Sean 'Diddy' Combs trial updates: Capricorn Clark again testifies Combs had gun during alleged break-in
This story may contain accounts and descriptions of actual or alleged events that some readers may find disturbing.
This is week three of testimony in the trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs.
Latest Developments
May 27, 4:25 PM
Capricorn Clark again testifies that Combs had gun during alleged break-in; court adjourns for the day
On redirect examination, federal prosecutors suggested that Capricorn Clark returned to work for Bad Boy Records because Combs allegedly stymied her attempts to work elsewhere in the music industry.
“He held all the power as it related to me,” Clark testified through sobs.
Prosecutor Mitzi Steiner also sought to reaffirm Clark’s earlier testimony about Combs allegedly carrying a gun from the time he showed up at her apartment to the time they drove to Scott Mescudi’s house.
“Was Mr. Combs carrying a gun?” Steiner asked.
“Yes,” Clark answered.
“And was that gun visible to you?” Steiner asked.
“Yes,” Clark replied, further telling the court that she feared at the time that if she did not oblige Combs’ demands, "I would be hurt.”
Court has adjourned for the day. The next scheduled witnesses include a Los Angeles Police Department officer; a Los Angeles Fire Department arson investigator; Deonte Nash, who is a stylist in the Combs circle; and a former Combs employee whom the prosecution alleges is another Combs victim.
May 27, 4:44 PM
Clark breaks down as defense digs into her business relationship with Combs, alleged Kid Cudi home break-in
After Capricorn Clark testified earlier Tuesday that a gun-carrying Sean Combs forced her into a car to confront Scott Mescudi, aka rapper Kid Cudi, in December 2012, the defense asserted on cross-examination that she had a different motive.
“Isn’t it true that you went so that Mr. Combs wouldn’t do something stupid?” defense attorney Marc Agnifilo asked.
“No,” Clark answered.
“You went because you were afraid he was going to do something stupid,” Agnifilo insisted.
“I went because he told me he didn’t care that I didn’t want to go,” Clark responded. “I did not want to go and it was not my choice, sir.”
Agnifilo also questioned Clark about her testimony regarding events at Mescudi’s house and her call to Cassie Ventura.
“You’re telling this jury you 100% said the word ‘gun’ on that phone call?” Agnifilo asked.
“Yes,” Clark answered. “I said it very quickly. I said, ‘Puff came to my house with a gun."
In her earlier testimony, Clark said that before she telephoned Ventura, she called actress Lauren London.
“Tell us why you did that,” Agnifilo asked Clark.
“She was the only one that was sort of in our orbit. She was like my sister at the time. I just wanted someone to know where I was in case this all went really bad. I called her for my protection,” Clark responded, her voice shaking with emotion.
“Are you aware that Sean Combs and Lauren London were friends for years after this?” Agnifilo asked.
“Yes,” Clark responded.
Clark again broke down in tears and sobs when confronted by several emails she sent to Combs, which were shown to the court. One, sent in 2014, read, "Hopefully you’ll forgive me soon. It’s been long enough. I feel like you’ve forgiven everyone else but me.”
A second email presented by the defense, which Clark sent to Combs in early 2015, said, “Sending you blessings and love for a new year.”
Clark also became emotional when Agnifilo showed her yet another email that she sent to Combs on his birthday, Nov. 4, 2015. “My hope for this year is that you make good on your promise to get over things and actually be my friend again,” the email read.
Through sniffles, Clark testified that she “felt that I was somewhat of a protector for Puff. That email is me pleading, like, dude, let it go.” Clark told the court that the stakes for her were high because her parents are gone and her son has autism.
Agnifilo kept asking Clark why she wanted to work with Combs again.
“I wanted my life back, sir,” Clark testified.
“You want to work with him again,” Agnifilo said.
“I wanted to work in the music industry,” Clark replied.
Redirect examination by the prosecution has now begun.
May 27, 3:02 PM
Capricorn Clark continues testimony; prosecutors say case running ahead of schedule
Before the defense resumed their cross-examination of former Sean Combs assistant Capricorn Clark, federal prosecutors said outside of the jury's presence that their case is running ahead of schedule and could be finished in a total of five weeks, rather than the six weeks they previously said they may require.
