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

A forensic video analyst testified at the Sean Combs federal sex trafficking and racketeering trial that the 2016 hotel surveillance footage capturing Combs attacking then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura was manually unaltered.

The defense has raised questions regarding whether the footage was manipulated but the analyst, Frank Piazza, testified, “There are no anomalies going on in the file to indicate it had been manually altered.”

Piazza's testimony gave prosecutors the opportunity to play the video several more times for the jury.

The first 55 seconds of the video show Ventura standing in bare feet by the elevator at the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles, then retrieving shoes from her bag and putting them on. Combs, clad in a towel and colored socks, is seen rounding the corner. He then grabs Ventura, throws her to the ground and kicks her before retrieving her belongings, stomping on her and then dragging her off down the hallway.

Combs is then seen in the video retrieving a cell phone from Ventura, who remains largely out of frame. Combs walks away but then turns back. Through a mirror, Combs is seen sitting on a chair and hurling a vase at Ventura.

“The male picked up an object on a small table, what appears to be a vase, and threw it across the room at the woman,” Piazza testified.

The jury re-watched video taken from a different camera angle that captured Ventura in the hall outside the hotel room from which, she testified, she was trying to escape after a "freak-off" sexual encounter had allegedly turned violent.

“The woman is walking down the hallway in the direction of the camera,” Piazza testified, referring to the footage of Ventura.

Another camera angle captured Combs dragging Ventura back toward the hotel room but losing his grip, enabling Ventura to walk back toward the elevator, at which time Combs threw the vase.

The jury re-watched long sequences of the videos during Piazza’s testimony, including the moment a security guard appears, is seen talking to Combs and Ventura, and then talking to Combs alone outside his room. The video also shows Ventura entering the room to retrieve her duffel bag and then walking off.

Combs is then seen walking down the hallway with a cell phone in his hand while his other hand holds up the towel around his waist.

Piazza testified that he also reviewed 10 of what he described as “sex videos” admitted into evidence under seal after they were extracted from one of Ventura’s electronic devices. Piazza told the court that he enhanced the audio on a “sexually explicit video” that was also admitted under seal.

Federal prosecutors contend that Combs recorded the "freak-offs" and used the videos as a means to blackmail Ventura and ensure her compliance with his demands. Combs denies the allegations.

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.