How two words in a text message sent from Cassie Ventura to Sean Combs sank the criminal case against her former lover
For weeks, 12 jurors sitting in a sky-rise Manhattan courtroom heard just how degrading Sean Combs could be. But in the end, it came down to two words in a text.
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For seven weeks, 12 jurors sitting in a courtroom more than 20 stories up a New York skyscraper – with million-dollar views across Manhattan – heard just how disturbing and degrading Sean Combs could be.
Witness after witness described how the music mogul and singer, better known as “Diddy”, threatened and assaulted the people around him.
One assistant described how furious Combs was when he bought the star the wrong sized water bottle.
CCTV footage was shown to the court of Combs beating his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura outside a hotel lift.
A friend of Ms Ventura described in shockingly vivid detail several alleged encounters with the star including one where she said was dangled over a balcony 17 stories up.
But, as startling as these claims were, none of them mattered in the end.
His own lawyers even admitted he had committed domestic violence and that they would likely find him a “jerk”.
Combs wasn’t charged with assault, violence or threats.
Rather, he was facing two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, two counts of sex trafficking and one count of racketeering.
On Wednesday, the jury in the federal case found Combs innocent on the most serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking, both of which could have led to life behind bars.
However, he was found guilty of transportation to engage in prostitution in connection with Ms Ventura and a second woman who gave evidence under the name of “Jane”.
The 55-year-old could yet face 20 years for those convictions, with bail denied by a judge as he awaits sentencing in October.
The prosecution’s failure to convict Combs on other charges could - essentially - come down to two words sent in a text by Ms Ventura to Combs: “always ready”.
At the outset of the trial, in mid-May, Combs’ lawyers did not try and sugar-coat their famous client’s actions.
The evidence might prove domestic violence, they told the jury, but it did not prove any of the federal charges.
“Sean Combs is a complicated man but this is not a complicated case,” said defence lawyer Teny Garagos, at the time.
Ms Garagos said there would be multiple times the jurors might think Combs was “mean” or a “jerk”.
But, she added: “This case is about voluntary adult choices in consensual relationships.”
“Being a willing participant is not sex trafficking.”
Disturbing freak-off parties
At the centre of the allegations was Comb’s desire for so- called “freak-offs”. These involved one of Combs’ partners having sex with a paid male sex worker, while the star watched on directing the scene and often masturbating.
The jury heard about the vast amounts of baby oil and lube which Combs demanded those taking part slather themselves in; about the copious drugs consumed; about Ms Ventura being urinated on and the filthy state hotel rooms were left in.
“The evidence will show the sexual conduct was coercive and criminal,” said prosecution lawyer Emily Johnson.
“He made women have sex when they didn’t want to be there”.
Indeed, Ms Ventura and others insisted that, over time, they were less and less willing to take part in the freak-offs. They only did so because they were, in one way or another, forced to.
The problem for the prosecution was the digital paper trail that often suggested otherwise.
In August 2009, two years after she and Combs started dating and around a year and a half after the freak offs began, Combs texted Ms Ventura asking “when do you want to freak off?”
“I’m always ready to freak off, LOL,” replied Ms Ventura.
Ms Ventura said her texts seeming to approve of freak-offs were “just words at that point”.
But it wasn’t just one text exchange.
The court was also shown a string of at least 16 texts from March 2016 which the defence claimed showed that far from Combs demanding freak-offs, it was Ms Ventura that sometimes instigated them.
In one instance, Combs asked Ms Ventura what her plans were for the night. She replied she had to remain fresh for her upcoming work commitments.
Seemingly fine to not see her that night, he told her to “get some rest” and that he loved her.
Ms Ventura, however, sent him explicit sexual messages in return and wrote that she wanted to have sex. Combs said he needed to know either way so he could “plan the rest of my night”. Eventually she said she would come around later that night for a freak-off.
Ms Ventura disagreed she had instigated that sex party. Rather, she said, she knew Combs well enough that his texts were pushing her into agreeing to a freak-off.
The racketing charge could have led to life imprisonment for Combs.
The star and his “inner circle” helped facilitate crimes including kidnapping, arson and sex crimes “again and again,” the prosecution argued in the trial.
Multiple former staff members took to the stand. They luridly described how they would set up the freak-offs. The lube and baby oil - and sometimes drugs - they would painstakingly procure. Some described how they would clean up the rooms afterwards so the hotels would be less inclined to complain or – potentially – sell the pictures of the rooms trashed by a star.
But the jury wasn’t convinced Combs’ staff were assisting in any crimes highlighted in the charges. It wasn’t even clear if employees precisely knew what occurred at the freak-offs, aside from a lot of sex involving a lot of lube.
Being convicted on two of five charges is not the ideal outcome for Combs: that would be acquittal. But being found not guilty of the two lesser charges is a victory of sorts.
Moments after the verdict came through, Ms Ventura’s lawyer Doug Wigdor, said his client had showed “unquestionable strength” in court.
“Although the jury did not find Combs guilty of sex trafficking Cassie beyond a reasonable doubt, she paved the way for a jury to find him guilty of transportation to engage in prostitution.
“She displayed unquestionable strength and brought attention to the realities of powerful men in our orbit and the misconduct that has persisted for decades without repercussion.”
‘Case was weak from the start’
Nicole Brenecki, a New York trial attorney, claimed the prosecution’s case fell apart because it was “built more on sensationalism than a solid legal basis”.
“RICO charges require proof of an ongoing criminal enterprise with coordinated activity by multiple actors, not just deviant parties and disgruntled ex-girlfriends,” she told the NY Post.
“Add to that the lack of paper trails, cooperating witnesses inside the alleged ‘enterprise,’ or any clear hierarchy of criminal role, and you’re left with smoke, but no fire — and a not guilty verdict follows.”
Brenecki said the testimony indicated that Combs’ ex-girlfriends appeared to have “willingly taken part in (the) freak-offs”.
“Voluntary participation, no matter how controversial, doesn’t equal organized crime,” she added.
David Seltzer, a managing partner at a criminal law firm in New York not involved in the case, agreed.
“The government’s case was weak from the start,” he said.
“They tried to put a square peg in a round hole, using mobster-like charges, when all they had were glorified State Court charges.”
Lawyer John W. Day said Combs’ trial was a “huge win” for the music mogul’s defense team.
“It means the jury did not buy the stories of Cassie and Jane and most likely believed they were enjoying life with Diddy voluntarily, and all the trappings of that world.”
Originally published as How two words in a text message sent from Cassie Ventura to Sean Combs sank the criminal case against her former lover
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