The China Mail - Sean Combs's ex Cassie to face defense grilling at second day in court

Singer and model Ventura, better known as Cassie, is also likely to face questions about allegations Combs raped her in 2018, as well as her graphic accounts of elaborate sex parties organized by the hip-hop icon.

In an emotional first day of testimony, Ventura, who is heavily pregnant, also detailed beatings and abuse at the hands of Combs whom she painted as controlling and willing to wield his wealth and influence to get his way.

She gave vivid accounts that will underpin much of the prosecution's case against the music industry figure who is alleged to have used violence and blackmail to manipulate women over many years.

Ventura recounted so-called "freak-off" sex parties saying she participated because she was "just in love and wanted to make (Combs) happy -- to a point I didn't feel like I had much of a choice."

Ventura, who is 17 years younger than Combs and first met him when she was 19, described how the mogul would sometimes urinate on her, or he would instruct one of the numerous sex workers he engaged to do so.

- 'It was disgusting' -

The escorts, almost always men, were paid thousands of dollars in cash after encounters.

"It was disgusting. It was too much. It was overwhelming," she said, adding that the hotel rooms used for the marathon sex sessions were often trashed, with establishments charging sizable cleaning and repair bills including for sheets stained with blood and urine.

Combs's defense team indicated that during cross-examination, which is expected as early as Wednesday afternoon, they would seek to emphasize that Ventura took drugs of her own free will, and behaved erratically.

Ventura said that during the encounters she took drugs including ecstasy, ketamine and cocaine, and that the "drugs honestly helped" her meet Combs's demands to stay awake for days on end.

The drugs also had a "dissociative and numbing" effect, she said, "a way to not feel it for what it really was."

In a hotel surveillance clip from March 2016 shown to jurors Monday and again Tuesday, Combs is seen brutally beating and dragging Ventura down a hallway.

The prosecution played portions of the footage while Ventura was on the stand.

When asked why she didn't fight back or get up, Ventura answered simply that curled up on the ground "felt like the safest place to be."

Combs's defense team insists while some of his behavior was questionable it did not constitute racketeering and sex trafficking. He denies all counts and proceedings are expected to last eight to 10 weeks.

B.Carter--ThChM