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Sean “Diddy” Combs’ defense team has complained about the secrecy of certain aspects of the trial, including a famous rapper being mentioned – but not named – during testimony.
Before the 55-year-old rapper’s trial resumed on Thursday, lawyers representing Combs and federal prosecutors engaged in a back and forth about naming individuals who were present with Combs’ ex-girlfriend Jane during a Las Vegas night that took place in Jan. 2024. However, this was done behind closed doors and even Combs himself was not present.
Once all parties were back in the courtroom, defense attorney Marc Agnifilo complained to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian about the fact that Combs was excluded from the meeting.
Agnifilo emphasized the public nature of trials and wanted his objection on the record, adding that what they “didn’t consent to, and we don’t, most respectfully, is that these events which play important parts in the background of some of the most critical events in the trial, should be in any way not fully public.”
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“Part of the reason that trials are fully public is so if other people realize they know something about an event discussed in a public courtroom they can come forward and share their recollection about it,” Agnifilo stated. “And I think that is kind of the practical side of the constitutional right to a public trial; that it’s public for a reason, and the facts are public for a reason, and the names are public for a reason. And that reason is so the public can do what the public does in all issues of importance, which is receive them, and if someone has something to add, that person can come forward and add whatever it is that person has to add.”
The prosecution argued the defense’s suggestion regarding the use of real names was “nothing more than a pretense to attempt to harass and intimidate” Combs’ ex-girlfriend, who testified this week under the pseudonym Jane.
During her testimony, Jane told the jury about a secret Vegas trip she took in January 2024. Combs’ ex-girlfriend noted she traveled to see a very famous rapper who is close to Combs.
The rapper is “an icon in the music industry,” according to Jane.
Jane recalled that she and others attended a play before heading to a strip club, and then they went to a hotel room. Antoine – one of the male escorts Jane and Combs often turned to for alleged “hotel nights” – was part of the group. Jane said that she and Antoine greeted each other.
Jane recalled watching Antoine have sex with a woman in front of others after she went to the hotel room. She told Combs’ defense lawyer there was flirtatious banter between her and the rapper, but nothing happened between them.
In late May, the defense had previously objected to Combs’ former assistant “Mia” testifying under the pseudonym when she took the stand.
On Thursday, Judge Subramanian told both legal teams that his ruling had not changed.
“The idea that somehow public revelation of the details that we discussed would in any way… result in some kind of investigation that would bear on the actual charges raised is not a real concern,” the judge said.
The prosecution’s Maurene Comey added, “I will also note that the identity of the people who were on that particular event is not a defense to any of the conduct that Jane testified the defendant engaged in on June 18 and 19 of 2024. So it is extreme –its probative value is extremely minimal and has nothing to do, from our perspective certainly, with the defendant’s guilt or innocence of the sex trafficking charges.”
Criminal defense attorney John W. Day, owner of the Santa Fe, New Mexico-based law practice John Day Law, agreed, telling Fox News Digital, “The judge is right — there’s no reason other than intimidation for trying to publicize the names of other people present at ‘hotel nights,’ since this is not part of any charged conduct. The defense’s claim, that naming names will bring other witnesses out of the woodwork, ignores that anyone who would be a potential witness has been following this trial from the start.”
On Monday, Jane told the court about the incident that allegedly occurred on June 18 and 19. She claimed she and Combs got into a physical altercation after she confronted him about being with another woman. She told the jury that she pushed his head into a marble countertop and threw candles toward Combs out of anger, and then Combs allegedly attacked her.
The rapper allegedly followed her into the master bedroom, bathroom and closet before she attempted to run for the front door.
Photos of the master bedroom door, the master bathroom door and a guest bedroom door of Jane’s home were entered as evidence. Jane testified that Combs kicked the doors “literally off the hinges” during the altercation.
“Sean kicked me from the back of my thigh, and then I fell down on my butt,” Jane testified. “And then he picked me up in a chokehold and choked me.” Jane claimed she ran about six blocks away from the home and waited for approximately two hours before returning. Once home, she claimed the fight between her and Combs continued. As the fight turned physical, Jane recalled Combs punching her twice. She ran into the backyard and laid down in the grass, covering her face, head and body with her hands. Combs allegedly punched and kicked her “several times” while in this position before he dragged her back into the home.
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Jane testified that she went to the shower to cool off, which is where she saw two golf-ball-sized welts on her forehead and a black eye forming. She said meekly, “I’m smaller than Sean.”
At this point, Combs allegedly came in and slapped her three times in the face. She said she lost her balance and fell over.
Last month, Cassie Ventura, a singer who had a 12-year on-again, off-again romantic relationship with Combs, gave four days of testimony during the first week of the rapper’s trial. The “Me & U” singer alleged that Combs forced her to participate in drug-fueled sexual encounters with male escorts called “freak-offs” which the Bad Boys Records founder filmed. She claimed that Combs used the recordings of the “freak-offs” to blackmail her.
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Ventura also accused Combs of physically and emotionally abusing and raping her in 2018 when she attempted to end their relationship.
In November 2023, Ventura filed a civil lawsuit against Combs. She testified that she settled for $20 million, 24 hours after filing the suit. She does not have any pending lawsuits against Combs.
Before cross-examination of Jane earlier this week, Subramanian denied Combs’ second request for a mistrial. Combs’ legal team had argued that the prosecution knowingly presented false testimony to the court in a letter filed June 7 and obtained by Fox News Digital.
In a federal indictment unsealed on Sept. 17, Combs was charged with racketeering conspiracy (RICO); sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and transportation to engage in prostitution. If found guilty, he faces a minimum of 15 years behind bars or a maximum sentence of life in prison.
He has maintained his innocence throughout the trial, in which witnesses have testified to alleged rape, sexual assault, severe physical abuse, forced labor and drug trafficking. The trial is expected to wrap up by July 4.
Jane’s cross-examination finished on Thursday and the government indicated they would rest their case by next Friday, but as early as next Wednesday.
Fox News’ Maria Paronich, Lauryn Overhultz and Tracy Wright contributed to this report.
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