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What to know about the sex trafficking trial
- Bryana Bongolan, who alleges that Diddy dangled her over an apartment balcony, is on the witness stand. Bongolan testified that Combs held her over a 17th-story balcony in 2016 before throwing her onto the balcony’s furniture.
- Combs faces five criminal counts: one count of racketeering conspiracy; two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. Combs has vociferously denied the allegations against him.
- This live briefing may include graphic descriptions of sexual violence. For resources on sexual assault, call the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline.
- Sign up for the “Diddy on Trial” newsletter for key developments and analysis; listen to the podcast “Dateline: True Crime Weekly” for daily coverage.
Court adjourned until late tomorrow morning
Court is adjourned for the day after attorneys stayed behind to hash out finer details without the jury present.
Testimony will resume tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. when Bongolan returns to the witness stand for more cross-examination.
Defense lawyers losing after hour time with Combs
For the past several days, Combs hasn't been able to speak to his own lawyers once he returns to jail after court, his attorneys said.
The defendant has 300 minutes on his books but for some reason can't get in touch with lawyers at night, defense attorney Xavier Donaldson told the court.
"This is unacceptable," Donaldson said.
Judge Subramanian said he'll reach out to the jail and see what could he done.
There is an email system for prisoners, Corrlinks, but that normally comes with a 24- to 48-hour delay so that's not helpful, defense attorney Geragos said.
Testimony done for the day
Judge Subramanian sent jurors home and asked them to return to court before 11 a.m. on Thursday.
The defense lawyer, Westmoreland, said she has 30 to 45 minutes of questions left for this witness, Bongolan.
Defense challenging balcony dangling incident
The defense tried to discredit Bongolan's memory of the alleged dangling incident, asking if she hasn't kept all details of it straight.
Combs' attorney Westmoreland insinuated in questions that Bongolan couldn't recall from which direction the defendant came at her or what she might have been smoking at the time of the alleged attack.
She answered, "I don't remember," multiple times.
Witness testifies she reconnected with Ventura around time of her lawsuit
Bongolan testified under cross-examination that she reconnected with Ventura and worked for her in late 2023, around the time Ventura filed her lawsuit against Combs.
Defense attorneys probed Bongolan about her conversations with Ventura at the time, asking if they discussed filing legal action as they worked. Bongolan said she did speak to Ventura before and after Ventura filed her lawsuit, but the two didn't discuss it while working.
The pair did discuss the balcony incident in relation to the location and date it happened, Bongolan told the court.
She also testified that Ventura asked if she could use Bongolan's name in her lawsuit when discussing the incident, but Bongolan said no.
Witness admits to regular drug use
Bongolan testified both she and Ventura had once been very regular drug users when they were in Combs' social world.
Under cross-examination, Bongolan confirmed she did ketamine, marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine and Vicodin in this time of her life. Bongolan said one of her favorite drugs was a blunt with sprinkles of cocaine.
"We had a problem," she said.
Defense opens up cross-examination by probing witness's immunity
Combs' attorney Nicole Westmoreland began cross-examination of Bongolan by asking her again about the immunity order she was provided for her testimony.
Westmoreland clarified that the protection against prosecution only works if Bongolan is truthful. She then followed up by asking Bongolan who she understands has the power to decide whether or not she is lying.
The prosecutors, Bongolan answered.
Witness says she'd rather not be dangled over balcony than get a $10M payout for it
The witness said she sued Comb for $10 million, in order to "seek justice for what happened to me on the balcony."
When Bongolan was asked by the prosecution if she could give away $10 million for the balcony incident to have never happened, she unequivocally said yes.
Balcony incident left witness with nightmares and paranoia, she says
After Combs allegedly dangled Bongolan over the balcony, she said she was left with a lasting psychological impact.
Bongolan testified that she had nightmares and used to scream in her sleep. She added that she dealt with feelings of paranoia, sometimes peeking her head out at her own home just to make sure the area was clear.
Bongolan tried to talk to Combs about incident to no avail, she says
A day or two after the balcony incident, Bongolan said, she received a FaceTime call from either Combs or someone on his team.
She told the court that she repeatedly stated that she didn't want to have problems with Combs, but Combs didn't say much. Bongolan testified that Combs put his hand over his head while looking into the camera.