Once cross examination resumed, Clark compared Cassie Ventura's talent to that of music legends Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey in her testimony, telling the court that Ventura's talent fell short of that level.
When Ventura performed live it “wasn’t the greatest,” Clark testified under cross-examination.
The defense has asserted that Combs' alleged coercive control over Ventura didn't deprive her of career opportunities, as prosecutors have alleged.
“She got top-tier talent to support her to become a star,” defense attorney Marc Agnifilo asked Clark, who agreed.
“Were there other artists in Bad Boy who were getting less attention and support than she got?” Agnifilo asked, referring to Comb's record label, Bad Boy Records.
“She got a considerable amount of support. That was the early days,” Clark responded. “The lion’s share of Bad Boy was on Cassie at that time.”
Clark told the court that In 2012, for the single “King of Hearts,” she had Ventura dye her hair bright yellow. The jury was shown a photo of Ventura with the hairstyle.
“She had the shaved head before,” Clark testified. “I wanted to depart from that. I wanted something edgier, bolder.”
Agnifilo asked, “You wouldn’t do this against her will would you?”
"No," Clark replied.
May 27, 3:00 PM
Defense questions Clark about working relationship with Combs: 'I had the biggest crush on you'
During a cross-examination that hopped from time period to time period, Capricorn Clark testified that she didn't know the connection between Sean Combs and the large man she told the court earlier today repeatedly administered lie detector tests to her on suspicion that she stole jewelry loaned to Combs.
“You don’t know what relationship he has to Mr. Combs?” defense attorney Marc Agnifilo asked. Clark responded that she did not know.
Clark broke down again on the witness stand while she testified about a working relationship with Combs that she compared to business school for someone like her who did not finish college.
“Separate from all this stuff, I did learn a lot from Puff,” Clark testified, her voice quaking. “I worked for him in varying roles over a long period of time."
Agnifilo asked, “He let you know you were talented, hardworking and effective?”
"True," Clark responded.
Agnifilo introduced a text message that Clark sent to Combs in June 2021 in which she told him “I had the biggest crush on you.” Clark testified that she had no memory of sending the message but conceded that she liked Combs “as a friend.”
“You also respected him?” Agnifilo asked.
“Yeah,” Clark replied.
A month after federal agents raided Combs’ two homes as part of their criminal investigation, Clark floated the idea of returning to work as Combs’ chief of staff, the defense stated.
“You wanted to come back and work with Mr. Combs as his chief of staff?” Agnifilo asked.
“We discussed it, yes,” Clark replied.
“What you said was, ‘You were always able to take care of him,’” Agnifilo said.
The court is now in a lunch break, after which cross-examination will continue.
May 27, 2:24 PM
Capricorn Clark tells court Combs allegedly kicked Cassie Ventura upon discovering her relationship with Kid Cudi
Former Sean Combs assistant Capricorn Clark testified that while she was on the phone with Cassie Ventura, which was while Sean Combs had allegedly broken into Scott Mescudi's house, she heard Mescudi in the background say, “He’s in my house?"
Clark testified that she told Ventura, “Cassie, stop him. He’s going to get himself killed,” referring to Mescudi.
Clark told the court that Combs ordered her to fetch Ventura. “He told me to tell Cassie that he has me and he’s not going to let me go until I come get her,” Clark testified.
Clark further testified that she and Ruben, one of Combs’ bodyguards, were sent to pick up Ventura to allegedly get her to convince Mescudi not to tell police that Combs was involved in the alleged break-in at his house.
“If you don’t convince him, I’m going to kill all you m------------,” Clark testified Combs told her.
Clark testified that she returned to Combs’ house with Ventura. “Puff [was] standing there in a robe and his underwear and he immediately began kicking Cassie,” she told the court.
Clark told the court that Combs allegedly kicked Ventura repeatedly, and that with “each kick she would crouch into more and more a fetal position” until Ventura was all the way to the street. “Every time she got kicked, she moved back” and remained in a “full fetal position,” Clark testified.
Asked why she didn't intervene, Clark responded that Combs allegedly told her that “If I jump in, he was going to f--- me up, too.”
