NY Criminal Defense Attorney David Schwartz ⁨@PIX11News⁩ Talking About Diddy's Trafficking Trial

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0:01 escorts rappers and recording artists. 0:04 Explosive testimony this week in the sex 0:07 trafficking trial of Shaun Diddy 0:09 Combmes. Pix 11 talking exclusively to 0:12 an escort named the Punisher just after 0:15 testifying he wouldn't have taken part 0:17 in the freakoffs if he thought Diddy was 0:20 forcing his ex Cassie Ventura. I can't 0:23 say that any part of my experience gave 0:26 me any cues that this was a woman in 0:28 distress. more of a fetish type of 0:30 scenario. Cassy's mother also 0:32 testifying, saying Col threatened to 0:35 release sex tapes of her daughter if she 0:37 didn't pay him $20,000. 0:40 And prosecutors calling Diddy's former 0:42 assistants to the stand as they try to 0:44 paint the picture of Diddy running a 0:47 criminal enterprise. But will the jury 0:49 see it that way? If someone has their 0:51 staff aiding to bet them doing something 0:53 that makes them a racketeering 0:54 enterprise, negative does not. 0:58 And that was just some of the most 1:00 dramatic testimony this week in the 1:02 Shaun Diddy Combmes trial. Yeah, Pix 1:04 11's Anthony Dorenzo has been in court 1:06 all week with us. He joins us now. But 1:09 also joining us are New York City trial 1:10 attorney David Schwarz and entertainment 1:12 and lifestyle reporter Jasmine Simpkins 1:15 who has also been covering the trial. 1:17 Thank you all for being here. Anthony, 1:18 let's talk start with you. What's your 1:21 biggest takeaway from this week? Well, 1:23
there was such a mixed bag, but of 1:25 course, the kid cuddy testimony was what 1:27 everyone was talking about because he 1:29 really went to the racketeering element 1:31 of it. And one of the predicate acts 1:33
that you have to prove with uh the RICO 1:37 conspiracy is that there was arson 1:39 involved. So, he specifically talked 1:41 about when his vehicle was blown up uh 1:44 when he was dating Cassie back in 2011,
1:47 2012. He also talked about the threats 1:50 that were made. Uh he talked about 1:52 someone that they both knew mutually 1:54 that possibly was threatening Kid Cuddy. 1:57 And so he talked all about these things 1:59 that really talked really based on the 2:02 enterprise is what prosecutors are 2:05 trying to prove. Interesting. David, 2:07 let's talk to you a little bit about 2:09 this as far as the prosecution is 2:10 concerned. We're in week two. Still a 2:12 long way to go as far as this trial. Um, 2:14 but do you think the prosecution has
2:16 really landed with the charges here or 2:19 does this present itself as being very 2:21 much a domestic violence case? 2:24 Like you said, it's only week three of a 2:27 of an 8week trial, but as of this moment 2:29
in time, they have not proven any type 2:32 of enterprise existed. I'm sure we're 2:35 going to be hearing evidence later on in 2:37 the coming weeks about an enterprise, 2:39 but right now, you know, and and the
2:42 underlying acts that make up this this 2:44 corruption, you don't have to prove the 2:47 underlying acts. You just have to show 2:49 that there was an agreement amongst the 2:51 co-conspirators to commit the underlying 2:53 acts. So, as of this moment in time, I 2:56 don't see how the prosecution has proven 2:59
their case right now. Yeah, but it is 3:01 really, really early. Jasmine, to you, 3:02 we're so happy to have you. Um, you've 3:04 been covering entertainment for quite 3:05 some time right now. You've interviewed 3:07
Diddy and Cassie several times. Has this 3:11 trial so far given you some context to 3:13 some of your interactions with those 3:15 two? Oh my gosh, I love that you use 3:17 that word context because I remember 3:19 being in the courtroom last week hearing 3:22 Cassie's testimony and thinking to 3:24 myself, "Oh my goodness, I had no idea, 3:27 none of us had any idea what she was 3:29 going through during that time." But to 3:31 have interviewed her on March 4th, the 3:34 day before the viral video that we've 3:36 now seen in the Intercontinental Hotel, 3:38 to know that she was undergoing such a 3:40 dark, crazy time in her life whilst also 3:44 promoting a film. And then just a few 3:47 days later, I talked to her again on the 3:48 red carpet after the incident has 3:50 happened. And she's jovial. She's 3:53 laughing, but her entire body is covered 3:55 in like bronze, you know, um, looks like 3:58 she had gotten a a severe spray tan. And 4:01 I remember commenting to her, I was 4:02 like, "Gosh, you look like a blond a 4:04 bombshell, this bronze bombshell, 4:06 because I had just seen her days 4:08 earlier." So, just little nuggets like 4:10
