Cassie’s emotional testimony in Sean “Diddy” Combs‘ ongoing trial could potentially support the racketeering charges against him, according to a legal expert.
“She’s a very emotionally impactful witness,” lawyer Joshua Ritter, who is not involved in the case, exclusively told Us Weekly on Friday, May 16. “She’s eight and a half months pregnant. She’s tearful on the stand, and she can provide an insight into how all of this works.”
Cassie (full name Casandra Ventura) first took the stand on Tuesday, May 13, before wrapping up on Friday. The singer, 38, spoke about her experience with Diddy, 55, whom she dated on and off from 2007 to 2018, and addressed his alleged “freak off” parties. Diddy, who was arrested in September 2024, has been charged with sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution. (He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.)
“Part of this case is not just the racketeering but the underlying abusive behavior that the racketeering was facilitating,” Ritter added. “So she might provide part of it, but they’re definitely going to have to have other witnesses testify to how others were participating in this criminal enterprise.”
Ritter explained that while the details from Cassie’s testimony have been “shocking and deviant and appalling,” the behavior being recalled is “not necessarily criminal.” However, Ritter shared that observers will have to wait as the prosecution continues to lay out their argument in the coming weeks.
“This is going to be a case that is proven by layers upon layers of evidence, and I imagine that eventually the prosecution will be able to connect all those dots,” he told Us. “But it is true that just based upon Cassie’s testimony, we don’t really see the elements of the racketeering, which would involve a criminal enterprise. There [have] been allusions to other security guards and other assistants and people working for Sean Combs who may have helped facilitate all of this.”
While Cassie’s testimony alone has not fully addressed the charges Diddy is facing, the question of whether consent was truly present may stay in the back of the jury’s mind.
“Yes, all of this can be awful. It can all sound humiliating and it can all sound very disturbing, but if she was a willing participant or these other individuals were willing participants, then we really don’t have the elements of a crime here,” Ritter explained. “Now, the defense, I think, has done a very good job in outlining text conversations that she had with Combs during and after many of these freak offs.”
Ritter added that the prosecution team will have to argue that being an alleged “willing participant” was “part of the cycle of abuse.”
“The prosecution is then going to have the burden of showing the jurors how this is and how many times victims of abuse will actually even shockingly participate or appear to participate in their abuse,” he said. “And I think probably the evidence that we have seen that is most demonstrative of that is the videotape of the assault that took place at the hotel here in Los Angeles. I imagine prosecutors are going to argue that that shows someone trying to escape, that shows someone trying to remove herself from the situation, and him physically beating her and bringing her back under his control.”
That argument is going to be tough to make, Ritter cautioned.
“If someone is suffering from that kind of abuse, they’re going to say some very startling things and maybe things difficult to understand, like text messages that might sound like she’s participating in it,” he continued. “That’s going to be an argument that’s going to definitely be something the prosecution is probably going to have the most difficult time dealing with, is how do you show that these people were not consenting and also vocalizing that they were not consenting? Because even if they were not consenting, but that only took place inside their own head, that’s not enough to satisfy the elements of nonconsensual sexual assault.”
Diddy’s arrest came nearly one year after Cassie filed a lawsuit accusing her ex of sexual and physical abuse throughout their relationship. Diddy denied her claims in a statement shared by his attorney.
“Mr. Combs vehemently denies these offensive and outrageous allegations,” Diddy’s lawyer Ben Brafman said in November 2023.
One day after the suit was filed, Diddy and Cassie settled out of court. She testified earlier this week that the settlement was for $20 million.
In May 2024, CNN published a hotel surveillance video of Diddy kicking and grabbing Cassie in 2016. He later apologized for his actions in a video shared via Instagram.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support. If you or someone you know is a human trafficking victim, contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.
