug user. They say he led what may be an unconventional sex life, but they argued that's not a federal crime. Defense attorney Teny Geragos said Combs is responsible for domestic violence but that all of his sexual encounters were consensual. She said the government has no business intervening in what happens in the privacy of Combs' bedrooms and that these women were in loving, yet toxic, relationships with him, and none of that amounts to sex trafficking or racketeering conspiracy.
CHANG: OK. Well, the jury heard, I understand, from the first of two witnesses for the prosecution today. Tell us what happened.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Yeah, that's right. So first, we heard from Israel Florez. He's currently a Los Angeles police officer, but he was working as a security guard at an LA hotel in 2016. That's when he was called to respond to an altercation between Combs and a woman he later learned was Cassie Ventura. Prosecutors today played several versions of a hotel surveillance video that's been widely viewed since CNN obtained and released a version of it last year. It shows an incident from March 2016 in which Combs can be seen kicking, hitting and dragging Ventura down the hall. Florez testified that when he arrived at the hotel hallway, Combs had, quote, "a devilish stare." He said Ventura was trying to leave, and Combs initially would not let her. Florez said that eventually when Ventura made it out of the hotel and he was asking her if she needed help, she refused to call the police or answer any questions.
The other witness was a man named Daniel Phillip. He said Ventura gave him large sums of money for having sex with her while Combs watched on numerous occasions. He was asked to describe these encounters, which he said took place in New York City between around 2012 and 2014, and he provided very graphic details about what he said took place. He also said he witnessed Combs violently attack Ventura on more than one occasion, but he did not intervene because he was scared for his own life.
CHANG: Wow, OK. Well, what else do you expect from this trial for the rest of this first week?
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Cassie Ventura is expected to take the stand tomorrow. She filed the first prominent civil lawsuit against Combs in the fall of 2023. They settled that lawsuit out of court within a day of its filing. But Cassie's allegations were a centerpiece of the prosecution's opening arguments, and we expect that a lot of the attention during this trial will be on her.
CHANG: That is NPR's Isabella Gomez Sarmiento. Thank you, Isabella.
GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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