The federal criminal trial for Sean "Diddy" Combs entered its second week on Monday with more witness testimony.
Dawn Richard, a singer and former member of the musical group Danity Kane, formed by Combs, was back on the stand after briefly testifying on Friday.
Combs, 55, faces a life sentence for charges of sex trafficking, transportation to engage in prostitution and racketeering. He has pleaded not guilty.
Richard testified that she saw Combs frequently get violent with his ex-girlfriend, Casandra Ventura Fine, who goes by "Cassie." Cassie was a key witness who testified during the first week of the trial.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | Cassie's testimony against Sean 'Diddy' Combs ends after days of detailing abuse
Richard claimed she saw Combs punch, choke and kick Cassie on several occasions.
Cassie and Combs dated for a little over a decade from the early 2000s to 2018. She said the relationship was psychologically and physically abusive, but that she was young and in love and feared leaving him because he allegedly threatened to release videos of her performing sexual acts in what they called "freak offs."
Prosecutors allege Combs used his money, power and fame to orchestrate an empire of exploitation and coerced women into abusive sex parties. The music mogul's lawyers said he may have been violent at times, but maintain that all sexual acts were consensual.
When asked why she hadn't brought up the alleged abuse she witnessed before now, Richard said she and another woman were threatened by Combs. She said he told them that “we could go missing” if they didn't stay quiet, which she took to mean that they would end up dead.
Despite claiming she witnessed Combs repeatedly abuse Cassie, Richard testified that she reached out to him on more than one occasion to continue collaborating on music and feels that he ruined her career.
RELATED STORY | Who are all of the celebrities mentioned during Sean 'Diddy' Combs' trial and why?
After Richard's testimony concluded, a former friend of Cassie's was brought up to testify. Kerry Morgan was friends with Cassie up until 2018 and spoke a lot about how Cassie was before she entered a relationship with Combs.
Morgan said Cassie didn't do drugs and rarely drank alcohol in the early days of their friendship. Cassie testified she developed a drug addiction from the constant use during "freak offs" as a means of escape.
During her testimony, she recounted several incidents where she allegedly witnessed Combs assault Cassie before she eventually became a victim of his violence herself. She said he was sober during the times she saw him beat Cassie, contradicting a theory the defense presented last week that he was on drugs or suffering from withdrawals during the times he was violent with her.
Morgan claimed that Combs let himself into Cassie's apartment in 2018 while Cassie was in the bathroom and came up behind her and choked her. She said he also hit her in the head with a wooden hanger.
Morgan said she left the apartment and planned on filing a lawsuit after the 2018 assault, but didn’t. She said she met up with Cassie about a month after the incident, who told her she would be receiving $30,000 from Combs and had her sign a non-disclosure agreement. That was the last time she said she and Cassie spoke.
While Morgan and Cassie are no longer friends, she said she’s testifying because she was subpoenaed — but that she would rather not be involved.
Morgan said there were some incidents where she asked a bodyguard to intervene and they refused. She said it was impossible for Cassie to leave the relationship because Combs controlled everyone and everything around her.
Monday afternoon, Combs' former personal assistant testified about his experience working for the leader of Bad Boy Entertainment.
David James said when he first got hired, an executive at the label pointed to a picture of Combs on the wall and said, “This is Mr. Combs’ kingdom. We’re all here to serve in it."
James was responsible for organizing a lot of day-to-day things for Combs from 2007 to 2009, including gathering articles about him for him to read and making sure his meals were prepped properly.
He said he didn't have a lot of interactions with Cassie, but he recalled speaking with her in Miami within the first year of working for Combs, in which he alleged Cassie said, "I can't get out" when she was asked about the lifestyle.
James testified that he was with Combs when a business associate asked Combs about Cassie and his late ex-partner, Kim Porter. James said Combs described Porter as his "queen" but referred to Cassie as "young" and "moldable."
