“Diddy” Defense Team Minimizes Guns Found on His Property, Says Expert Witnesses Are “Dangerous”

Three more witnesses offered a variety of testimony on Wednesday at Sean “Diddy” Combs’ racketeering and sex trafficking trial, including an agent who raided his Miami home, a psychologist who has testified at several recent high-profile trials and one of the rap mogul’s former assistants.

Combs was arrested in September and, in a five-count indictment, is accused by federal prosecutors of two decades of abuse of women, trafficking of sex workers and turning his music and fashion empire into a criminal enterprise. At his trial, now in its third week, federal prosecutors are alleging that his crimes involved coercive control, manipulation, blackmail, drug use, marathon sex sessions and trafficking. Combs pleaded not guilty to multiple counts detailed in a federal indictment involving sex trafficking and racketeering; he continues to deny all allegations against him.

On Wednesday morning, Homeland Security Investigations Agent Gerard Gannon re-took the witness stand after his testimony closed out the day on Tuesday, where he had begun describing the March 2024 raid on Combs’ Miami mansion. Gannon told the court how the 80-90 agents found assault rifles with serial numbers removed, loaded magazines and sex toys among the confiscated items during the raid. 

Gannon detailed the raid further on Wednesday, explaining how the agents found a cellphone stuffed inside a Balenciaga boot and a Gucci bag with a white residue inside; it later tested positive for cocaine and the dissociative drug ketamine. That bag also contained smaller bags of different colored pills that tested positive for MDMA and Xanax. Some of the MDMA pills were stamped with the Tesla logo, the jury learned. Inside a wooden box marked “Puffy,” Gannon said that a white, rock-like substance was discovered. 

Working to minimize the seriousness of what was discovered in the raid in cross-examination, defense attorney Teny Geragos noted that the guns found at the property were taped up, so therefore not ready to be used and that there are many other ways to identify someone who used a gun other than the serial number, which had been removed. Gannon agreed to all of this and stepped down from the witness stand. 

The prosecution’s next witness was Dawn Hughes, a clinical and forensic psychologist who has testified at recent major trials involving celebrities or sensational news stories: She spoke about the concept of gaslighting at NXIVM sex cult leader Keith Raniere’s 2019 trial and R. Kelly’s racketeering and multiple charges related to sexual abuse and exploitation, where she told the jury about the notion of sexual entrapment. In 2022, millions watched her testimony at the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation trial.

Hughes testified as to why certain victims might not leave their abuser, as the prosecution has said that for over a decade, Combs abused, manipulated and controlled Cassie Ventura, who, as the star witness, testified for 20 hours last week about their violent relationship. Hughes told the jury that at times a victim can feel trapped, may still feel a bond to their abuser and believe that leaving the relationship is far too difficult to do. Psychological, sexual, emotional and financial abuse can all be factors at play when a person chooses to stay with an abuser, she said. 

Defense attorneys then attempted to tear down Hughes’ credibility, pointing out that she never evaluated the defendant or Ventura. Combs’ attorney, Jonathan Bach, then asked Hughes if she had ever represented anyone accused of a sex crime. A long pause was felt across the courtroom after she said she had not: “That’s correct, I don’t evaluate offenders,” Hughes said. It was also noted that the prosecution had paid Hughes $600 per hour for her time working with them on the case. 

At a point, Bach called Hughes and other expert witnesses “dangerous,” as they entered the situation with “an aura of authority.”

Another assistant to Combs was the final witness of the day on Wednesday.  George Kaplan, who worked for the mogul as his personal assistant from 2015-2016, detailed the tasks of his job, which included cleaning up hotel rooms after the “freak-offs” Combs would throw there. Liquor bottles and baby oil often littered these rooms in New York, Miami and L.A. after Combs departed. Kaplan told the court that at one point, he found white powder near a sink in one of the rooms. 

Rapper Kid Cudi was expected to testify on Wednesday about his relationship with Ventura and an incident over a decade ago involving his car exploding. The court adjourned for the day without the rapper appearing; he is expected to be in court on Thursday to take the stand.