“The Trial Of Sean Combs” Episode Twenty | Hung Over The Balcony

0:10 Get ready to dive deep into one of the most gripping legal battles of our time. I'm your host, Jim Chapman, and today we're unraveling the high stakes drama surrounding one of the music industry's most enematic figures, Sean Diddy Combs, in a case that has captivated millions. The courtroom has become a battleground for fame, fortune, in the dark secrets that lurk beneath the glittering surface of celebrity life.

0:51 As the gavel. Comes down, we'll explore the allegations, the testimonies, and the shocking twists that could change the course of Diddy's legacy forever. Was this case merely a clash of lifestyles or something much more sinister? With each episode, I will bring you exclusive insights, analysis, and witness testimony accounts that will leave you on the edge of your seat. So buckle up as we embark on this thrilling ride through the trial of the century, where the stakes are high, the drama is real, and the truth is anything but certain. This is the Trial of Sean Combs. Let's get started, So just a quick catch up on what occurred with yesterday's testimony, which was Tuesday, June third. Eddie Garcia, the hotel's security supervisor where Sean Cones attacked Cassie. He testified that did he and his team desperately wanted to get the sole copy of that video and prevent it from getting out. Now, in exchange for one hundred thousand dollars divided among members of the hotel's security team, Garcia said he would sign

2:25 an NDA that called for a silence and the destruction of evidence. He said he was so nervous about the NBA that he didn't read it before he signed it, and did He then presented him with staxa cash, and a brown paper bag, and he said he bought a used car with his thirty thousand dollars share. Now. Garcia also said he wasn't initially truthful to police when he. Was asked about the assault. On cross examination, the defense pointed out the NDA didn't stop Garcia from speaking about it in legal proceedings, a line of question that presumably was intended to undermine the government's potential claim of obstruction of justice. Now, after Garcia, Derek Ferguson, the former chief financial officer of Bad Boy, entertainment.

3:19 He took the stand to discuss the structure of Diddy's businesses and how the money flowed. So we're back today and the trial continues on this Wednesday, June third, and before witnesses called the jury is shown messages between Combes and one of his security. Guards called d Rock. This is from September of twenty fifteen. Now, in those messages, Combes was directing d Rock to talk to two people. One of them's name. Was Shorty, who he referred to as G and Cassie Ventura. And Combs told d Rock what to say. According to the messages that were read alive in court, and one message, Comes told d Rock to ask G if they broke up.

4:06 Combs told d Rock to act like Comebs was serious and to inquire about what was happening. The message showed. De Rock responded and reported that she said Combs didn't want to talk to her anymore, but that she still wanted to see him. Comes asked what Ventura was doing and told d Rock to quote stay on top of her. Now, at that point, a guy by the name of Frank Piazza is called to the stand. This was US attorney Madison Smiser handling the direct and Piazza is a forensic audio and video editor, and right off, Smiser asked him how much he is being paid in this case as an expert witness, and he replies he's being paid two hundred and ninety five dollars per hour for his work on the case. He said he typically works with defense attorneys more often than prosecutors, and stated he does not have knowledge of the case itself, but reviewed cell phone video, surveillance footage and quote sex videos. Piazza testified that the surveillance footage of the March fifth, twenty sixteen incident, recovered from the Intercontinental Hotel system, was not manually altered. He said he slowed the footage to real time because a technical file conversion process had inadvertently sped up the video.

5:31 Piazza then testified that the timestamps in the surveillance video do not always accurately reflect the actual time of day, and at this point. The jury views the video for. At least the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth time during this trial since it began, they probably know it by heart. At this point. Piazza then said that at the government's request, he can piled video clips to track the movement of individuals inside the events. He inserted a black screen between clips to indicate when the camera angle or the video clips would change.

6:13 The jury then started watching the compilation, with Smiser walking through the video compilation clip by clip, having Piazza described the actions of Shawn Comb's Cassie Ventura, and eventually security officer Israel Flores, who responded to the scene. After the video finished, Piazza confirmed that none of the videos showed signs of tampering and that they were reliable depictions of what the hotel's surveillance system captured. Piazza then testified that he enhanced ten sex videos that were recovered from a laptop that Cassie Ventura turned over to the government. The videos, originally recorded in twenty twelve and twenty fourteen, were recovered from the frank black user profile on the laptop. Smeser said this as she entered the videos into evidence under seal.

