Sean 'Diddy' Combs trial updates: 'Jane' testifies on 'hotel nights' with Combs: 'Lonely and sad'

The jury in the trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs is expected today to see more of the 2016 hotel surveillance footage that captured Combs physically assaulting his then-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, as video expert Frank Piazza takes the stand as the day’s first witness.

The jury on Tuesday heard a hotel security guard testify that Combs allegedly paid him $100,000 in cash for the video.

The guard, Eddy Garcia, testified about Combs putting stacks of bills, $10,000 at a time, through a money counter. Combs also allegedly advising him “not to make any big purchases” and made him sign a nondisclosure agreement, Garcia told the court.

Garcia further testified that at the meeting, Combs put Ventura on FaceTime and she allegedly told Garcia that because she had a movie about to be released "it wasn't a good time" for the video to come out "and that she wanted it to go away.”

The jury also saw a document that Garcia signed that affirmed to Combs that his was the only copy of the video. After the footage ended up on television last year, Combs apologized, calling his behavior “inexcusable.”

Combs has conceded that he could be violent but his lawyers say he is no sex trafficker or racketeer, as federal prosecutors have charged. Combs has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Piazza's testimony is expected to be followed by that a friend of Ventura’s, Bryana Bongolan, known as Bana, who has accused Combs of dangling her from a balcony at Ventura’s Los Angeles apartment.

Ventura testified that Bongolan was allegedly draped over the balcony railing and then thrown onto balcony furniture. She made similar allegations in a civil case. Combs has denied Bongolan's claims.

The jury also could begin hearing later in the day from another alleged Combs victim who will be testifying under the pseudonym “Jane.”

Defense attorney Marc Agnifilo asked former Bad Boy Entertainment CFO Derek Ferguson a rapid-fire series of questions regarding his 19 years of working for Sean Combs.

“Did you see anyone help Sean Combs commit crimes?” Agnifilo asked.

“No,” Ferguson testified.

“Did you see anyone help Sean Combs commit Acts of violence?” Agnifilo asked.

“No," Ferguson told the court.

“Did you see anyone make the company stronger through threats of violence?” Agnifilo asked.

“No," Ferguson again told the court.

“Did you see anyone enhance Mr. Combs’ reputation or the reputation of any business through emotional, physical or sexual abuse?”

“I did not," testified Ferguson.

“Where did you work physically?” prosecutor Christy Slavik asked Ferguson during re-direct examination.

“In the New York office,” Ferguson testified.

“At any time were you based out of Mr. Combs’ homes?” Slavik followed up.

“No,” Ferguson told the court.

“Did you ever stay in a hotel room with Mr. Combs?”

“No,” Ferguson testified in response.

Court is adjourned for the day.

Frank Piazza, a video expert, is expected to be the first witness called Wednesday, followed by Bryana Bongolan and “Jane,” the latter another alleged Combs victim who will testify under a pseudonym.

With Bad Boy Entertainment CFO Derek Ferguson on cross-examination, the defense showed the jury an organizational chart of Sean Combs’ businesses, with its array of executives, two of whom, including Ferguson, were educated at Harvard Business School.

The defense contended that the organizational chart showed Combs atop an empire of legitimate, often successful ventures in music, television and liquor while he is on trial for allegedly running a criminal enterprise.

Ferguson agreed with defense attorney Marc Agnifilo that it was common for people in the entertainment industry to employ personal assistants.

“I think there’s a whole laundry list of things they would possibly be involved in,” Ferguson testified.

Ferguson also testified that he agreed with Agnifilo that security personnel were part of the business.

“In order to keep him safe, they would be with him?” Agnifilo asked.

“Personal protection, yes,” Ferguson told the court.

“They were paid by the company, correct?” Agnifilo asked.

“Generally,” Ferguson testified in response.

“Their job, from what you understood, was to be in close proximity to Mr. Combs so that no one would do anything of a dangerous nature?”

“Yes,” Ferguson told the court.

Prosecutors have alleged Combs, his bodyguards and assistants carried out a racketeering conspiracy, which Combs denies.

With Sean Combs’ former chief financial officer on the witness stand, jurors saw a series of wire transfers related to a payment described earlier in the trial by Cassie Ventura’s mother.

Regina Ventura testified that she and her husband took out a home equity loan to fund the payment that she alleged in testimony that Combs demanded to “recoup” money he had spent on her daughter “because he was angry that she had a relationship with Scott Mescudi," the rapper known as Kid Cudi.

The jury saw a Dec. 14, 2011, transfer from an account set up to manage Combs’ home in Alpine, New Jersey to Cassie Ventura for $20,000.

On Dec. 23, 2011, the same account received $20,000 from Ventura’s father. Four days later, on Dec. 27, the account transferred $20,000 for “return of funds.”

Ferguson is now under cross-examination. He told the jury he grew up in the Bronx, attended Stuyvesant High School and Harvard Business School and left a prestigious job at another record company to work for Combs.

“What I observed with Bad Boy at the time and Sean Combs was a company that was giving a lot of young executives opportunities from communities I grew up in,” Ferguson testified.