NEW YORK (AP) â âcommitted crime after crime" for two decades but thought his âfame, wealth and powerâ put him above the law, a prosecutor told jurors Thursday as the hip-hop mogulâs sex trafficking trial shifted to closing arguments.
âThat stops now,â Assistant U.S. Attorney Christy Slavik said. âItâs time to hold him accountable. Itâs time for justice. Itâs time to find the defendant guilty.â
Combs, 55, sat with his head down as Slavik that she said proved sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and other charges. Wearing a sweater and khakis, he sometimes scribbled notes to his lawyers and shook his head as Slavik played one of his audio messages for the jury.
âOver the last several weeks, youâve learned a lot about Sean Combs,â Slavik said, launching into a nearly five-hour presentation. âHeâs the leader of a criminal enterprise. He doesnât take no for an answer. And now you know about many crimes he committed with members of his enterprise.â
Among the proof, Slavik argued, was evidence that Combs kidnapped an employee, was involved in setting rapper Kid Cudiâs convertible ablaze, bribed a hotel guard and carried out âbrutal crimes at the heart of this case â sex trafficking.â
Combs âagain and again forced, threatened and manipulatedâ his ex-girlfriends Cassie and Jane into âhaving sex with escorts for his own entertainment,â Slavik said, her lectern directly in front of jurors.
The prosecutor said Combs forced or coerced Cassie, whose real name is Casandra Ventura, and Jane, who testified under a pseudonym, to engage in dayslong sex marathons known as âfreak-offsâ or âhotel nightsâ with drugs, violence, or by threatening financial harm or the release of video recordings of some of the hundreds of encounters.
âUp until today, the defendant was able to get away with these crimes,â Slavik said.
Combs used silence and shame, prosecutor says
Bookending the trialâs start, jurors again saw now-infamous security footage of Combs hitting, kicking and dragging Cassie at the Intercontinental Hotel in Los Angeles in 2016 after she tried to leave a freak-off with a male sex worker.
âHe knew exactly what he was doing. That is sex trafficking,â Slavik told the jury, adding that Combs was âknowingly using force and coercion to get Cassie back to that room where the escort was waiting.â
Slavik said Combs âcounted on silence and shameâ to enable and prolong his abuse. He used a âsmall armyâ of employees, including personal assistants and bodyguards, to harm women and cover it up, she said.
âBut over the course of this trial, his crimes have been exposed,â the prosecutor added.
The theory of racketeering law is that when someone commits a crime as part of a group "theyâre more powerful and dangerous,â Slavik said. âThe defendant was a very powerful man, but he became more powerful and dangerous because of the support of his inner circle and his businesses â the enterprise.â
Combs and his inner circle âcommitted hundreds of racketeering acts,â she said.
Combsâ family in court with defenseâs argument up next
Members of Combsâ family, including several of his children, watched from wooden benches in the packed courtroom. During a break, he turned and gave them a thumbs-up.
Since his arrest at a Manhattan hotel last September, Combs and his lawyers have insisted he is innocent, though they conceded at trial that domestic violence occurred.
Combs âwas abusive â physical, emotional, psychological, sexual abuse,â Slavik said. âThe defendant doesnât deny the abuse. They just want you to call it âdomestic violenceâ and to believe that it has nothing to do with the crimes charged here."
The defense will give its closing argument on Friday, followed by a prosecution rebuttal argument. Then, Judge Arun Subramanian will instruct jurors on the law before deliberations begin.
Combsâ lawyers built their case for acquittal through lengthy cross-examinations of government witnesses. Some testified only in response to subpoenas and insisted they didn't want to be there.
Combsâ âfoot soldiersâ agreed to commit crimes, Slavik says
Combsâ lawyers contend there was no racketeering conspiracy because no employees agreed to join any conspiracy.
Slavik said that's wrong, and that Combsâ employees repeatedly agreed to commit crimes for him, including delivering him drugs; accompanying him to kidnap his personal assistant; and locking Cassie in a hotel room after he stomped on her face.
The charge falls under RICO â the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act â which is best known for being used in organized crime and drug cartel cases.
At one point, Slavik referred to Combsâ employees as his âfoot soldiers.â
As Slavik returned repeatedly to the topic of Combsâ sex marathons, jurors saw a slide that said âThe Freak Offsâ next to a photo of him laying on a bed bathed in red light.
Slavik reminded jurors of text messages and testimony that showed that the women didn't want to participate, including one in which Jane told Combs that she felt he gave her no choice.
âItâs dark, sleazy and makes me feel disgusted with myself. I feel itâs the only reason you have me around and why you pay for the house,â Jane wrote. âI donât want to feel obligated to perform these nights with you in fear of losing the roof over my head.â
Michael R. Sisak And Larry Neumeister, The Associated Press
