Judge denies Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ second request for mistrial, likens cross-examination to ‘Perry Mason moment’

By Elizabeth Wagmeister and Lauren del Valle, CNN

(CNN) — The judge overseeing Sean “Diddy” Combs’ criminal trial has denied the defense’s second request for a mistrial over their claims of “prosecutorial misconduct.”

Over the weekend, defense attorneys for Combs filed a letter renewing their request for a mistrial, accusing the prosecution of presenting false testimony from witness Bryana Bongolan, a close friend of Cassie Ventura who testified last week that Combs once dangled her over the 17th floor balcony at Ventura’s home in 2016.

Judge Arun Subramanian ruled on Tuesday that the defense was not prejudiced by Bongolan’s testimony because they were able to conduct a vigorous cross examination of Bongolan, specifically pertaining to the timing of the alleged balcony incident.

Bongolan underwent a tense cross-examination from Combs’ defense in which they presented the jury with hotel records that showed Combs was in New York at the Trump Hotel on the date that Bongolan testified she was dangled over the balcony in Los Angeles – arguing that it was not possible for Combs to have engaged in the alleged incident.

“You agree that one person can’t be in two places at the same time?” Combs’ attorney, Nicole Westmoreland, asked Bongolan on the stand.

On Tuesday, in denying the motion for a mistrial, Judge Subramanian likened Westmoreland’s cross-examination of Bongolan to a “Perry Mason’ moment.”

Bongolan said during her testimony that while the details and date of the alleged incident are murky, she has “no doubt” that the incident occurred, even if she remembered the date incorrectly.

She said that she had suffered from “night terrors” ever since the incident, and the jury was shown photos of a large bruise on Bongolan’s leg, which she said was taken the same day that Combs allegedly dangled her over the balcony.

On Tuesday, prosecutor Madison Smyser said in court that Bongolan could have misremembered when she took the photos of her purported injuries, and that Bongolan testified that she did not remember all the details of the alleged incident clearly.

In their letter, Combs’ defense wrote “the government knew or should have known this testimony was perjured, and that Ms. Bongolan could not possibly have been injured by Mr. Combs on a Los Angeles balcony in the early morning hours of September 26, or even the day before that.”

“The government has long known that Mr. Combs was on the East Coast in late September, and specifically at around the time of this alleged incident,” the filing continued. “And it has had other evidence in its possession for some time showing Mr. Combs’s travel schedule and proving that he was on the East Coast when it told the jury he dangled Ms. Bongolan over a balcony in front of Ms. Ventura.”

Combs’ defense also said that Ventura’s testimony that she saw Combs dangle Bongolan over the balcony was also inaccurate, claiming that she did not actually witness the incident, but rather heard about it.

“Thus, the government left the jury with the false impression that Ms. Ventura saw Mr. Combs dangle her friend over the balcony and that this made her fearful of him, when in fact—if there was any incident—Ventura merely heard about it afterwards, considerably lessening any probative value as to her state of mind,” the defense wrote.

Prosecutors introduced a text message that Ventura had sent in real time to Combs’ former chief-of-staff, Kristina Khorram, stating that she had found out about the balcony incident.

The text message from Ventura read: “I just found out some crazy sh*t”
Ventura then said, “He came into my house while my friends were here and we were all sleeping and they woke me up because he was ringing the bell crazy at 3 am. and when he came in I went to my room and he went at Bona choked her and then dangled her feet off the balcony. This is crazy.”

Prosecutors aimed to introduce this text message in an effort to prove the alleged incident did occur.

Combs’ defense now claims the text message proves that Ventura merely heard about the incident, but did not actually see it happen.

In calling Bongolan to testify, prosecutors said in court Thursday that it showed the jury how Combs’ violence extended beyond Ventura to other people close to her.

“The incident, as alleged, is disturbing and powerful evidence, and the government has used it to depict Mr. Combs in an extremely negative light, as an angry and dangerous man who terrified Ms. Ventura and her friends,” the defense wrote in its request for a mistrial. “The prosecutors elicited evidence about this allegation from both Ms. Ventura and Ms. Bongolan that is demonstrably false in key respects.”

This is the second request for a mistrial from Combs’ team. The first attempt after the prosecution questioned a Los Angeles Fire Department arson investigator about the destruction of fingerprint evidence from Kid Cudi’s home.

Kid Cudi and other witnesses have testified that they believe Combs blew up his car.

The arson investigator said he collected a card with fingerprints previously taken at Kid Cudi’s home to compare to other evidence recovered from a Molotov cocktail bottle that was found inside of the rapper’s Porsche. He testified the card was destroyed by an LAPD officer.

The defense objected to the line of questioning, saying the prosecution’s implications were “outrageous.”

“They were suggesting to this jury that someone in this courtroom had something to do with the improper and suspicious destruction of these fingerprints,” defense attorney Marc Agnifilo said.

The judge denied that request for mistrial, saying that he does not believe that the jury was prejudiced. However, the judge instructed the jury to not consider the testimony about the fingerprint card.

In their filing, Combs’ defense referenced their first attempt at a mistrial, adding that another prosecution witness was also questioned about the music mogul’s influence over LAPD officers. “Mia,” who testified under a pseudonym and has alleged that Combs was physically violent and sexually assaulted her, recalled an incident in which an LAPD officer did not ticket her for speeding after she told the officer who she worked for and put them on the phone with Combs.

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