Sean “Diddy” Combs’ second bid to toss out his trial has been shut down.
Judge Arun Subramanian has denied the defence’s request for a mistrial, which they filed before the weekend citing “perjured” testimony by Diddy’s ex Cassie Ventura.
The request came after Cassie’s friend Bongolan took the stand on June 4, recalling an alleged 2016 incident where Diddy dangled her over the balcony in rage while she was staying at Cassie’s apartment.
Cassie had previously testified that she saw the incident happen, but the defence pointed to a text Cassie had sent that implied she hadn’t witnessed the incident herself. “I just found out some crazy s***,” the text read.
In their motion for mistrial, the defence argued, “This 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.”
But the judge didn’t give in.
“This is not fodder for a mistrial. This is the adversarial process at work,” he said, emphasising that there “was absolutely no testimony from the witness that was prejudicial in any way shape or form.”
