Sean Combs trial updates: Court adjourned until Tuesday after Kid Cudi testimony

The tedious cross-examination of Dr. Dawn Hughes, interrupted by sidebars and a conference outside the jury's presence, harped on her "general" testimony that defense attorney Jonathan Bach said is "not keyed to the particular facts at issue" in the trial.

The defense portrayed Hughes as a hired gun for prosecutors who makes more money testifying in court than she does in her clinical practice.

"Isn't it a fact that you have never come into court, taken the witness stand in defense of a man accused of a sex crime?" Bach asked. "That's correct, I don't evaluate offenders," Hughes responded.

On re-direct, Hughes said she has testified for both the prosecution and defense in criminal cases.

"Have you also been retained by defense attorneys?" prosecutor Mitzi Steiner asked. "Yes of course," Hughes answered.

"Have you been retained by any of the defense attorneys in this case?" Steiner asked. "Yes, I have," Hughes replied.

Hughes had been retained in a case by Combs' attorney Brian Steel. On re-cross, Hughes said she was not called to testify in that case.

Her testimony is over. The next witness is George Kaplan.

Darla Miles has the latest on the Sean "Diddy" Combs sex trafficking trial from Lower Manhattan.

During the jury's lunch break, George Kaplan, a former employee of Sean Combs, was granted immunity.

Without it, Kaplan signaled his intention to invoke his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination.

Judge Arun Subramanian granted the order.

Kaplan will testify pursuant to a subpoena following the testimony of Dawn Hughes

Though she testified generically about an abuse victim's passive and active self-defense, psychologist Dawn Hughes described some of the coping mechanism the jury heard Cassie Ventura employed in her 11-year relationship with Sean Combs.

Passive self-defense is something "the least provocative as possible," Hughes said, listing as one example, "curling up in a ball."

Both Dawn Richard and Kerry Morgan described seeing Ventura drop into a fetal position during beatings they said they witnessed Combs inflict on her.

Hughes also described a link between trauma and substance abuse. Ventura testified she turned to drugs during "freak offs" to "numb" herself and became addicted to opiates.

On cross-examination, the defense took pains to stress how Hughes did not examine Ventura or anyone else associated with the case.

"You can't diagnose somebody without hearing what they have to say, correct?" Bach asked. "Correct," Hughes answered.

The defense also asked about the concept of malingering, which Hughes defined as fabricating psychological symptoms.

"People can fabricate emotional responses, correct?" Bach asked. "They can," Hughes responded.

Court is taking its lunch break until 12:45, when cross-examination of Hughes will continue.

It is "very common" for victims to stay in abusive relationships not because they are unconcerned about the abuse but because they feel trapped, an expert witness testified Wednesday at the sex trafficking and racketeering trial of Sean Combs.

"No victim wants to be abused," Dr. Dawn Hughes said. "They stay in the relationship because it's not just about hitting. It's about a lot of abusive behaviors that make a victim feel trapped."

She also testified that abuse is often not the only defining characteristic of a relationship. "There's almost always love," Hughes said. "It creates an intense psychological bond that creates an attachment with their abuser."

Expert witnesses are not allowed to examine the defendant, alleged victims or witnesses in a criminal case. Hughes spoke generally about why victims of repeated violence and sexual assault remain in a relationship, though it cannot be lost on the jury that her testimony followed days of testimony about Combs and Cassie Ventura.

"It's hard for us to break up with someone under the best of circumstances," Hughes said. "When you have all this violence and abuse, you're just trying to live day to day in this very micro way," explaining that emotional resources become devoted to avoiding getting hit instead of how to get out of an abusive relationship.

She said trauma victims experience a "tremendous amount" of shame, humiliation and degradation.

"If you can't talk about what's happening in the relationship then you can't get help. And who's going to talk about all these humiliating, degrading things that are happening to you," Hughes said.

If victims are able to escape an abusive relationship, Hughes told the jury they often return, as Ventura testified she did repeatedly with Combs.

"They return for the love, they return for the companionship. They return for the good version of the partner that they love," Hughes said.

She described the coping mechanisms of abuse victims.

"These are trying to talk to your partner, try to stop the violence. Trying to placate and give compliance to make your partner OK. Sometimes it's physically fighting back," Hughes said.

Ventura testified about all of them.