Cassie plans on testifying during Diddy's upcoming trial -- and it won't be anonymous, TMZ has confirmed.
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00:00We are going to start with Diddy, because there is something about this, honestly, it doesn't make sense.
00:08Not this part. Cassie, who is the star witness in this case.
00:13She is referred to in the indictment as Victim 1.
00:15And everybody knows it's her because they say, they reference her with respect to the beating video.
00:21So we know Cassie is Victim 1.
00:24She is going to display herself as Cassie.
00:29She's not going to be anonymous.
00:31There was talk about that.
00:33But there are three other alleged victims.
00:36And somehow the feds are saying, we will keep them anonymous.
00:42And that doesn't make sense to me.
00:44What they are saying, what the feds have said is that Victims 2, 3, and 4 will testify but use pseudonyms.
00:51Not even initials.
00:53They're just going to have some pseudonym that they use when referring to Victims 2, 3, and 4 who are expected to testify.
01:02So the guy to my left could go as Jeffrey Goldstein.
01:06But we know it's not Jeffrey Goldstein, because I'm looking at him right now.
01:10Are you saying I could not be named Jeffrey Goldstein?
01:14What are you trying to say Harvey?
01:15For all sorts of reasons, you're not Jeffrey Goldstein.
01:18You don't know who my dad is.
01:20But it is going to be interesting once the trial starts.
01:23So you'll have Cassie testifying, a pregnant Cassie by the way, testifying openly in court.
01:30But what they do with the other three, I mean there are a number of ways they could do it.
01:35I spoke to somebody connected to the defense.
01:39And all I got back is, that's impossible.
01:42Well, there are certainly people who are going to know who it is.
01:46I would imagine they have to let the jury see the face.
01:49They're going to take the stand.
01:51And yes, because look, one of the things about testifying in a case is the jury isn't just listening.
02:01They are looking.
02:02They are looking at facial expressions, body language, hesitation, reactions, all of that.
02:10And if they put him in a different room and blur their face, that opens the door if Diddy gets convicted to an appeal.
02:21So the other option would be to clear the court.
02:25But the media is still going to, you can't not have the media in there.
02:29Well, I mean they could seal it.
02:31But that doesn't make sense.
02:33I can't imagine they're going to seal this case.
02:35They seal certain child custody cases, guardianship cases.
02:40Britney Spears, for example.
02:42That was all sealed.
02:43You couldn't go in.
02:44This is different.
02:45Could they seal it because you're dealing with alleged sexual assault victims?
02:49No.
02:50I mean if you look at the history, at least, look, I don't know what the feds are thinking.
02:56But that's not what happens in court.
02:59And, again, I just had a very cursory talk with somebody who said, you know, connected to the defense team, that's just impossible.
03:08It's not going to happen.
03:09I don't see how it happens.
03:11I think it's really difficult to do, but the feds have some competing interests here.
03:14This is a case that involves sex trafficking.
03:16You've had child sex trafficking cases where you can blur witnesses' faces.
03:20You're absolutely right, though, that the jury will want to see the credibility and make those determinations based on body language and facial expressions.
03:26But there are other interests involved here.
03:28And if those other three victims want to preserve their anonymity and did that in exchange for cooperation with the feds' case against Diddy, they're going to try to accommodate them.
03:36Well, yeah, but wait a minute.
03:37You don't think there is grounds for appeal if they blur their face and have them testify in another room?
03:43They're adults.
03:44Yeah, look, I think Diddy's team will certainly see it as a ground for appeal, right?
03:48They can say, like, how could the jury—
03:50Do you see it that way?
03:51I don't know.
03:52It depends on what sort of restrictions and how they balance the competing concerns there.
03:55Diddy certainly has a right to confront the people who are testifying against him.
03:58That is a core constitutional right.
04:00And to the extent that's undermined in any way, it would be grounds for appeal.
04:03But the feds do have a case for protecting some of the anonymity of people to encourage people to come forward.
04:08They never said in the legal papers how they're going to protect their anonymity.
04:14They never explained it.
04:15So I just don't get it.
04:17I don't understand how they do it, and I don't believe they would go that far that they would open themselves up to an appeal on this.
04:27The two most important things are that the jury get to see them and that the alleged victim, if it's a sexual crime, they have a right to not have their identity out there, right?
04:40You can do a Jane Doe, because we've seen this before, where there are Jane Does, even in civil cases, where the judge says, no, you've got to disclose.
04:49Once the trial happens, you could do it as a Jane Doe when you file, but once the trial happens, you have to take the stand.
04:56You're the moving party in a civil case.
04:59Here, there are star witnesses, and Diddy has a right to confront the star witnesses.
05:05And the question is, if you remove them from the courtroom, which you can do with minors, but not with adults, I just don't see it happening.
05:15I don't understand it.
05:16I don't understand it.
05:17Hi, Shamika Sanders from Staten Island.
05:20And I think it's incredibly brave for Cassie to take the stand in this case against Diddy because his legal team has done so much in their power to change the narrative around her story.
05:32So who better than her to tell her story?
05:35Yeah, I mean, it makes a big difference.
05:37You're absolutely right.