7:09 Piazza stated he also enhanced the audio on another sexually explicit video. Smeser's direct examination of Piazza is complete at that point, and defense attorney Teeny gergos Cross examines Piazza the defense asked Piazza when and where he got the videos, and Piazza said he received the footage from prosecutors and that he didn't know where prosecutors got the footage. Gergos then starts reviewing the surveillance video clips, and she focuses on the time codes that jump instead of advancing second by second in real time. Now she described the time code changes with phrases like jump and missing time, suggesting it almost appeared as if the video's time was cut.

8:00 Piazza explained the motion triggers a timestamp change in the camera system. Although a person might be visible in the frame, the motion activated cameras do not update the time stamp until they detect distinct movement. He also said that the cameras were not linked to the same internal clock, but he was able to sink the footage based on overlapping events, and really that was all the defense had for him, and he was released from the stand. Now. I do want to say the reason that this is becoming such an issue is because it was the defense's claim through Diddy that allegedly the video had been altered somehow and cut certain parts of it cut out. I think with this witness, the prosecution did a good job of proving that's not the case. The next person call by the prosecution was Brianna Bungallen, and it's important to mention that, much like yesterday with Garcia, Brianna Bungallen cut a deal with the judge in exchange for her not pleading the fifth on anything that she disclosed on the stand that she could be criminally charged for. And once again Smiser is handling the direct examination and Smeser asked Brianna Bungalin about an altercation with Sean Diddy Combes in September of twenty sixteen. Bungalin responded, quote, I was held

9:33 over a seventeen story balcony, she said. Comes then quote threw her onto the balcony furniture and she sustained injuries from that altercation. She said, quote I had a bruise on the back of my leg and my back and neck pain. Bungalin also said, I have night terrors and paranoia and scream in my sleep at times. And she described Cassie Ventura as one of her close friends and said they are still friends today. And then the questioning went into Cassie Ventura and The prosecutor asked her about her relationship with Cassie, and she said that Cassie was one of her close friends. They're still friends today. She went into the fact that they worked together at a streetwear company called Diamond Supply Company around twenty fourteen or twenty fifteen, and that's when they became friends. She said Ventura was in a relationship with Diddy when she first met her, but she didn't meet Combes until about a year later. Quote, I wasn't really fond of what I was seeing, so I wasn't really wanting to meet him.

10:42 She said she had seen Ventura with a black eye before and had seen her upset while on the phone with Cones. Van Golland said she finally agreed to meet Combes after Ventura begged her to. She told about a twenty sixteen shopping trip that she went on with Cassie Ventura when Cassie was dating Diddy, and she said that Cone sent Ventura a list of all the places the two women had been on that day, even though neither one of these women told Diddy where they were, and she said they went back to Ventura's apartment shortly after her receiving that list. They were just freaked out from him following them around somehow, right, She recalled seeing Cassie with a black eye before movie premiere. She actually testified that Ventura called her on FaceTime while she was getting ready for a movie premiere for a movie called The Perfect Match. She said Ventura panned the camera across her face, showing the black eye on.

11:42 This FaceTime video. Now, the movie premiere was just after the twenty sixteen hotel assault, which was captured. On video surveillance. As you know, and during Ventura's testimony earlier in the trial, if you'll remember, prosecutors showed the jury a photo Ventura dressed in a gown. She was wearing large black sunglasses, and when they asked her about it, she said it was to hide her black eye. So this is corroborating that. Ben Golland then testified that both she and Ventura were quiet. On that FaceTime call. She said I remember saying I'm sorry, and also said she saw bruises on Ventura other times outside of that FaceTime call. She were kind of arguments between Combes and Ventura at that infamous now twenty ninth birthday party. She said Diddy and Ventura seemed to be getting along earlier in the night, but then they started fighting, and she added the Ventura, Combes and his security guards were off on their own, and Ventura seemed very upset. After leaving that Blind Dragon restaurant, ben Gollin said she went back to Ventura's apartment with her in Deontae Nash celebrity stylists that I covered just a few episodes ago, and she said Ventura packed a bag before she left, and she said she didn't know where Ventura went. Be Gollin testified that she frequently stayed at Cassie's apartment. She said Diddy

13:12 would regularly come over in the middle of the night and he will be banging on the door, and she said sometimes Ventura seemed surprised by his late night visits, while other times it just seemed like it was normal. Now one incident that stood out, though she couldn't recall when it happened, when Bengalin said she was asleep at Ventura's apartment and was awakened by banging on the door. Ventura, who was in her bedroom, came out into the main room in response, and ben Gollin recalled that Combs was then inside the apartment. Quote, I just remember seeing a knife get thrown in her direction. Unquote. Combs was standing by the entry door when he threw the knife at Ventura, who was standing pretty close to him. She testified God, and she said the Ventura threw the knife back it Combs, but did not hit him, and after that Combs left.

