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Casandra VenturaThe R&B singer and model who accused Diddy of physical and sexual abuse, faced the interrogation today of Anna EstevaoOne of the rapper’s lawyers. Estevao set out to portray Ventura as a participant arranged in Diddy’s “fontanes”, challenging the insistence of the singer that was forced to the sexual sexual encounters fed by drugs.
- Ventura, who is visibly pregnant, acknowledged that the first years of his relationship outside with Diddy were “loving”, although sometimes divided by jealousy. She remembered it as a “charismatic” and “bigger personality than life” that could be “sweet” and “attentive.”
- Estevao showed text messages from the jury that the defense team believes to refute the statements of Ventura. “I’m always ready to scare,” Ventura wrote in 2009. “I can’t wait,” he wrote before one of those events that same year. Ventura testified yesterday that he never wanted to participate in the marathon’s sex sessions, but felt he needed to keep Diddy happy.
- Diddy and Ventura discussed infidelity, and “it was a bit scary” when he accused her of cheating, he told the jury. Ventura said he was “some jealousy” towards the deceased Kim Porterone of Diddy’s former matches and the mother of three of his children; Diddy was “furious” about the brief relationship of Ventura with the rapper Cudi childsaid.
- Estevao tried to connect Diddy’s drug use with his supposed pattern of violent behavior. Ventura said that the hip-hop magnate was once addicted to opioids and an overdose in 2012. The analgesics she took were “a part” of their humor changes, he said. Ventura testified that it also depended on drugs during the relationship.
The view from the inside
By Adam Reiss and Doha Madani
When the interrogation began, Ventura spoke with restlessness and caution. But she seemed to gain confidence as the day progressed, answering questions calmly and politely. Occasionally expressed confusion about certain consultations. Initially, Estevao seemed to fight to find a rhythm, starting and stopping repeatedly, but settled in a constant rhythm after lunch.
Diddy’s three children, as well as his mother, Janice combsHe sat in the gallery today. The rapper’s mother has been in the Federal Court’s room in the center of Manhattan every day of this week, listening to an extraordinarily graphic testimony about the supposed history of violent abuse of her son and sexual prone.
Judge Arun Subramanian It seems determined to keep the test in motion an energetic clip. He promised the jurors that they would end their service before July 4, and seems aware of the fact that Ventura is potentially to give birth. He severely remembered the defense that was given a day and a half to question her, and scolded Diddy’s main lawyer after he backed down.
“In which universe did you not understand that this was important,” said Subramanian the lawyer, Marc Agnifilo.
In other news: Defensor prosecutors and lawyers seemed to have a good relationship during hearings prior to trial. But it has quickly evaporated this week. The tension in the court hall increases dramatically every time the jury is not sitting. This morning, for example, opposite lawyers got into a heated dispute on which text messages defense can introduce as evidence.
Diddy, meanwhile, took notes in a pad while those arguments were developed.
Analysis: Consent or coercion?
By Danny Cevallos
Ventura’s testimony about the interrogation will read well for prosecution on transcription. It may not have sounded so good for the jury. This is because a transcription does not capture cadence, inflection and mood of the answers. For jurors, who listen to their live testimony and observe their body language, Ventura’s testimony could go anyway.
On the one hand, the questions are answering, and is mainly saying what the Prosecutor’s Office needs for its case. But, on the other hand, some questions do not have good answers. When the defense confronts her with text messages that suggest that she was a participant arranged in the “Freak off” lifestyle, there really is no perfect response to Ventura.
It is the completely possible jury will see it as a victim who could not leave Diddy’s clutches. They can see her as someone coerced in the lifestyle. But it is also possible that one or more jurors can conclude that repeatedly ventures choose Be with Diddy and join “Freak offs”, sometimes with enthusiastic messages for him. Only one jury is needed at a dead point.
What follows?
Tomorrow: Ventura will return to the witness post for a more interrogation of the Diddy team. The judge and prosecutors have made it clear that they would like to question at the end of the day.
