Diddy trial witness reveals threats and violence that could support RICO charges: expert

Jurors in the Sean Diddy Combs trial were introduced to a number of spectators in the government's development against the disgraced music mogul The U S Attorney's Office called Dawn Richard to the stand a former member of Diddy's Danity Kane girl group who claimed the Last Night rapper threatened her to remain quiet about the alleged abuse of his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura Los Angeles litigator John J Perlstein exclusively communicated Fox News Digital that Richard's testimony could possibly aid the government's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act RICO charge CASSIE VENTURA EMERGES AS STAR WITNESS IN DIDDY'S FEDERAL SEX CRIMES TRIAL EXPERT Corroborating Cassie Ventura s testimony Dawn Richard provided eyewitness accounts of multiple occasions where the defendant struck or attempted to strike Ventura and also testified to Combs controlling behavior in stating that Combs allegedly noted that he owned Ventura and that her success would be on his terms Perlstein disclosed As far as the RICO charges Dawn also testified that Combs threatened her to maintain her silence which can be perceived as an attempt to intimidate onlookers and obstruct justice Her testimony supports the prosecution s RICO development Richard testified Monday that she stated Cassie to leave Diddy after witnessing the Bad Boy Records founder s violent behavior toward his girlfriend Although Cassie was allegedly torn Richard testified that Cassie would listen but she could see the fear DIDDY TRIAL CASSIE VENTURA'S LARGEST PART EXPLOSIVE DECLARES AGAINST RAPPERThe singer announced she observed Cassie being attacked She alleged that Diddy came downstairs screaming hit her in the head and beat her around Richard claimed Diddy came downstairs angry saying where the f--- is his eggs She then alleged Diddy grabbed a skillet of eggs and attempted to hit Cassie in the head Cassie allegedly fell to the ground anticipating the hit but it didn't hit her She went into a fetal position literally trying to hide her face Richard mentioned Richard s testimony is highly impactful because it corroborates Ventura s account former federal prosecutor Neama Ramani recounted Fox News Digital Her witnessing Combs attempt to hit Ventura with a skillet kick her when she was in the fetal position and drag her by the hair was one of the the majority graphic of the trial so far Richard also allegedly suffered her own abuse She claimed she was groped and threatened not to speak out Rahmani added The prosecution has to corroborate Ventura s testimony with that of independent viewers The defense scored points with Ventura s emails and text messages But Richard s testimony shows a pattern of physical violence and helps rebut the defense s argument that the conduct was consensual Richard notified the court on Friday that one day after an alleged altercation in which she observed Cassie being attacked the Missing You rapper explained her it was par for the syllabus in a normal relationship WATCH ON FOX NATION WHAT DIDDY DO Diddy and Richard were in the recording studio when he allegedly mentioned that what was witnessed the day before was passion and what people in relationships do He claimed Cassie was OK and that it was best if they didn't say anything The rapper allegedly explained that where he's from people go missing She heard his words to mean that people end up dead Diddy allegedly didn t like Richard talking to Cassie and that Diddy would tell her to stay the f--- out of my relationship Richard claimed Combs advised them if she didn t stay in line there would be consequences Richard also testified that she was willing to work with Diddy again even after he allegedly threatened her life Diddy s defense lawyer Nicole Westmoreland required Richard about reaching out to Combs as in recent weeks as or Richard testified that if they got Diddy Dirty Money back together she would be required to be around Combs often working writing touring traveling out of state and out of the country LIKE WHAT YOU RE READING CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSRichard explained Assistant U S Attorney Mitzi Steiner that she reached out to Diddy to work with him after ending their professional relationship because Kalenna Harper the third member of Diddy Dirty Money requested it Richard explained contact was sporadic but she wished to get Diddy Dirty Money back together because of the issues Harper was allegedly having According to Richard she didn t want to go back to work with Diddy because it wasn t good She claimed she just wished to help a friend Kerry Morgan also testified and claimed Diddy physically assaulted her in leading to the end of her friendship with the Me U singer Diddy's lawyer questioned Morgan about why that would break up her friendship with Cassie Morgan replied I draw my line at physical abuse According to Morgan s testimony she and Cassie have not spoken in seven years CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTERMorgan cut off contact after Cassie offered her to sign a NDA about Diddy's alleged abuse after she claimed he assaulted her at Cassie's home in They were allegedly listening to music when Diddy walked into the room Cassie allegedly proceeded to lock herself in the bathroom WATCH SEAN DIDDY COMBS ASSAULTS CASSIE VENTURA IN LOS ANGELES HOTEL CIRCUMSTANCE He came up behind me choked me Morgan claimed before Diddy allegedly threw a hanger at her head which hit her right behind her ear She allegedly suffered a concussion from the occurrence and was treated at an urgent care Diddy was charged with racketeering conspiracy sex trafficking by force fraud or coercion and transportation to engage in prostitution in a federal indictment unsealed Sept He has maintained his innocence If detected guilty he faces a minimum of years behind bars or a maximum sentence of life in prison Officers allege Diddy ran a criminal enterprise through his businesses including Bad Boy Entertainment Combs Enterprises and Combs Global among others He used firearms threats of violence coercion and verbal emotional physical and sexual abuse to fulfill his sexual desires according to prosecutors Fox News' Maria Paronich contributed to this analysis