May 15 (UPI) — Former longtime girlfriend Cassie Ventura faced cross-examination from Sean “Diddy” Combs’ attorneys during court proceedings on Thursday.
Defense attorneys asked Ventura if she heard “after the fact” about an alleged incident in which Combs, 55, is accused of throwing one of Ventura’s friends into patio furniture while on a balcony.
Ventura said she witnessed it and did not hear about it later.
Combs’ attorneys also asked how taking too much ketamine affected her.
She said it caused her to “disassociate” and made her feel like “you’re not there.”
‘Get-high’ partners
Ventura confirmed she and Combs referred to each other as “get-high partners” and that she was addicted to opiates that a friend supplied to her while she was Combs’ girlfriend.
She said Combs was unhappy about her opiate addiction and called it hypocritical of him.
Ventura also confirmed she tried cocaine and many other drugs with a friend.
Combs told her to stop doing drugs with her friends, but her drug use only was a problem when she wasn’t doing them with Combs.
She said he only wanted her to do drugs with him and would get “explosive” if she did drugs when he did not know about it.
Combs’ attorneys also asked if Combs in 2016 told Los Angeles drug dealers to stop selling drugs to Ventura while he was trying to get her to stop using drugs.
She said he made the request at some time but did not know during which year.
Injured friend’s payout
An attorney also asked if Ventura witnessed Combs allegedly throwing a wooden clothes hanger at one of her friends.
She said she was in the bathroom at the time, heard the commotion and saw her friend was injured when she emerged from the bathroom.
The incident occurred while she was dating the man with whom she now is married, but Combs was unaware of the relationship at the time, Ventura testified.
The friend who was injured later demanded payment for the incident, which Ventura said she paid because she felt responsible.
Documented expressions of love
Combs’ attorneys also showed text messages and emails in which Combs and Ventura expressed their love for one another and she wanted him to give her more attention.
The defense attorneys have accused Ventura of trying to get revenge on Combs and said she wants money.
They say the sex acts were consensual acts among adults.
Ventura was Combs’ girlfriend for about 11 years and during the first two days of his trial testified about ongoing physical abuse and medical problems she experienced due to what she called forced participation in sex “freak offs” that she says Combs organized.
She said Combs, 55, recorded the sex acts on video, used the tapes to blackmail her and others, and provided drugs during orgies and atother times.
Combs is charged with one count of racketeering conspiracy; two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution; and two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion.
He has pleaded not guilty to the five felony charges that could put him in prison for life if he is found guilty on all of them.
The trial is being held in the U.S. District Court for Southern New York in the Manhattan federal courthouse in New York City.