The Trial: Diddy Gets Scolded

This is Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy.

I'm Brian Buckmeyer, an ABC News legal contributor and practicing attorney.

This episode,

Diddy gets scolded.

Week four of USA v.

Sean Combs has been another full one, but let's start with this.

The judge Thursday delivered a scolding of sorts to Combs through his lawyer, saying that Combs had been too expressive during the trial.

This is definitely something I've noticed, but here's how Judge Supermanian described it.

He said, quote, there's a line of questioning where your client was nodding vigorously and looking at the jury, and there was a subsequent moment when there was a sidebar and I saw your client looking at the jury.

The judge then added emphatically, that is absolutely unacceptable.

He said that there shouldn't be any efforts to interact with the jury and that if Diddy doesn't comply, he can be kicked out of the courtroom.

The last witness to take the stand this week is another of Combs's alleged victims.

This is the woman known as victim number two in the indictment, now going by the pseudonym Jane.

Jane is a single mother who started spending time with Combs in 2020 while he was also seeing other women.

We know from the opening statement that Jane will testify to participating in freak-offs and physical abuse while the defense will say that it was a consenting relationship plagued by jealousy.

She could be the last alleged victim to testify before the prosecution rests its case.

Earlier this week, we also heard witnesses including Derek Ferguson, a former CFO of Combs Enterprises, Eddie Garcia, a member of the Intercontinental Hotel Security Team, and Brianna Bungolin, a close friend of Cassie's, who testified that that Diddy lifted her over the railing of a 17-story balcony.

Those last two, Eddie Garcia and Brianna Bungolin, testified under an immunity deal, just like some of Diddy's former assistants.

We'll get into some more details of their testimony with my guests this week.

Stephanie Maurice is an executive editorial producer at ABC, also many times my linemate while we get into court.

She's been covering the allegations against Diddy since Cassie's lawsuit in 2023.

Stephanie started digging in on the 60 or so civil lawsuits against Diddy, learning all she could about the people behind them and the allegations they made.

It's Steph's job at the network to coordinate all interview requests in the Diddy story.

All the great interviews you heard in the first few episodes of this podcast, like Tiffany Redd, Cassie's creative collaborator and close friend, and Dee Woods, a winner of Making the Band who became part of Diddy's band, Danny Kane.

All those bookings are thanks to the booking team and Steph.

So on behalf of our listeners, thanks.

Since the trial has started, Steph's been in court every day, keeping a close eye on Diddy, his family, and the jury.

And of course, watching the witness testimony unfold.

So Steph, thanks for joining us at Bad Rap.

Of course, I'm happy to be here.

So first and foremost, You've heard about the people in the courtroom for a long time now.

Diddy, Cassie, but now we're seeing them up close what's it like seeing these people and the stories come to life i mean you know brian it's been eight months in the making for us to finally get into that courtroom and see how this case from the government was going to play out It's fascinating being in the courtroom.

It's fascinating to see Diddy take a front seat to his own defense, like literally has a seat at the table.

You've seen it where he's often passing notes, whispering stuff to his defense attorneys.

He's having very expressive reactions to things he disagrees with or at times when his ex-personal assistant said things that were favorable of him, things about his business acumen, things like that.

He's shaking like, yep, yep, that's me.

So it's been very interesting to see how active Diddy has been in this trial.

I don't think that was something that I was expecting to see so obviously, I would say.

And just a highlight for the listeners, like you're sitting in the courtroom and you see Cassie Ventura walk just feet by you as she takes the witness stand kid cuddy all of these people and so you get to see them like up close and personal absolutely yeah well as a booker you did a deep dive on all the civil lawsuits that have been filed against Diddy some that we've talked about on this podcast before Cassie, of course, also little Rod Jones, the producer who worked on Diddy's love album, and Don Richard, a singer who worked with Diddy in the group Danny Kane.

Diddy's denied all allegations in these lawsuits, but I wonder what's been most striking or surprising to you about who the government has called to take the witness stand and also who they haven't.

So I think when we were hearing about this case for months, the name that was mostly talked about was Little Rod and this explosive lawsuit that he had against Diddy.

