For Cassie Ventura, violence at the hands of Sean Combs "became her normal," federal prosecutor Christy Slavik asserted during the government's closing argument.
Ventura experienced it and "saw and heard about the defendant attacking her friends," Slavik said, naming Combs' former assistant "Mia"; longtime Ventura friend Bryana Bongolan; celebrity stylist Deonte Nash; and former Ventura Kerry Morgan.
"The defense asked why, if the violence was so bad, she didn't leave. But you know why," Slavik told the jury, telling them that fear overrides an inclination to flee.
"There was no safe space for Cassie," Slavik said.
So-called "freak-off" sexual encounters were also part of Ventura's norm, according to Slavik, noting that Ventura had previously testified that they became like a job.
"'Freak-offs' did not occur in isolation. The defendant wanted them all the time," Slavik said. While Ventura testified that she agreed to participate in the first one, Slavik told the jury it should be "no surprise" that Ventura came to despise them, reminding the jury they meant hours covered in baby oil, wearing uncomfortable outfits, and sometimes occurred when she had her menstrual period. Allegedly, Combs or an escort also would urinate on her, Slavik said.
Slavik said the "freak-offs" were a "turn on for him," meaning Combs, but humiliating for Ventura.
"We're not asking you to find that every 'freak-off' was an instance of sex trafficking but there were many she participated in because of his force, threats of force and coercion," Slavik said. "That conduct is illegal. That conduct is sex trafficking."
Slavik also asked jurors not to be "fooled" into thinking that what they saw on explicit video footage was "anything more than a performance," with Ventura pretending to like the directions Combs was giving. Combs' defense has maintained that all sexual encounters were consensual.
Slavik walked the jury through one more play of the 2016 hotel security surveillance video footage in which Combs is depicted wearing only a towel and, Slavik said, "looks ridiculous."
She said Combs was not, as the defense asserted, "out of his mind high on drugs" when he attacked Ventura. Rather, Slavik told the jury, the video shows Combs "in complete control of himself" while dealing with a security guard after the attack and trying to limit the damage to his reputation.
The footage depicted Combs dragging Ventura after attacking her to "finish the 'freak-off,'" Slavik said. "This incident should leave no doubt in your mind that the defendant committed trafficking."