that over the years, speaking with Shawn 4:12 numerous times, not knowing that this is 4:15 a man that has created this amazing 4:17 enterprise. So much much great music has 4:20 come out of Bad Boy. I mean, he coined 4:21 this term black excellence. To know that 4:24 behind the scenes, behind this huge 4:27 empire and all the great things that he 4:28 had been doing, that he was living this 4:31 dark, very demented almost um lifestyle. 4:35 It just made me wonder what is going on 4:37 in the underbelly of Hollywood and we 4:38
think we know these celebrities and 4:40 what's going on and we have no they 4:42 focused a lot of time on that testimony 4:45 surrounding the Intercontinental Hotel 4:47 incident and the defense really was 4:51
picking apart Cassie at that moment 4:53 because they were bringing up her text 4:54 messages to Shawn Combmes around that 4:56 time where she was the one who wanted to 4:59 freak off. They said she was the one who 5:02 inspired that Intercontinental Hotel 5:04 stay. Uh when ultimately she was then 5:08 trying to flee from it because he had 5:10 found something out. She was trying to 5:13 leave that situation. But this was a 5:15 period when her movie was about to come 5:17 out. She was on the red carpet when she 5:19 was being interviewed uh just there. And 5:21 she told Shawn, you know, I really want 5:24 this to be a really special time in my 5:26 life. I want to make sure that all of 5:28 this is going to go perfectly. And she 5:31 said the reason why she wanted to freak 5:33 off was to satisfy him so that she 5:36 didn't have any problems surrounding 5:37 that premiere. But ultimately, you can 5:40 see how volatile the relationship was 5:42 because they still did have a major 5:45 incident where she had to cover herself 5:46 up and make up. Yeah, understandable. 5:48 Okay, David, we want to get back to you 5:50 and some of these witnesses. We know
5:51 that the defense did not even question 5:52 Cassie's mom, but do you feel that there 5:54 are any witnesses that we've seen so far 5:56 that have kind of benefited either the 5:58 prosecution or the defense?
6:01 Well, you know, as to the arson, you 6:04 know, the arson really fell flat because 6:06 the there was no proof at all that shown 6:09 that Shawn Combmes actually committed 6:11 the arson, which is certainly one of the 6:13 underlying crimes that they're trying to 6:16 show. And again, they don't have to 6:17 prove the underlying crimes, but that 6:20 they still have to make a showing that 6:22 there was an agreement to commit this 6:23 underlying crime. So, a couple of 6:25 problems there. Number one, you don't 6:27 know if Shawn Combmes committed the 6:29 arson. And number two, who did he have 6:31 the agreement with to commit this arson? 6:34 Remember, this is an enterprise. This is 6:36 this is a criminal enterprise that 6:38
they're trying to prove. And right now, 6:41 the you know, it's it's falling flat at 6:44 this moment in time. That's not to say 6:46 that there'll be more evidence in the 6:48 coming weeks. And Jasmine, you, as I 6:50
mentioned, you've been covering 6:50 entertainment for quite a bit out there 6:53 in Los Angeles. What go back to what you 6:56 were um leading to. What does this case 6:59 tell you about the greater entertainment 7:01 industry? 7:03 As I was saying, I think it really makes 7:04 us question a lot of us journalists. We 7:06 think we know these celebrities that we 7:08 talk to day in and day out and we really 7:10
