Jurors stared intently at a gun taken from Diddy’s $40 million Miami mansion in a dramatic moment on day eight of his sex trafficking trial.
The panel of 12 people and six alternates locked their eyes on the .45 caliber pistol as it was held up by Homeland Security agent Gerard Gannon.
At the court in New York, the weapon was paraded in front of the jury as one of the physical exhibits presented from the property on Star Island. This exclusive celebrity enclave is the residence of Jennifer Lopez and Gloria Estefan.
The jury also saw photos taken on the day of the raid last March that amounted to a disturbing window into Diddy’s lifestyle.
Despite being a multimillionaire residing in one of the nation’s most luxurious areas, the individual harbored illegal substances, AR-15 assault rifles, stacks of platform shoes, and numerous bottles of baby oil in his wardrobe.
Prosecutors allege that Diddy utilized baby oil for ‘Freak Offs’ with his former girlfriend Cassie Ventura, engaging in sexual acts with male escorts that she was coerced into participating in.
Diddy, 55, whose real name is Sean Combs, denies sex trafficking and other charges and faces life in prison if found convicted.
Here DailyMail.com wraps up the key evidence from the 8th day of the trial.
THE SEARCH ON DIDDY’S MIAMI HOME
Jurors paid close attention as agent Gannon walked them through dozens of photos and physical exhibits taken from the Miami home.
Gannon told the court they used an armored vehicle to smash open the gate to gain entry as quickly as possible.
He said that this was the ‘quickest and safest option’ and was ‘standard practice’ to ‘not allow bad actors to set up (shooting) positions to harm law enforcement’.
Normally raids happen at 6am but they did this one at 3.40pm because Homeland Security – which oversees investigations into human trafficking – knew Diddy and his family were going to be flying overseas.
Gannon said that in total they found 13 pairs of high-heeled shoes: he held up a bag for the jury showing a red pair.
In one drawer in a closet, investigators found 25 bottles of baby oil and 31 bottles of Astroglide, a lubricant prosecutors claim Diddy used in Freak Offs.
A box of ‘food grade’ nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas, was next to the drawer.
Prosecutors asked Gannon if that was all the baby oil found in the house.
‘It was not,’ Gannon replied.
The court was told that various bags of drugs were found inside a small personal Gucci bag which tested positive for cocaine, ketamine and MDMA, a pure form of ecstasy.
There were also tablets that tested positive for MDMA which had a Tesla logo on them and a straw, and a $100 bill which tested positive for cocaine and ketamine.
A bag of 10 brown capsules in the Gucci bag tested positive for psilocybin – the active ingredient in mushrooms.
Among the other photos shown to the jury was one of Diddy’s cluttered bathrooms showing the surfaces filled with bottles and items.
On the mirror were bizarre messages scrawled in lipstick and makeup including one which read ‘Onward motion’.
Another message apparently written in the same handwriting below read: ‘What do you WANT?’
Others were written in red lipstick and read: ‘You a legend and quite stn Team Puffy’ and ‘Love you love Diddy’.
In another dramatic moment, Gannon cut open the top part of a plastic bag containing the top part of one of two AR-15 assault rifles that were found wrapped in a white towel in the closet.
He held it up with two hands for the jury to see.
He also held up bags containing ammunition for the weapons so that the jury could see them.
A box of an upmarket erectile dysfunction drug called Vital Honey was photographed as well: the product contains tadalafil, the main ingredient in Cialis, a more powerful alternative to Viagra.
Among the other images was a green small suitcase that appeared to have bags of marijuana inside: Gannon did not confirm this was a drug.
Jurors could see two dildos sitting on one of the shelves in the closet.
PROSECUTION SEXUAL ASSAULT AND TRAUMA EXPERT
Prosecutors called Dr Dawn Hughes, a clinical and forensic psychologist who specializes in trauma and traumatic stress.
She has previously testified at many high-profile trials including Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard.
Dr Hughes was called to explain to the jury why individuals stay in relationships even when there is domestic violence, how individuals cope in such relationships, and how their memory could be affected, among other issues.
Dr Hughes – who had not interviewed either Diddy or Ventura – said it was ‘very common’ for victims of abuse to stay in a relationship.
Victims feel ‘entrapped’ because they are seeking love and affection but when it comes with violence and abuse it becomes ‘very hard for the victim to see the way out’.
According to Dr Hughes, victims find themselves ‘walking on eggshells’ and fearing they are next going to get hit.
Dr Hughes said that sexual abuse was ‘so inherently damaging’ that it made it especially likely a victim would not leave her abuser.
She said: ‘They experience a tremendous amount of shame, humiliation, degradation. They don’t want to think about it in their own brain or come out of their mouth. If it’s something you can’t even talk about, these unspeakable acts, it prevents them from getting help.’
Victims harked back to the time when their abuser was kind to them, a period Dr Hughes called the ‘honeymoon phase’.
She said the same phrase could be used to describe the period after abuse when an abuser was apologetic and ‘love bombed’ their victim.
‘It’s like a slot machine….when you hit it that’s the good feeling you want and that’s why they go back. It creates a very powerful bond that’s very difficult to leave.’
During cross examination, Diddy’s lawyer Jonathan Bach tried to suggest that Dr Hughes was a ‘professional witness’ who had made a ‘cottage industry’ out of testifying in court.
Dr Hughes told the court she charged $600 an hour and was being paid $6,000 for the day for testifying in court.
Bach asked: ‘Most of your income comes from court-related work, right?’
Dr Hughes said: ‘That’s not correct, maybe about 60 percent comes from court.’
Bach asked if Dr Hughes was in ‘such demand you can raise your rate?’
She said her rate was ‘commensurate’ with other experts at her level.
DIDDY’S FORMER EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT
The final witness of the day was George Kaplan, Diddy’s former executive assistant who testified under an immunity order signed by the judge overseeing the case.
Kaplan said that he worked for Diddy for 15 months from September 2014. He was one of five assistants working for Diddy at the time and he put in working weeks of between 80 and 100 hours.
Sometimes his day finished at 7am if Diddy was working late in the studio.
Kaplan said that his duties involved being asked by Diddy to buy drugs for him: on one occasion at his Miami home Diddy gave Kaplan a bag of money and a number to call for a dealer who gave him a bag of MDMA pills.
Among Kaplan’s other roles was setting up a hotel room ahead of Diddy’s arrival.
Kaplan said he took a bag with him and unpacked the items inside: clothes, a speaker, candles, liquor, baby oil and Astroglide.
Combs would stay in the rooms – where prosecutors say he staged Freak offs – for between 12 hours and a few days.
Once he had finished, Kaplan would return to tidy up the rooms.
Describing what he saw, he said: ‘Lots of empty bottles, Gatorade bottles, liquor bottles, often baby oil, on the table on the floor, around the bed.
‘On a single occasion, I came across some sort of brown crystalized power on the counter of the bathroom sink.
‘I tidied them, I made it as close as it was when I came in.’
Asked why he did this, Kaplan said he was ‘protecting his (Diddy’s) public image’.
NEXT WITNESS
Prosecutors said that they next planned to call the rapper Kid Cudi aka Scott Mescudi, who briefly dated Diddy’s ex-girlfriend Cassandra Ventura in 2011.Â
Ventura has claimed in her civil lawsuit – filed against Diddy in 2023 – that Diddy threatened to blow up Mescudi’s car because he was so jealous.
