Diddy lawyers want Kid Cudi's car explosion statements struck from the record
Following the much-anticipated testimony of Kid Cudi, lawyers for Sean "Diddy" Combs are trying to have some of his comments removed from the record.
Kudi, whose real name is Scott Mescudi, took the stand last week amid the music mogul's sex-crimes trial to detail his brief romantic relationship with Casandra "Cassie" Ventura Fine, a longtime partner of Combs and a star witness for the prosecution.
Mescudi chronicled his courtship with Ventura Fine, and intimated that Combs, in a jealous rage, had broken into his home and helped orchestrate an explosion that destroyed his Porsche.
Lawyers for Combs are now taking aim at that testimony, asking the judge over the weekend to strike it from the record and calling it "highly improper."
"Mescudi's opinion that Mr. Combs was 'lying' about his Porsche was erroneously admitted and should be stricken from the record," defense lawyers wrote in the May 26 filing.
Their gripe is over an exchange between Mescudi and a government lawyer who asked him whether, after Combs insisted he did not know about the car explosion, he believed him. After the question was reframed to avoid objection, Mescudi testified that he thought Combs was lying.
Objecting to the statement in their filing, defense lawyers argue that Mescudi's answer was "mere speculation," and that it threatened to create "unfair prejudice" within the jury against Combs, who faces charges of sex trafficking, racketeering, and transportation to engage in prostitution.
Combs is accused of arson amid the racketeering acts, likely in reference to the explosion of Mescudi's vehicle. The music mogul, who is also facing a torrent of civil suits, has pleaded not guilty to all federal charges.
The trial, which resumes May 27, represents the possible legal undoing of one of the music industry's biggest stars. A one-time kingmaker in hip-hop, Combs is now in police custody, graying and sitting behind the defense table in courtroom sketches, watching as the government paints a picture of a violent and sexually troubled man who went scorched earth on Ventura Fine or others who threatened to unravel his ruse.
Combs' lawyers are painting a different picture, however, alleging that his relationship with Ventura Fine was mutually violent and that the "freak off" sex parties, while unconventional to some, represent the acts of consenting adults.