Judge to address defense’s call for mistrial over ‘prosecutorial misconduct’
Judge Arun Subramanian has also said he will address the defense’s latest mistrial filing on Tuesday morning, alleging prosecutorial misconduct over witness Bryana Bongolan’s testimony claiming that Combs dangled her from a 17th-story balcony, which Combs’s attorneys say was “demonstrably false.”
The judge will rule once prosecutors have had an opportunity to respond.
Defense attorney Alexandra Shapiro accused Bongolan, a long-term friend of Ventura’s, of perjury, pointing to hotel receipts indicating that Combs was actually in New York, not Los Angeles, on the dates the witness cited.
“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,” Shapiro wrote in a complaint over the weekend alleging prosecutorial misconduct.
Defense lawyers also pushed for a mistrial last month, without success, after prosecutors tried to ask about the destruction of fingerprint evidence related to an arson investigation into a torched sports car owned by the rapper Kid Cudi.
Prosecutors allege that Combs coordinated the firebombing of the car after Cudi began dating Ventura.
Here’s Kelly Rissman’s report on Bongolan’s testimony.
Joe Sommerlad10 June 2025 10:30
Diddy’s ex-girlfriend ‘Jane’ to be cross-examined on Tuesday
Sean “Diddy” Combs’s ex-girlfriend “Jane” will return to the witness stand on Tuesday for cross-examination after three days of testimony.
Jane, who dated Combs from 2021 to 2024 and is testifying under a pseudonym, said she felt Combs was paying her rent as “leverage” to control her during their relationship. Jane also accused Combs of treating her “like an animal” after years of “hotel nights,” according to texts shown in court from October 2023.
Jane previously testified that “hotel nights” involved her having sex with other men at Combs’s direction. These could last several hours, with one lasting more than three days, she previously testified.
Jane also testified that she fainted after reading Cassie Ventura’s 2023 civil lawsuit against Combs. Jane said it felt like reading her “own sexual trauma.”
Here’s Kelly Rissman’s report on Monday’s distressing testimony.
Joe Sommerlad10 June 2025 10:05
Good morning
Hello and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of the sex trafficking trial of hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs as it resumes in New York on Tuesday.
Combs is facing sex trafficking, transportation to engage in prostitution and racketeering conspiracy charges.
He was arrested in September 2024 as federal authorities alleged he threatened, abused and coerced victims “to fulfill his sexual desires” between 2004 and 2024.
Combs has denied any accusations of wrongdoing.
Joe Sommerlad10 June 2025 09:45