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U.S. government prosecutors spent much of today attempting to back up testimony from key witnesses like Kid Cudi, the hip-hop artist who dated Diddy’s ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura and accused the defendant of breaking into his house and setting his car on fire. The prosecution team also tried to bolster its racketeering conspiracy charge with more evidence of Diddy’s alleged crimes. Meanwhile, the defense team made a failed bid for a mistrial.
Here’s what you need to know:
- Christoper Ignacio, a Los Angeles police officer, testified about responding to a break-in at Kid Cudi’s home in 2011. The Cadillac Escalade that cops saw leaving the scene was registered to Bad Boy Productions, one of Diddy’s companies, Ignacio said. The break-in wasn’t reported as a burgl, he confirmed during cross-examination.
- Lance Jimenez, a Los Angeles Fire Department arson investigator, told jurors he found a Molotov cocktail inside Kid Cudi’s burned Porsche in early 2012. Jimenez characterized the car fire as a “targeted crime.” In the government’s indictment against Diddy, arson is one of the crimes listed under the racketeering conspiracy charge.
- Deonte Nash, a celebrity stylist, testified he once jumped on Diddy’s back to keep him from beating up Cassie. Nash said that he was thrown off and the rapper continued striking Cassie until she hit her head on a bed frame and started bleeding. Nash also testified that Diddy threatened to send sex tapes of Cassie to her parents’ workplaces to get them fired.
ALSO: Cassie gave birth yesterday, roughly two weeks after she testified, a source familiar with the matter confirmed. It’s her third child with her husband, Alex Fine. NBC News’ Rebecca Cohen and Chloe Melas have details.
The view from inside
By Adam Reiss, Chloe Melas and Jing Feng
The trial came to an abrupt halt around 10:30 a.m. when Jimenez, the arson investigator, said some of the fingerprints lifted during the Kid Cudi break-in investigation were destroyed. Diddy’s lawyers argued that testimony about the lost prints should be struck from the record because jurors might infer that their client was somehow involved.
“What the government has done is outrageous,” Marc Agnifilo, Diddy’s lead attorney, told Judge Arun Subramanian. Subramanian seemed to agree. He struck mentions of the lost prints from the record. But the judge swiftly turned down the defense’s motion for a mistrial.
In other news: Nash, the stylist, was a spirited and sometimes amusing witness who made it clear to the jury that he would rather not testify against Diddy. He said he had kept in touch with the rapper and doesn’t harbor any ill will toward him, despite the violence he said he witnessed.
“I don’t hate him,” Nash said. “It’s just not me.”
Analysis: No mistrial, but not a setback for Diddy’s team
By Danny Cevallos
In denying the defense’s motion for a mistrial, Subramanian said there “was absolutely no testimony from [Jimenez] that was prejudicial in any way, shape or form.” It seems to have been the right call. The questions might have been objectionable, but it doesn’t seem that they were designed to suggest Combs tampered with evidence. It seems equally likely that the questions were designed to establish only that this witness wasn’t responsible for destroying the fingerprint cards.
But was this a setback for the defense? I’d argue it wasn’t. First, even the defense likely didn’t expect the mistrial to be granted. This was probably an example of making a “highball” demand, to get to the middle — where you want to be. The judge acknowledged that there was an issue with the testimony and excluded some of the evidence. That’s not what the defense asked for, but it’s a win.
What’s next
Tomorrow: Nash will return to the stand. We’re also expecting testimony from an accuser identified in the government’s indictment as “Victim 4.”
PSA: Every night during Diddy’s trial, NBC’s “Dateline” will drop special episodes of the “True Crime Weekly” podcast to get you up to speed. “Dateline” correspondent Andrea Canning chats with NBC News’ Chloe Melas and special guests — right in front of the courthouse. Listen here. 