And there were other celebrities named in it, and there were all of these allegations against Sean Combs.

And so I think a lot of people were expecting to see that case on trial.

And that's not what we're there for.

And I think people are beginning to understand the difference between the civil suits that we were seeing and what's going on with what the federal government is charging Sean Combs with.

So seeing this super pared-down list of victims, and even down to that, when we see someone who has a civil suit against Diddy like Don Richard from Danity Kane, when we see her take the stand, we're not hearing about the personal allegations she made against him in her civil suit.

We're hearing about her corroborating testimony of acts of violence that she saw Sean Combs commit against Cassie, allegedly.

We're hearing about alleged threats that he made towards her to keep quiet about the things that she says she was seeing Combs do to Cassie.

And so it's interesting to see where the testimony goes once they get on the stand.

It was also interesting to see when Cassie's mother, Regina, got on the stand.

Yes, she spoke to some of the bruises and things she had seen on her daughter's body, corroborating some of that evidence.

But we're hearing explosive testimony and stories that we hadn't heard of.

For instance, that Cassie's parents took out a $20,000 home equity loan on their house and wired it over to Combs in order to protect their daughter, they say, because he was upset that she had been seeing Kid Cuddy Scott Muscudi.

So seeing why these witnesses are taking the stand has been just as fascinating as who they're actually choosing to take the stand.

It was definitely interesting to hear the testimony about Sean Combs allegedly requiring $20,000 from the family members.

But of course, the allegations also came out that that money was returned back to Cassie's mother.

And we even saw that from Derek Ferguson, the CFO of Bad Boy Entertainment.

The records there that the $20,000 came out and then came back in.

Absolutely.

Now, in terms of this week in court, What moments from the testimony stood out to you?

Well, I would say on Wednesday, we finally heard from Brianna bongolin who's known by the name uh bona and bonna was a close friend of cassie still is she she testified and bonna got on the stand and told about a 2016 incident that she is actually suing Combs for in a civil lawsuit for $10 million.

And she got on the stand and talked about how Combs came to Cassie's then apartment one morning and she was on a balcony and he physically picked her up and dangled her on a 17th floor balcony and then proceeded to throw her onto some balcony furniture.

We saw for the first time photos of the bruises and her in a neck brace and her with, you know, injury tape on her body.

She told us about the injuries she sustained, why she was seeking justice.

So we heard that, but then we also heard things from her we hadn't heard before about an incident in Malibu where she says Diddy came up to her and essentially said, you know, I'm the devil.

I could kill you.

And the things that she was terrified about, a story about Combs throwing a knife at Cassie and Cassie throwing one back at him.

And it's interesting because as we're hearing this testimony, we can also see Combs' reaction to it, as you know.

And so when she was testifying about this knife incident, which was the first time I had heard about it, I looked over and Combs made this gesture like

and shook his head no, disagreeing, and then immediately started writing notes and giving those notes over to his defense attorney.

Right.

So we know Diddy got in trouble Thursday for how expressive he's been during this trial.

You're really supposed to try to keep your face pretty neutral, but as we're describing here, Diddy's actually been quite animated.

But back to Bona's testimony.

On cross-examination, the defense really tried to suggest there were inconsistencies in the story she told about this balcony incident.

They focused on the drug use, but they also honed in on the fact that Sean Combs was performing in New York and New Jersey for the Bad Boy Reunion and was staying at Trump Hotel on the exact days that Bonnis said Sean Combs had assaulted her on the balcony in California.

Bonna provided a photo of an injury that is time stamped through metadata at 9.45 a.m.

on September 26, 2016.

But the defense provided information to suggest that Sean Combs was performing with Lil Kim on the night of September 25th and was in Trump Tower the morning of the 26th, the exact time that Bonna said she was assaulted by Combs.

As we mentioned, Bona has her own civil lawsuit against Combs, alleging sexual battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and false imprisonment, amongst other things.

Those allegations we know Sean Combs vehemently denies.

And we also heard from Eddie Garcia.

And Eddie Garcia was a security guard at the Intercontinental when that hotel incident that we've now all seen, where Diddy is seen attacking Cassie.