have no idea what's going on behind the 7:12 scenes. What other lives they're 7:14 leading? Are they living these dual 7:16 lives like Shawn Combmes? Are there 7:18 people on their staff, people that are 7:20 working with them that are helping them 7:22 cover up um this other personality, this 7:25 other side of their life that in some 7:27 ways and and what we're finding with him 7:29 was extremely criminal. Um and in the 7:32 coming weeks, I think we're going to 7:33 finally hear from some of those folks. I 7:34 mean they brought up his chief of staff 7:37 assistant Christina Cororum DRock who 7:39 was with him for a very very long time 7:40 as his security. I've seen him with 7:42 DRock for many years. You kind of over 7:44 the last 10 years have seen some of the 7:46 same faces working around him. So I 7:48 think as this trial unfolds, we'll also 7:50 get a chance to to hear from them and 7:52 find out what the heck has been going 7:54 on. 7:55 So, we're talking about this Enterprise 7:58 and they've been calling witnesses up to 8:00 the to the stand that worked for Diddy 8:02 and we're going to continue to see that 8:04 next week. The Enterprise, of course, 8:05 people who worked under him. And we 8:07 heard from two assistants this past week 8:09 who were allegedly committing crimes 8:12 while they were working for Diddy, which 8:14 is why one of them was said he wasn't 8:16 going to testify unless that he was 8:18 guaranteed immunity. Oh, wow. Because he 8:21 was carrying large sums of cash. He was 8:24 buying drugs for Diddy. Uh, and he was 8:27 sitting idly by as these violent acts 8:30 went on. So, he said he was going to 8:32 plead the fifth unless the judge granted 8:35 him immunity and that's what happened. 8:36 Take us inside the courtroom. What is it 8:38 like? What does it feel like? How quiet 8:40 is it? Do you get to see the jurors at 8:42 all? Yeah, I see the jurors and playing. 8:45
So, they it depends. I think one of the 8:48 most interesting things was at the end 8:50 of Cassie's testimony, they all started 8:51 to seem really bored. The all the energy 8:54 kind of really feel felt like it was 8:56 sucked out of the room at that point. 8:57 She was on the stand for a combined 24 9:00 hours, I counted. So, even she was 9:03 feeling the weight of all of this 9:04 testimony, but they seemed to kind of 9:06 want to move on from that. Uh they had 9:09 some moments of levity when Kid Cuddy 9:11 was on the stand yesterday uh when he 9:13 was talking about his interaction with 9:15 Shawn on the phone and the the colorful 9:18 language that he used with him. Uh at 9:20 one point he called him that Marvel 9:22 super villain and they they broke out 9:24 into laughter. But Diddy is very very 9:27 much an active defendant. He is working 9:30
with his attorneys all the time, 9:32 speaking with them, passing them notes. 9:34 So he's he's very much involved. All 9:36 right. Uh David to you who won the week. 9:41 The defense won the week because of the
9:43 presumption of innocence and and the 9:46 prosecution has to prove guilt beyond a 9:48 reasonable doubt. And I think everything 9:50 right now is falling a little flat. 9:52 Certainly they proved a domestic 9:54
violence case. They pro they proved that 9:57 he has done horrible things and vicious 10:00 attacks. But that's not what this case 10:02 is about. This case is about this 10:04 criminal enterprise, which the statue
10:07 was basically made when it when trying 10:09 to prosecute the mafia way back when. 10:12 And the fact that he put together this 10:14 enterprise, I just don't see it yet. 10:17 Jasmine, before we let you go, there's 10:19 kind of been this unspoken rule in the 10:21 entertainment industry that you don't 10:23 talk badly about Diddy. Do you think 10:25 after this trial that changes for many 10:27 people? Oh god. Yeah. And I think little 10:29 by little you're you're starting to see 10:31 people distance themselves or at least 10:33
come out and say, "Hey, listen. I've 10:35 never been to a Diddy party. I've never 10:36 seen these things. I didn't experience a 10:38 freakoff." I think people really really 10:40 because I mean, you've had everyone from 10:42 Marthur Stewart to Donald Trump to Oprah 10:44 and and and all kinds of folks in 10:46 between who have been at these white 10:47 parties. I mean, he kind of put the 10:49 Hampton's on the map in terms of the 10:50 hip-hop culture at one point in time. 10:52 So, he's touched so many parts of the 10:54 entertainment industry and had so many10:56 friends that I I feel like even more 10:59 people are going to be making sure as 11:00 more things come out in this trial that 11:02 they distance themselves from him. All
11:04 right, Jasmine and David, thank you so 11:06 much. And we'll be right back with more 11:08 of our coverage of Diddy's trial. Yeah. 11:11 Up next, a look at what's happening in 11:13 court next week. Anthony will be with 11:15 us.