Prosecutor says Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs thought he was above the law as he led a racketeering conspiracy

NEW YORK AP Sean Diddy Combs thought his fame wealth and power put him above the law as he led a criminal enterprise for two decades using power violence and fear to carry out brutal crimes a prosecutor stated a jury at the music mogul s sex trafficking trial during closing arguments Thursday Over the last several weeks you ve learned a lot about Sean Combs Assistant U S Attorney Christy Slavik began He s the leader of a criminal enterprise He doesn t take no for an answer And now you know about multiple crimes he committed with members of his enterprise She announced sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges were supported by proof that over two decades Combs kidnapped one of his employees committed arson by trying to blow up a car engaged in forced labor bribed a hotel protection worker and carried out the brutal crimes at the heart of this scenario Combs again and again forced threatened and manipulated former girlfriend Casandra Cassie Ventura and an ex-girlfriend who testified under the pseudonym Jane into having sex with escorts for his own entertainment Slavik revealed speaking from a lectern in front of jurors The prosecutor explained Combs forced or coerced Cassie and Jane to engage in the dayslong sexual performances known as freak-offs or hotel nights with drugs violence or by threatening financial harm or to release video recordings he d made of certain of the hundreds of encounters The defendant used power violence and fear to get what he sought she commented He thought that his fame wealth and power put him above the law Slavik reported Combs counted on silence and shame to enable and prolong his abuse He used a small army of employees including personal assistants and bodyguards to harm women and cover it up she announced The theory of racketeering law is that when someone commits crime as part of a group they re more powerful and dangerous Slavik disclosed The defendant was a powerful man but he became more powerful and dangerous because of his inner circle his businesses the enterprise Combs and his inner circle committed hundreds of racketeering acts she declared As Slavik spoke Combs sat with his head down his chair pushed back a limited feet from the defense table Wearing a light-colored sweater over a white button-down shirt and khakis he sometimes scribbled notes to his lawyers Members of Combs family including several of his children were packed into the courtroom gallery behind him Since his arrest at a Manhattan hotel last September Combs and his lawyers have insisted he is innocent though they conceded at trial that domestic violence occurred Combs was abusive physical emotional psychological sexual abuse Slavik stated The defendant doesn t deny the abuse They just want to call it domestic violence and claim it doesn t have anything to do with the crimes charged The defense which will present its closing arguments Friday built its situation for acquittal through lengthy cross-examinations of majority of of the establishment s spectators Chosen testified only in response to subpoenas and insisted they didn t want to be there Combs lawyers contend there was no racketeering conspiracy because no employees agreed to join any conspiracy In her closing Slavik revealed employees repeatedly agreed to commit crimes for Combs including delivering him drugs accompanying him to kidnap his personal assistant Capricorn Clark and locking his girlfriend in a hotel room after he stomped on her face Repeatedly the prosecutor returned to the freak-offs reminding jurors of text messages and testimony that established that the women didn t want to participate including one in which Jane notified Combs that she felt he gave her no choice but to participate It s dark sleazy and makes me feel disgusted with myself I feel it s the only reason you have me around and why you pay for the house Jane wrote I don t want to feel obligated to perform these nights with you in fear of losing the roof over my head On Friday jurors again viewed now-infamous protection footage of Combs hitting kicking and dragging Cassie at the Intercontinental Hotel in Los Angeles in after she tried to leave a freak-off with a male sex worker He knew exactly what he was doing That is sex trafficking Slavik recounted the jury adding that Combs was knowingly using force and coercion to get Cassie back to that room where the escort was waiting Judge Arun Subramanian described jurors that after a defense closing Friday and a rebuttal by a prosecutor he would read instructions on the law before they could begin deliberations