NOTE: The following article contains disturbing details and video footage. Please read at your own discretion.
Cassie Ventura is back on the witness stand Friday to testify for a fourth day in Sean “Diddy” Combs‘ sex trafficking trial.
Defence lawyers began cross-examining the star witness on Thursday, pressing her to read aloud text messages that appeared to show her expressing desire for the drug-fuelled group sex — called freak-offs — she previously testified left her traumatized.
Story continues below advertisement
For the first time during the trial, there was some tension among counsel about timing. In a letter to the judge, prosecutors insisted that the defence wrap up their questioning in time to allow for prosecution follow-ups on Friday, citing concern for Ventura’s “health and safety” and the potential for a mistrial if she goes into labour with her third child.
“The inefficiency of cross-examination yesterday” the government wrote, “raises the inference that the defendant …