Clark took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes with a tissue as she testified, her voice breaking with emotion, about calling Regina Ventura, Cassie Ventura's mother, and telling her that Combs was allegedly “beating the s--- out of your daughter. Please help her. I can’t call the police, but you can.”
The next day, Dec. 23, 2011, is when Ventura previously testified that she sent Clark and her mother the email about Combs threatening to release two sex tapes that the jury was previously shown.
Clark testified that she was fired by Combs in August 2012, and that she returned in 2016 to work as Cassie Ventura’s creative director. She told the court that everything from “soup to nuts” required approval from Combs. She also testified that she noticed an increase in Ventura’s drug use.
Clark told the court that left Combs' employ in 2018, which she added was the last time she communicated with Ventura.
The prosecution’s direct examination of Clark is over. Court is taking a break before cross-examination.
May 27, 2:24 PM
Combs' ex-assistant testifies Combs threatened 'to kill' Kid Cudi
Former Sean Combs assistant Capricorn Clark testified about a time when she said Sean Combs was in the kitchen of a house he rented in Los Angeles, along with actress Lauren London and Combs' private chef at the time, Jourdan Cha'Taun.
“He was discussing with us why we didn’t have a man like him,” Clark testified Combs told them. “He said, ‘Let me show you something.’”
He then called for Cassie Ventura, Clark told the court.
“He called Cassie over and he asked her to sit down, stand up, turn around, turn the other way, walk over there, grab that, hand me that, walk back, turn around, go back in the other room,” Clark testified. “He said, ‘Did you see that? You b------ won’t do that. That’s why you don’t have a man.’ To which we said, you’re m------------ right.”
Clark also testified about a time in Combs’ Miami Beach home in 2008 when, exasperated after a long night, she told the court that she exclaimed, “I hate it here.”
Combs then “charged” at her, Clark testified.
“He ran toward me with his hands open and pushed me, my shoulders, started pushing me back,” Clark testified, demonstrating the movement for the jury.
Clark alleged in her testimony that Combs pushed her 25 to 30 yards through the house and outside while allegedly telling her, “If you hate it here get the f--- out of my house.”
Combs’ then-bodyguard, identified by Clark in earlier testimony as Uncle Paulie, intervened, Clark told the court, saying he "told Puff to stop and he told me to go pack my things,”
Clark told the court that she left her employment with Combs after that because the alleged shoving incident “was crossing my boundary.”
Clark further testified that she returned to work for Combs in 2011. At the same time, she told the court, she was creative director for Cassie Ventura, was who was seeing Scott Mescudi, aka rapper Kid Cudi, at the time. Clark testified that she brought Ventura to Best Buy to purchase a burner phone to communicate with Kid Cudi.
Clark told the court that on the morning of Dec. 22, 2011, she “heard a loud banging" at her door sometime between 5:30 and 6 a.m. and saw “a very upset Puff.”
Clark testified that she opened the door and saw Combs dressed in a “white button-down shirt, button-down sweater, business slacks, grey slacks and nice shoes.” The pants were split “from knee to knee through the crotch so I could see his underwear,” Clark told the court.
Combs also had a gun in his hand, Clark testified.
“Did he enter your apartment holding a gun?” prosecutor Mitzi Steiner asked.
“Yes,” Clark replied. “He said, ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ I said, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ He said, ‘Who is Scott?’ I said, ‘I don’t know Scott.’ He said, ‘Kid Cudi,’” Clark testified.
“He said, ‘Get dressed we’re going to go kill" Mescudi, Clark told the court.
Clark testified that when she protested, Combs allegedly told her, “I don’t give a f--- what you want to do, go get dressed.”
Clark testified that she was made to get into a Cadillac Escalade with Combs and a bodyguard, whom she said was named Ruben, and the three of them allegedly drove to Kid Cudi’s house. Combs and Ruben allegedly went inside the home while Clark waited in the car, according to her testimony.
“They gained access to the main door of the actual property,” Clark testified.
“I called Cassie,” Clark further testified, adding that she recalled telling Ventura, “Cassie, what the f---?”
May 27, 2:24 PM
Capricorn Clark, former Combs assistant, testifies she was 'petrified'
Former Sean Combs assistant Capricorn Clark testified that work was not yet complete on the then-new corporate headquarters of Bad Boy Entertainment at 1710 Broadway in New York City when she was allegedly taken there in 2004 by a bodyguard nicknamed Uncle Paulie and locked inside.
