Cassie is set to testify against Diddy in his federal trial ... and, it better be sooner rather than later -- 'cause it looks like she may need to rest, recuperate and get ready for baby number 3 soon!
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00:00So the Diddy trial starts on Monday, and we know the star witness in this case absolutely positively is going to be Cassie Ventura,
00:10Diddy's ex-girlfriend, who is also, everybody knows, on this horrific tape of her getting beaten by Diddy back in 2016.
00:20That tape, not the CNN version, but another version, is going to be played to the jury.
00:27Well, take a look at Cassie. She is out in New York.
00:32That's her in New York today, and looking, we knew she was pregnant, and we hadn't seen her since really February when they announced that she was pregnant,
00:45but she seems pretty far along, and she will be testifying next week, taking the stand.
00:50We think that she'll testify next week, but that is going to have some impact, one hell of an impact on the jury.
01:00We have talked about before how appearance makes a difference in cases, how Diddy's appearance, wearing a sweater, having gray hair and glasses and whatnot,
01:11you know, that it's all designed for something. Well, optics make a difference in court, and when you think about what this case is about,
01:22this is about the defense saying that not only did Diddy lead a swinger's lifestyle, but so did Cassie,
01:30and that this was all consensual, and that they are saying there is no fraud, coercion, anything like that.
01:39When you look at Cassie getting on the stand, the jury is going to have to reconcile that image with the description or the picture that the defense is painting.
01:52Well, and also, they're going to hear her side of the story as she looks like that, and she's going to be telling,
02:00if she's refuting Diddy's version that it's, that was their lifestyle and that it was all consensual,
02:05I would imagine she's going to say some version of, I want it out, and I was just afraid to leave.
02:12Well, by the way, by the way, in a way, we already know what Cassie is going to say because she filed a lawsuit.
02:17She laid it out in great detail and said that there was fraud and coercion and force in this situation.
02:26And, you know, looking the way she looks, it makes a big difference.
02:30It's more believable.
02:32And what will be most interesting to me is how they handle cross-examination, right?
02:36I mean, the Diddy's defense team does have to paint her as part of a consensual, swinger-style relationship with Diddy for a number of years,
02:45but reconciling that with her pregnant belly, that fact that she's already a mother to, I believe, two other children,
02:51and painting her in that negative light is going to be very delicate in front of that jury,
02:55and I don't know how you can really pull it off.
02:57And it will be difficult for Diddy's attorney, whoever's doing the cross-examining, to push her.
03:04You can't, you know what I mean?
03:05Like, you can't go back against her.
03:07You can't refute things she's saying and be aggressive with her.
03:11And, by the way, what's going to be really important here is that Cassie video,
03:16because clearly they're going to play the Cassie video when she's on the stand,
03:19and they're going to ask her about that in great detail.
03:22And she is going to tell her version of it.
03:24We know that Diddy has said all along that it was not about forcing her to stay.
03:29This wasn't a freak-off situation.
03:31He said that they had an argument about her finding someone, another woman's number on his phone.
03:37Now, if she refutes that, how are they going to challenge her?
03:41Right.
03:41Because that's going to be, optically, a very difficult situation for the defense.
03:48You know, Harvey, I've been thinking a lot about it.
03:50I wonder if the defense team will actually just take a pass, let her give her direct testimony,
03:54and move along pretty quickly, because there's other witnesses that they'll be able to be more aggressive with,
03:59maybe, who take the stand than Cassie.
04:01If she is the first witness to take the stand, and you tell me just strategy-wise
04:08whether this would be a good thing for the prosecutors to do,
04:12she's the first person to take the stand.
04:14You're playing from behind if you're Diddy's team, right?
04:16Now you're in the hole right away with the jury, because Cassie's going to come out on top in that exchange.
04:25Now you're playing from behind.
04:26Does it make more sense as the prosecutors to have her go first, a strong leadoff,
04:31or do you wait a couple of witnesses and then bring her in?
04:34Well, they've said they are going to call two minor witnesses and then another witness.
04:39So I'm a little surprised that they're calling two minor witnesses first, not underage.
04:45They're just talking about people who are not central to the case.
04:48Right.
04:48I don't know who they are.
04:50In fact, what I'm told is neither does the defense.
04:52They haven't revealed it yet.
04:54Now that may have changed, and I don't know, because at some point they've got to give notice of who is taking the stand.
05:01Look, I mean, Cassie is everything in this case, and she sets it up.
05:06So would you start with her if you were the prosecutors?
05:08I thought they would start with her.
05:11I mean, I thought out of the box they would start with Cassie, because she can tell a complete story.
05:17Everybody else, in a sense, is additive.
05:19Now, there's something else.
05:21Speaking of ex-girlfriends, there are three ex-girlfriends.
05:25One is not cooperating.
05:30And the prosecution, it seems, is having great difficulty getting her to come to court to testify.
05:36They have described her.
05:37They've said this is victim three in the indictment.
05:41And she is, we know, an ex-girlfriend, know that she's an ex-girlfriend.
05:47And there was a whole exchange about her in court this week where they said, we're having trouble getting her to come in, that she has some conflict.
05:56She's got things going on in her personal life.
05:58And it was described by the government as almost like, she wants to be here, but we're not sure we're going to be able to get her here.
06:06We're talking to her lawyer.
06:08They didn't say it in those words.
06:10Yeah.
06:10But our sources are saying she has been uncooperative from the get-go and did not want to testify.
06:18And I'm just finding this really fascinating because what are they going to do on Monday when they deliver opening statements?
06:26Because an opening statement is when you lay out the case.
06:29You're going to hear from so-and-so and so-and-so and so-and-so.
06:33So the question, are they going to reference this woman if they can't deliver?
06:38Because what you don't want to do...
06:39Well, they have to reference it.
06:40She's in the indictment as victim three.
06:43They can't just ignore one of the victims that they put in the indictment.
06:46They could.
06:47The defense would tear them apart if they don't...
06:49Well, they could.
06:51The defense isn't going to say they didn't mention another alleged victim.
06:55So I don't think the defense is going to say that if they don't reference it.
06:58But I don't see how they reference it unless they have a lock that she's going to show up.
07:03Because if she doesn't show up, it's a problem.
07:05Yeah, and it's a devastating development for the prosecution because remember, that first indictment they brought just had Cassie.
07:10It had victim number one.
07:11And they've sort of cobbled together a case where they've added one.
07:14Right, and they've added them because they knew they needed to bolster their case beyond Cassie because he can always say I was in a long-term relationship with Cassie.
07:20They needed more people.
07:22And so this is a critical piece of the prosecution's case.
07:24To have that witness potentially not show up is a devastating blow for them.
07:28Hi, my name is Maritza.
07:29I'm from New York City.
07:31I think the defense team has their job cut out for them.
07:35Watching Cassie on the stand, tears probably coming out of her eyes, pregnant.
07:40It's hard not to see him as a monster, especially after watching that video.
07:44I think that the defense team needs to show a lot of footage, maybe pictures of them and happy moments to show that this was like a relationship.
07:52She didn't leave because she was in love.
07:54That's the only way they can go because they cannot put pressure on her.
07:58She's pregnant.
07:59They will look like a monstrous team altogether.
08:02It is going to be, this is going to be very delicate.