And he was the missing link.

We kept hearing about this hotel incident.

We kept seeing the video, but none of us really knew where they got this video from.

And Eddie Garcia finally filled in those blanks for us, sharing with us that it was actually his supervisor who said, I'll give it to him for $50,000 when Diddy had his chief of staff, Christina Karam, calling Garcia, coming to the Intercontinental, finding out his personal cell phone, calling him looking for this video.

And we hear this incredible testimony about him going to the west side of LA, meeting with Sean Combs himself, handing over what they claimed was the only copy of this video, and getting $100,000 in cash, how he doled it out amongst three people that were involved.

He tells us that Combs kept referring to him as, you know, my angel, my angel Eddie.

And we see it in Sean Combs' phone in evidence as an exhibit that he saved it as My Angel Eddie.

And the best part about this case that I think is so phenomenal to have you here talking with us is the jury is listening to the witness, seeing their body language, but they're also watching Sean Combs and seeing how he reacts to things and whether or not they believe his reaction or the witness.

Absolutely.

So just to kind of paint the picture for everyone who's listening.

When you come in, the media has to sit in like the back three rows of the court, to the right, if you're facing the court.

But on the other side of the aisle, closer up to just behind Sean Combs, there's an entire row dedicated to his family.

So when you look over just a little to the left, what have you noticed as to who's shown up for Sean Combs' family and their reaction to some of this testimony?

So the first week, I think the first two rows that were dedicated to Sean Combs support team were filled.

Every mother of his child was there.

Sarah Chapman was there.

Dana Tran was there.

We saw Misa Hilton there.

We saw his three sons.

We saw his two twin daughters and we saw his daughter Chance.

The only child of his that wasn't here is his toddler child, love, that he has with Dana Tran.

So the first week, we saw the entire family.

And then as the week went on, you know, things started to trickle off.

We know that his daughters had some things going on with high school and prom.

But now it's basically Janice Combs has a standing seat in that courtroom.

And one day I saw Combs turn to his mother at the end of court and he miled to her, see you tomorrow.

And she said, every day.

And he miled back to her every day.

Oftentimes he's turning around at the beginning of court, checking to see if they're there yet.

And there are moments where he turns around and he doesn't have their intention.

They might be looking down.

One time he was looking at his mom and he waited for her to look up, to make eye contact.

And he often does the heart.

heart with his hands and he'll blow her kisses.

And he's one time he said, love you, mama.

I think it's really an opportunity for him to connect with his children in these moments.

He's often having, you know, brief little conversations with his sons.

They're smiling, laughing in these sidebars and breaks, and at the end of court.

So this is really his connection to his family every day in court.

Let's take a short break.

When we come back, one of the wildest moments in court so far, and who Stephanie would like to see take the stand.

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So a lot of the drama happens inside the well of the court, where the witnesses are testifying, the attorneys are arguing.

But we've seen a lot of drama outside the well of the court, where someone actually got thrown out of the courtroom and even outside the court.

Can you talk to us about that?

So this past week, it was probably one of the wildest days we've seen in court.

You know, you'll hear random outbursts from people, people saying things aloud or responding to the testimony.

They are immediately removed by the court officers because nobody wants the jury to be influenced or there to be any disruptions in court.

But what happened this week was there is a woman who is known to us on the media line.

She comes in with the public and she typically is in the overflow room.

We watched her be led into the main courtroom that day and we were all seated there.

They were having some discussions about whether something was going to be admitted.

And I saw her get up and exit out of her row, and I saw her pause.

I was watching her.

I saw her pause, and then she started yelling about how this wasn't funny, how we were laughing at Diddy, how people were trying to tarnish the legacy of a black man.

There were a lot of expletives thrown in there, and the court security officers immediately went over.

The judge said, get her out of here now.

They went over.

She even dared one of them to pull their weapon.

And they were very gentle with this woman.

They escorted her out.

And I saw her later that afternoon.

And she was ready to be in the overflow room the next day.

People are really into this trial.

They want to be a part of it.

They want to be in the room.

But obviously, you can't have those kinds of outbursts.

