AG百家乐在线官网

Today's session has finished early as a juror has their son's graduation ceremony to attend.

Judge Arun Subramanian thanked jurors and wished them a "great weekend", before reminding them not to discuss the case with anyone or read anything about it.

Discussing the timeframe afterwards, attorney Maurene Comey says the prosecution hopes to rest its case on Monday.

Defence lawyer Marc Agnifilo says they will take the weekend to confirm the time needed for their case, but expects it will be short - and that they should rest on Tuesday or Wednesday.

This means the court could hear closing arguments on Thursday, the judge says, before adjourning for the week.

With such a short amount of time planned for the defence, it seems unlikely Sean Combs himself will testify. Testimony by two of his former girlfriends, Cassie Ventura and 'Jane', who used a pseudonym, took two of the trial's six weeks so far.

We'll be back shortly with a round-up of evidence heard today.

Special agent Joseph Cerciello is now telling jurors about reported incidents of damage at hotels.

Several witnesses during the trial, including hotel workers, former employees and alleged victims, have testified about rooms being left in a state after sex sessions involving male escorts.

Sean "Diddy" Combs checked out of a resort in Bal Harbour, Florida, with a $6,000 bill for damages in December 2021, according to records shown in court.

In January 2023, after a stay at the London Hotel in West Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, there was a bill for $7,577.24, including $3,750 for damage, the court hears.

Another report about the same hotel, from April 2023, shows a bill of $5,654.46 which included damage to furniture.

A security incident report said linens were "soaked in baby oil" and there was oil found on the carpet, as well as evidence of smoking in the room.

Back to special agent Joseph Cerciello's testimony now.

He reviewed data from 2021 to 2024, the court hears, which was when Sean "Diddy" Combs was seeing 'Jane', an alleged victim who gave evidence under a pseudonym earlier in the trial.

The chart shows locations, names and travel records related to the investigation.

Cerciello tells the court that, before the lawsuit against Combs filed by former partner Cassie Ventura in November 2023, the majority of the locations were listed as hotels. 

After the lawsuit was filed, there were no records of further hotel visits, he says.

For context, here is a timeline of the allegations against Combs and how this criminal case has unfolded.

We have an update from outside court, from a lawyer for previous witness Brendan Paul.

During his evidence earlier today, Paul told the court he bought drugs for Sean "Diddy" Combs on a few occasions but said he was "absolutely not" a drugs mule.

He also told told the court he stopped working for Combs after being arrested with a small amount of cocaine belong to his boss at an airport in Miami in March 2024. Charges were later dropped, the court heard.

Paul was granted immunity for his testimony in this trial.

His lawyer has now issued a statement, our US partner NBC news reports, saying Paul's "testimony was crystal clear 鈥� he was never a 'drug mule' for Diddy or anyone else".

The statement continues: "He was subpoenaed to come to court and tell the truth, which he did 鈥� word for word. 

"Now that Brendan has finally had the opportunity to tell the full story about his employment, we are hopeful that the last 15 months of defamatory statements about him will cease."

Court is back in session after a short break and special agent Joseph Cerciello, of Homeland Security Investigations, is on the witness stand.

Maurene Comey is asking questions for the prosecution.

Cerciello tells the court he had no involvement with the case before the trial, but reviewed charts and exhibits a few weeks ago.

He is one of several summary witnesses called by the prosecution. These are government agents who are reading aloud text messages, travel records and other document-based evidence.

Remember, today's session will finish earlier, by 6pm UK time, as one juror is attending their son's graduation ceremony.

Just before the break, jurors were shown messages between Sean "Diddy" Combs and Cassie Ventura.

They were in a long-term, on-off relationship between 2007 and 2018. Cassie is an alleged victim in the case and testified against the rapper earlier in the trial.

The musician and model filed a lawsuit against Combs in November 2023, which was settled within 24 hours. He was arrested and charged with criminal offences, for which he is now on trial for, in September 2024.

In one text exchange shown in court, Cassie referred to Combs hitting her head twice, to which he replied: "You have disrespected me."

In another, she told him: "I know if I said no to it in NY it would have been a problem, you only see me one way, you treat me like a hooker."

"Wow," Combs responded.

In a text on 2 May 2017, Cassie told him she didn't deserve to be beaten.

"That's not love, that's possession," she said, and told him that "as soon as you get f up you drag me down the hall by my hair.

"I'm 30 years old鈥� I felt dead."

Combs told her she was unappreciative of things he had done for her, the court heard, and said "everyone else sees you acting like a b****".

"If I did that for another girl she would've been so nice and happy," Combs wrote, saying he wished he hadn't wasted his "time and energy" on her.

In her testimony, Cassie told the court she was subjected to violence and sexual and emotional abuse throughout their relationship.

Special agent Joseph Cerciello, from Homeland Security Investigations, is next to testify.

But before this, the court is taking a short break.

We still haven't received any sketches from the courtroom yet, but we have pictures from earlier today which show Sean "Diddy" Combs's mother, Janice Combs, is once again there to support him.

His son, Justin Combs, is also in court.

We'll be back shortly when today's session resumes.

Defence lawyer Brian Steel refers back to former Diddy assistant Brendan Paul's testimony that he once worked for three entire days with just a few naps (see 14.45 post).

He admits this was exhilarating but when Steel puts it to him that he wanted to work for this long, he replies: "I don't know if I wanted to."

Steel asks about watching Combs take drugs and if they made him more focused.

Paul says the music mogul got "extremely creative" when taking drugs.

He tells the court that yes, "for the most part", he is indebted to Combs and learned a lot from him.

He also says that while he received immunity for his testimony and is compelled to tell the truth, he would have done so even without this.

Asked by the prosecution how he feels about Combs, he replies: "It's complicated."

There are no further questions and he leaves the stand.

Cross-examination questioning turns to 'Jane', who was seeing Sean "Diddy" Combs when Brendan Paul was employed by him. The questions focus on the rapper's hotel or "Wild King" nights 鈥� sex sessions with escorts.

Jane is an alleged victim of Combs and testified under a pseudonym earlier in the trial.

Asked by defence attorney Brian Steel if Jane ever appeared hesitant or apprehensive when preparing for one of these events, Paul says "no".

Asked if it ever seemed like she was not a willing participant, he replies: "Absolutely not."

Brian Steel, one of Sean "Diddy" Combs's defence lawyers, is now cross-examining the rapper's former assistant Brendan Paul.

Paul worked for Combs from late 2022 to March 2024.

Steel starts with the topic of Paul's work ethic, putting it to him that he is a hard worker who studied hard and strives for perfection. 

Paul says "yes" to all these points and confirms he wanted to work in the music industry.

"Nobody fooled you about how hard it was going to be, and you welcomed that?" Steel asks.

"Yes," Paul replies.

He also says it is true he wanted to work with a billionaire, that he felt it was a great opportunity, and that he enjoyed being in Combs's company.

Steel asks directly if Paul was a sort of drug mule, to which he responds: "Absolutely not."

He agrees that he personally handed "miniscule" amounts at a time and he understood these were for Combs's personal use.