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All Roads Lead to Combs: The Government’s Closing Statement (Part 2) (6/26/25)
After lunch, Slavik resumed by delving deeper into the case of the witness known as “Jane,” outlining the four stages of her relationship with Combs—from early “love‑bombing” to repeated “hotel nights” (or “freak‑offs”) orchestrated under Combs’s control via lies, threats, and the looming possibility of losing housing or having intimate recordings released.
She emphasized that even a single coerced encounter—if facilitated by his enterprise—met the legal definition of sex trafficking. “You do not need to find that all of the freak‑offs… were force or coercion,” she told jurors; “if there was one time, one single freak‑off, when the defendant knew or recklessly disregarded that [Jane] was participating because of his lies, his threats or his violence—then that’s it. He’s guilty”
Shifting focus, Slavik then tackled the transportation-for-prostitution counts, showing how Combs and his aides paid for male escorts to travel—through flights, hotels, and bank records—to facilitate these encounters.
She dismissed the notion of consensual participation, arguing that it “doesn’t matter” whether the escorts consented—the crime lies in transporting them for paid sexual activity. She underscored that the enterprise facilitated this process, reinforcing the RICO charge’s breadth. Shortly before the afternoon break, Slavik turned back to Cassie Ventura’s situation, pointing to the strategic use of text messages and fear-based threats—recalling that Combs blackmailed her with videos and deployed violence and control tactics—to show the jury how a pattern of coercion extended across relationships
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source:
@innercitypress
Published on 1 week, 2 days ago