14:07 Bung Gollin said she did not remember if she Inventura used drugs that night, and she did not call the police about the incident, saying, quote, I was just scared of pup. Bung Gollin said Diddy gave her drugs a few times. She said she had Sincombes used marijuana, ketamine, and cocaine, and testified that she and her friend Cassie would do drugs together almost weekly. She said she and Ventura would try at times to get sober quote because we wanted to do better. The two friends would try to cook together instead of using drugs, but those periods would never last. Bunglland testified about a time Diddy threatened her while she and Cassie Ventura were doing a photo shoot on a beach in early twenty sixteen. Quote, he came up really close to my face. And said something around the line of quote I'm the devil and I could kill you.

15:03 How about that? She didn't know what prompted Combs to say that to her, and she said Combs never said anything like that to her before. She said she couldn't tell if Combs was high, that she was probably doing cocaine that day. Quote I was terrified, but because of a cocaine I had little confidence and just brushed it off. Assisting US attorney Madison Smiser asked why bung Golland continued to see Combs after that incident, to which she responded, honestly, I don't know. Smeiser then directed Brianna Bungolland back to the incident on the balcony of Cassie Ventura's La apartment. Bungallin testified she was asleep with her ex girlfriend on a couch in Ventura's apartment when she heard Shawn Combs banging on the door in September of twenty sixteen. She said Ventura was in her bedroom at the time. Bungallan took her ex girl friend to hide in the guest bathroom and then went on the balcony herself to appear quote casual bung Gollin said she hid the other woman at the time.

16:10 She said, quote, I didn't want to expose her to things I see. She also had a marijuana cigarette on the balcony, facing away from the door when Combs came out to the balcony quote, I either lit a blunt or I was about to light it. He basically came up behind me. He lifted me up, and then he had me on top of the rail, she said. Combs then grabbed her chest and then held her by the armpits over the railing with her feet dangling above the railing. Comes repeatedly yelled at her, do you know what. The fuck you did? And she said she still doesn't know what Combs was talking about. At the time, she recalled responding something like, I don't know what the fuck I did. She said, after about fifteen seconds dangling over that balcony railing, Combs through her onto the balcony furniture. She said she had a lot of adrenaline and didn't realize she was hurt right away. She said, as she was falling, she heard Ventura's voice, who asked something like, quote, did you just hang her over the balcony? And it sounded like Ventur was in disbelief. She said, Cassie and Combs then started talking and she heard something about her girlfriend being in the house, and then Comb's left. Shortly after after Comb's left, Bungalan went back to her apartment. A day or two after the incident on the balcony, She said, Diddy, in

17:40 one of his security guards, face timed her. She said she remembered saying a couple of times, I don't want any problems with you, and that Combs didn't say much, but he kept putting his hands over his head and breathing and alternating looking away from the camera and then looking back into it. She said she didn't report the incident on the balcony because she was scared. She said she and Comb saw each other after the incident and they tried to be cool. She went on to say the last time she hung out with Diddy and Cassie was around New Year's in twenty eighteen. She testified she went to the penthouse suite at One Hotel in Miami with Comb's in Ventura for New Year's where they did ketamine for eight hours. After that, she left and decided she can no longer use drugs. She tattooed the date on her neck as a quote commitment to get sober and not go back. She said she wasn't able to get sober right away, but she's sober now. After leaving the hotel in Miami that day, she said her relationship with Ventura became sporadic. She also said that she spoke with Cassie after Cassie filed her lawsuit against it, and then they got into Cassie's lawsuit and she was asked about that, and she said she did speak to Cassie after Cassie filed her lawsuit against Dibby that started this whole deal. Right in twenty twenty three, there were a few details wrong about the balcony incident described in Ventura's lawsuit,

19:14 such is it not happening in a hotel in Ventura having the date wrong. She said she experiences nightmares, a lot of paranoia, and used to scream a lot in her sleep, but that it's dissipated a little bit. She also said she did experience those things before the incident. She said she hired a lawyer named Tyrone Blackburn in January of twenty twenty four, and Blackburn made a monetary demand to Combs regarding that balcony incident. She said she fired Blackburn when she realized he had included incorrect information in the monetary demand paperwork. She said in early twenty twenty four, a music producer named Rob Holliday reached out to her, who she's been friends with for quite a while.