And you've seen it outside of the courthouse.

We've had to call NYPD.

We've had to call the U.S.

Marshals over.

There is a cast of characters that are there between the bloggers, the YouTube personalities, just everyday New York people that are like, what's happening?

Diddy's in there?

And then they stop and everybody wants to wait for the kids to come out and the mom to come out and catch them going into the sprinter.

It is a spectacle on a daily basis.

Cast of characters is definitely the way I would describe it.

But there's, I think most people would agree, the most important people in the room are the jury.

And so what are you seeing of them as they react to testimony, outbursts, the arguments, everything?

So we, I've been quite surprised to see how expressive some of the jurors in particular are.

There's been particular testimony that I have seen jurors smirk at, laugh at, roll their eyes at.

There are jurors that are not hiding their feelings on their faces.

And we're also seeing during sidebars, you know, jurors whispering behind notebooks, jurors talking, jurors laughing.

And while we obviously don't know what they're talking about, it's just interesting to see them speaking during the court proceedings when the judge is off with the defense and the prosecution in a sidebar.

But we are absolutely seeing some of these jurors express one way or another how they're feeling about certain testimony.

For instance, when Mia in particular was testifying, there seemed to be a lot of jurors.

that were rolling their eyes and laughing at things that some would deem very serious.

And while while we can't read in it too much, you know, it's those expressive moments where, you know, as journalists, we're wondering what are they thinking, which way are they leaning?

Obviously, we don't know, but we'll know when there's a verdict which way the jury's leaning.

But for right now, we can just see them.

So as we sit here now,

what questions do you have about this case?

Well, I'm interested to see what else Jane is going to say.

I mean, Jane has just finally taken the stand.

She's victim to, we knew very very little bit about her going into it, but she's expected to be on the stand through next week.

They said she has a flight Thursday evening, and they are expecting to have her on the stand until at least through late next week.

And we're also wondering, where are some of these people who keep coming up again and again?

Damien D.

Rock Butler, one of his heads of security.

He has come up again and again.

Christina Karam, the chief of staff.

These are people that many witnesses have told us were there that could corroborate events.

And we have yet to see them on the stand for the government.

And so we're wondering where those folks are and if the government is going to call them or are they on the defenses list?

So I'm going to give you my little speculation and you see what you think.

At one point in time, there was this big argument over a text message chain between D-Rock, Christina Karam, and Sean Combs, and they tried to get that into evidence.

Now, if one of those three people testified, easy to get in.

The fact that they're fighting so hard for it to come in through an exception to hear a say and all these evidentiary exceptions makes me think they might not have Christina Coram.

They might not have D-Rock.

Yeah.

And so now it's making me think, where's this case going to go?

Stephanie, thank you so much for coming and blessing the podcast with your presence and your knowledge.

And I guess I'll see you online Monday.

Monday.

Yeah.

See you on Monday.

See you in court.

We should say, about Christina Coram and the allegations against her, she has said in a statement to ABC News that she never condoned or aided in the sexual assault of anyone.

Looking ahead, we're expecting Jane to testify for most, if not all, of next week.

That'd be longer than Cassie's time on the stand, which was four days.

Why so long?

Well, one of Combs's attorneys told the court that there's many, many text messages, even more than Cassie.

We'll be in the courtroom for every moment of it.

Bad Rap, The Case Against Diddy, is a production of ABC audio.

I'm Brian Buckmeyer.

If you're looking for even more coverage of the Diddy trial, you can check out our daily show, Burden of Proof, the case against Diddy.

The show streams weekdays at 5.30 p.m.

Eastern on ABC News Live.

You can also find it it on Disney Plus, Hulu, or on most of your favorite streaming apps.

The podcast production team includes Vika Aronson, Nancy Rosenbaum, Audrey Maztek, Amira Williams, Tracy Samuelson, and Sasha Aslanian.

Special thanks to Stephanie Maurice, Caitlin Morris, Liz Alessi, Kenny Dendas, and the team at ABC News Live.

Michelle Margulis is our operations manager.

Josh Cohan is ABC Audio's Director of Podcast Programming.

Laura Mayer is our executive producer.

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