Clark told the court that she was taken to the “dilapidated” sixth floor, which she said was empty save for a folding table and chairs in the middle of the space.
“There was a heavy-set gentleman who was chain-smoking cigarettes and drinking black coffee,” Clark testified. “Very wide, very heavy, the size of two linebackers.”
Clark, seated in the witness box with her hair pulled back and wearing glasses, testified that she was “petrified” in that moment. She told the court that the bodyguard told her that she “had been brought to the building to take a lie detector test to figure out what happened" to some jewelry that had gone missing.
If she flunked the test, she testified the man told her, “They’re going to throw you in the East River.”
Clark testified that Combs had given her “three pieces of very high-end jewelry that were out on loan” before a private plane ride to Miami. At Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, Clark said she realized the jewelry had gone missing.
“Had you stolen the jewelry?” prosecutor Mitzi Steiner asked.
“I did not,” Clark responded
Clark told the court that the bodyguard named Uncle Paulie took her to the same location inside 1710 Broadway on five consecutive days, where she allegedly was administered lie detector tests.
“I wanted to prove my innocence. I didn’t like the threats,” Clark testified.
When she was allowed to return to work, Combs never mentioned the lie detector tests or inquired where she had been, Clark told the court.
May 27, 2:24 PM
Sean Combs enters court before witness testimony on racketeering charge
The third week of testimony in the Sean Combs sex trafficking trial will begin today with testimony that the prosecution will present to try to help support the alleged kidnapping and arson elements of the racketeering conspiracy to which Combs has pleaded not guilty.
Federal prosecutors have said Combs’ former assistant, Capricorn Clark, was twice held against her will, including when she was allegedly forced from her apartment and into a car to take Combs and one of his bodyguards to the home of Scott Mescudi, the rapper better known as Kid Cudi.
Mescudi testified last week that Clark called him from a car to say that Combs was in his house. Nothing was taken, Mescudi told the court, though he said he found that Christmas presents were unwrapped and his dog was locked in a bathroom.
Combs allegedly forced Clark to take a lie detector test to prove she was not part of a robbery, according to the testimony last week of another former Combs personal assistant, David James.
Mescudi testified last week about alleged arson, which is another element of the alleged RICO conspiracy with which Combs is charged. Mescudi testified that he suspected Combs played a role in his car being set on fire with a Molotov cocktail.
Los Angeles Fire Department arson investigator Lance Jimenez is expected to testify today about what he found when responded to the scene of the car fire.
Combs is seated at the defense table in dark-colored pants and crew neck sweater. He embraced defense attorney Brian Steel upon entry into the courtroom and then greeted his other lawyers with hugs and smiles.
May 27, 2:24 PM
Read testimony from week 2
Catch up on everything from week 2 of the Sean Combs trial, including testimony from rapper Kid Cudi.
Read more here.
May 27, 2:24 PM
Witness testimony to resume on Tuesday
The third week of the trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs will resume in New York City on Tuesday, with witness testimony set to continue.
When court resumes on Tuesday, federal prosecutors plan to call Combs' former assistant Capricorn Clark and representatives from Los Angeles fire and police departments.
Across two weeks of testimony in Combs' sex-trafficking and racketeering trial, federal prosecutors called 16 witnesses, attempting to prove the rap mogul embraced violence and threats to coerce women into sex and protect his music empire.
Among those who have already taken the stand are musician and Combs' ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, her mother Regina, Combs' former personal assistants David James and George Kaplan, plus rapper Kid Cudi whose legal name is Scott Mescudi.
MORE: Everyone who has testified in the Sean 'Diddy' Combs trial so far: Recap
Combs has pleaded not guilty and denies sexually assaulting or trafficking anyone. Combs' lawyers have argued that the rap mogul's domestic violence was driven by jealousy and drug addiction, and that his voyeuristic sexual activities, while not mainstream, are his private business and do not amount to sex trafficking.
-ABC News' Peter Charalambous, Aaron Katersky, Josh Margolin, Tonya Simpson and Kaitlyn Morris
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