19:59 She said ho called her on FaceTime and he appeared to be in Combe's backyard in Beverly Hills and told her he was calling on behalf of Comb's and he was authorized to talk about settling with her. She said that about a month or two after she spoke with Holiday, her current attorney helped her file a law suit against Combes. She also said she is no longer friends with Holiday. She said she's seeking ten million dollars in her law suit against Diddy, but she said she's not expecting any money to come from her testimony at the trial, going on to say that she filed the law suit against Combes because she wanted to seek justice for what happened to her, and with that the prosecution was done in defense attorney Nicole Westmoreland started her cross and the defense had to confirm that Bonolan most of her time with Ventura was spent getting high, and she did confirm that to them. The defense also asked her how she felt when she used drugs like marijuana, cocaine, ketamine, an acid, going on to say, quote, you would agree with me that you and Cassie had serious drug problems, to which she responded, yeah, we had a problem. On one occasion, she said she got Ventur so many pills it scared her.

21:20 She also acknowledged that she and Ventur were doing drugs together before Bongolan met Sean Combe. Then she told of an incident sometime around twenty sixteen at a dinner. At his house. She said she went to the dinner as Cassie's friend, and she confirmed that Combs was very stand offish with her that day. She said that she's still friends with Ventura and Deontae Nash, and she said she's spoken with both of them since the trial began, but she confirmed they have not discussed any testimony. Wes Moreland then questioned Bengolan's allegations that she saw Sean Diddy Combe's throw a knife at Cassie Ventura, suggesting she didn't actually remember that incident, and Bungohan told prosecutors in a pre interview that venturing Combs would get in knife fights sometimes, according to some interview notes that Wes Moreland referenced, and Bungohen said she didn't remember saying that and stands by the memory she testified to. In today's testimony, she said she doesn't know how or where Comb's got a knife to throw a Ventura. Now, remember during direct examination she had said on one occasion when she was staying at Ventura's apartment, they got awoken by Combs and that she didn't want to call the police because she was scared of puff.

22:50 There you have it. So this testimony by Brianna, which I hope you've been paying attention because it directly speaks to the rico charges. And how it does that is Brianna was not in a relationship with Shawn Combs. And if you were called the defense, they've really tried to frame their narrative of what was happening with Cassie between Casting and Shawn Combs as a toxic domestic violence incident. But here you have someone testifying that had no involvement with Shawn Combs romantically and that person was getting violently abused, especially as it related to Comb's holding her over that balcony, and that testimony goes directly to racketeering and conspiracy charges that the prosecutors are trying to prove. It demonstrates that Combs was operating in a way through threats, violence and abuse, and that goes to the corrupt enterprise aspect of Rico. So back to it and Wes Moreland. She starts suggesting that during Bengolan's first meeting with prosecutor, she didn't mention that Sean Combs told her a quote, I could kill you, and bon Gollen responded that she don't remember what she told the government about the incident, but she didn't deny that it was different. Wes Morland also suggested that bone Galland told prosecutors the incident happened at a party, not

24:20 a photo shoot, and that's what she testified to today. And in addition to that, the defense attorney said the first demand letter from bon Gohan's attorney alleged that Combe said it could kill her while she was hanging over a balcony, where Bngallan testified that those were not her words and that the two incidents did not happen at the same time, and she also reminded the defense that she fired her attorney after that, which was a great point because she mentioned that to prosecutors as well and staid the reasoning was he had the facts all. So that was it for today's testimony. Court was a and they'll pick up tomorrow with the cross examination continuing with Bone Gollin and of course I'll be back with an update.

25:11 Thank you so much for listening. Look in the show notes you're going to see some links to Crime Wire Weekly follow the show ward winning host Kelly Jennings of Unspeakable Ande. I talk about the crime headlines throughout the week going on, not only in the nation, but we even cover a story or two globally, so check that out. If you'd like to support the show on Patreon, you can also check that out. We offer everything from commercial free early releases to bonus episodes, all kinds of stuff, even quarterly gifts. Check us out patreon dot com, slash exposed podcast files and until next time for exposed scandalous files of the elite. I'm your host, Jim Chapman. Much love as