Sean 'Diddy' Combs trial updates: Court is adjourned until Tuesday

Regina Ventura testified that when her daughter, Cassie Ventura, was flying home for the holidays in December 2011, she sent her mother and Sean Combs’ assistant an email that Regina Ventura testified made her “physically sick.”

“The threats that have been made to me by Sean Puffy Combs are that he is going to release 2 explicit tapes of me,” the email allegedly said, according to Regina Ventura. “He also said he will be having someone hurt me and Scott Mescudi physically,” referring to rapper Kid Cudi, with whom Cassie Ventura previously testified she was briefly romantically involved while still with Combs.

“I was physically sick. I did not understand a lot of it. The sex tapes threw me,” Regina Ventura testified.

She further testified that Combs allegedly demanded $20,000 to “recoup money that he had spent" on Cassie.

Ventura testified that she and her husband took out a home equity loan in order to satisfy Combs' alleged demand.

“We decided that’s the only way we could get the money,” Ventura testified. “I was scared for my daughter’s safety.” She told the court that she allegedly received instructions from Combs’ bookkeeper on how to wire the money and sent it to him. The money was returned several days later, Ventura told the court.

Regina Ventura also testified that she used a digital camera to take photos of what she described as bruises on her daughter’s back, arm and leg.

“She was bruised, and I wanted to memorialize it,” Ventura told the court.

The jury has previously seen two of the photos previously but saw several more photos of multiple bruises.

Regina Ventura will not undergo cross-examination.

Regina Ventura, who is the mother of Sean Combs' ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, is now testifying.

Regina Ventura testified that she met Sean Combs in 2006 when “Cassandra signed with Bad Boy” and came to know him because “he dated my daughter.”

Combs' former assistant, David James, testified to some of Sean Combs dietary preferences, recalling a time in London where Combs “would not be happy” because the ketchup there was not the same as the brand he preferred.

“Ketchup was a big item he needed for his food,” James told the court.

“Were you aware he put applesauce on cheeseburgers?” defense attorney Marc Agnifilo asked.

“I was not aware of that but I knew he liked applesauce,” James replied.

James purchased these food items through Combs’ company, James testified, but he affirmed on cross-examination that he would use cash to purchase items such as baby oil, personal lubricant and condoms.

James also told the court about what he said were the demanding hours and the sometimes questionable things he did during his employment with Combs. He testified by way of example that he allegedly once purchased an “eight-ball of cocaine” in Saint-Tropez for a Combs associate.

Seven-day workweeks were common, according to James' testimony.

“Something the security detail would tell us: ‘You know what rhymes with tired?’ And the answer is, 'fired,'” James testified. He told the court about one night when Combs allegedly admonished him for driving through a red light.

“I turned around and said ‘I’m f------ tired, man. I’m exhausted,’” James told the court. He testified that Combs did not fire him for the remark.

James also testified about throngs of people in public who wanted to touch Combs or get his autograph.

“Did he tend to be gracious about these things?” Agnifilo asked.

“I don’t think gracious is a word to describe Mr. Combs,” James responded.

James was asked about Combs’ personal chef, a woman named Jourdan Atkinson, who is expected to testify later this week.

James testified that he personally once “got upset, squeezed her wrists and told her to stay in your f------ lane," referring to Atkinson. James testified that the incident was reported and Combs called him into his room to talk about it.

“He asked me what happened, and I told him what happened. And he said, ‘You can’t be putting your hands on women.’ I said, ‘I know sir I f----- up.’ He told me to write her a note and buy her a gift,” James testified, adding. “I rolled up a blunt and gave her a blunt.”

“Did she appreciate it?” Agnifilo asked.

“She did,” James testified.

On re-direct examination, James testified about a time in Alpine, NJ, when, referring to a separate incident in which James said he physically confronted Atkinson, Combs asked James to file a police report saying Jourdan was the aggressor and hit James first.

“Did you file?” prosecutor Christy Slavik asked.

“I didn’t want to make a false police report and lie to the police,” James answered.

The defense asked James about a time when he and a security guard allegedly brought two prostitutes back to Combs’ house when he was not there.

“Security did it all the time,” James testified. “After we had intercourse, she asked me for $200 and I was surprised. I had no idea. I was against paying her." James told the court that the security guard said, "You better pay her because we don’t want any problems at the house.'”

James testified that the woman wanted to shower, to which James said he responded, "If you want to take a shower give me my 200 back.’”

The response elicited laughter in the court. Defense attorney Agnifilo remarked, “You got your money back!”

James' testimony has concluded. Court then took a break.

According to former Sean Combs assistant David James' testimony, Combs dispatched James and a security guard named D-Roc to Mel’s Diner in Los Angeles at three or four o'clock in the morning.

“We pulled into the parking lot and D-Roc looks over and says, ‘That’s m------------ Suge Knight,’” James testified, clarifying for the jury that the then-chairman of Death Row Records was a Combs rival.

James testified that D-Roc approached Knight and said, “It’s me, D-Roc, Biggie’s boy.”

While waiting for their food, James testified that four black SUVs pulled into the parking lot and that he allegedly saw someone pass Knight a gun.

“D-Roc said, ‘We got to f------ go.,” James told the court.

James testified that when he returned to Combs’ house, Combs and Cassie Ventura were outside arguing: “Cassie looked very distressed. She was telling him not to go” to the diner.

James told the court that Combs told him to get behind the wheel of a black Escalade and drive to the diner. “M------------ go,” James testified Combs told him from the back seat of the vehicle. James further told the court that Combs had three handguns on his lap at the time.

“I was really struck by it. I realized for the first time being Mr. Combs’ assistant that my life was in danger,” James testified. A short time later, James gave his notice and left the company, he testified.

On cross-examination, defense attorney Marc Agnifilo challenged James’ recollection of the event, which prosecutors have said supports their contention that Combs was the leader of a criminal enterprise.

"Did you leave D-Roc at the diner?” Agnifilo asked.

James smiled and laughed. “That’s a crazy statement,” he replied.

Asked why he did not object to returning to the diner with an allegedly gun-carrying Combs, James answered, “You have someone with three guns in close proximity, I didn’t think I had the option.”

“You were executing the mission,” Agnifilo asserted.

James responded, “I was doing what I was told.”