Assistant US Attorney Emily Johnson revealed the content of text messages Diddy sent Cassie after he assaulted her in 2016.
Johnson disclosed the text while arguing that Combs should be detained because he is a “serial abuser and a serial obstructor,” adding pretrial services also recommended detention.
During Combs’ detention hearing, federal prosecutors said at least a dozen witnesses personally observed the music mogul’s violence against women or the injuries they sustained at his hands. Prosecutors also noted Combs had reached out to victims and witnesses, some of whom were scared of him.
The attorney for Dawn Richard, a former member of the musical group Danity Kane, who is accusing Combs of sexual battery in a separate lawsuit, told CNN that it was shocking that a witness in Richard’s case received 128 phone contacts from Combs within the four days after the complaint was filed.
“That was jarring – 128 phone contacts. Then, after the witness made the statement, not a single phone contact after from Mr. Combs,” attorney Arick Fudali said.
Federal prosecutors started their arguments against Combs’ appeal by focusing on his efforts to exert control over his victims.
Combs’ influence “makes it so difficult” to get witnesses to trust the government can protect them, Johnson argued Wednesday, September 18.
The prosecutor also read aloud in court a text sent to Combs by an unidentified woman: “When you get f*cked up the wrong way, you show me your power… I’m not a rag doll. I’m someone’s child.”
Johnson said Combs contacted a witness in June and July shortly after she was served with a subpoena, despite not having spoken with her in several years, adding the risk of obstruction “is heightened because of the defendant’s power.”
Witnesses universally have “extreme fear” of Combs, Johnson said.
The indictment accuses Combs of years of abuse that “was, at times, verbal, emotional, physical, and sexual.”
Combs “engaged in a persistent and pervasive pattern of abuse toward women and other individuals,” the indictment states.
The indictment highlights a March 2016 incident, “which was captured on video and later publicly reported,” showing Combs kicking, dragging and throwing a vase at a woman.
When a hotel staffer intervened, Combs attempted to bribe them for their silence, the indictment adds.
The details match up with the video that showed Combs beating and kicking his then-girlfriend Casandra Ventura (Cassie) at a Los Angeles hotel. She is not named in the indictment.
Prosecutors on Wednesday, September 18, again pointed to the 2016 video, arguing Combs should be denied bail because he tried to cover up his conduct.
Johnson also read aloud text messages Combs sent to Cassie after the 2016 incident that said, “Call me. The cops are here… I got six kids… Ya gonna abandon me.”
The prosecutor argued Combs “knew he did something to elicit a law enforcement response, and he had to cover it up.”
Three days after the lawsuit was filed, a woman sent Combs a text, saying: “I feel like I’m reading my own sexual trauma,” Johnson said.
Combs responded by trying to convince her she willingly engaged in the sex acts, according to Johnson.
The woman replied that she felt “manipulated,” which Johnson said is evidence of Combs trying to tamper with witnesses.
