In a pivotal moment in the ongoing federal s.є.x trafficking and racketeering trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs, the defense’s motion for a mistrial was denied by Judge Arun Subramanian on May 28, 2025. This decision ensures that the high-profile case, which has captivated public attention, will proceed as scheduled.

Defense’s Mistrial Motion Denied

The defense team sought a mistrial following testimony from arson investigator Lance Jimenez regarding a 2012 incident involving the firebombing of rapper Kid Cudi’s car.

Jimenez mentioned that fingerprint evidence from the scene had been destroyed, which the defense argued could unfairly suggest Combs’ involvement in tampering with evidence.

However, Judge Subramanian ruled that the testimony did not prejudice the jury and instructed them to disregard the specific questions about the destroyed fingerprint cards.

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Allegations of Abuse and Coercion

The trial has featured testimonies detailing alleged abuse by Combs. Singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura testified that Combs coerced her into participating in non-consensual s.є.xual acts and threatened to release explicit videos to manipulate her.

Celebrity stylist Deonte Nash corroborated Ventura’s claims, recounting instances where she expressed distress over being forced into such situations.

Testimony from Kid Cudi

Rapper Kid Cudi, whose real name is Scott Mescudi, testified about the 2012 firebombing of his Porsche, linking the incident to Combs’ alleged jealousy over Cudi’s relationship with Ventura.

He described the aftermath of the attack, including damage to his vehicle and emotional distress.

Trial Progress and Potential Outcomes

The trial, which began on May 12, 2025, is expected to continue for several more weeks, with over 15 witnesses having testified so far. If convicted, Combs faces the possibility of life imprisonment.

The case has sparked widespread discussions about accountability and abuse of power in the entertainment industry.

As the trial proceeds, the public and media continue to closely monitor developments, awaiting further testimonies and the eventual verdict.

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs trial day 15 recap: Judge denies motion for a mistrial over arson dispute

Diddy Trial Day 11: Celebrity stylist and LAFD arson investigator questioned in court

Diddy Trial Day 11: Celebrity stylist and LAFD arson investigator questioned in courtCelebrity stylist Deonte Nash and LAFD investigator Lance Jimenez were called to testify on Wednesday, May 28. Eva Pilgrim, Aaron Katersky and ABC News contributors explain the latest court updates.

Testimony Wednesday in the s.є.x-trafficking and racketeering trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs was marked by a surprise motion for a mistrial from Combs’ defense team. The play, prompted by a reference to destroyed evidence in an arson investigation, was quickly turned back by the judge, who has kept a tight grip on the headline-grabbing trial.

Judge Arun Subramanian rejected the defense request for a mistrial after having the jury removed from the courtroom in the wake of testimony related to the alleged firebombing of the Porsche owned by Combs’ rival, rapper Kid Cudi, whose legal name is Scott Mescudi.

An arson investigator told jurors that fingerprint evidence obtained after an earlier break-in was inexplicably destroyed after it was turned over to the Los Angeles Police Department.

In response, defense attorneys alleged that prosecutors were attempting to imply Combs interfered with the investigation into the incident — a suggestion defense lawyers said was out of bounds.

Sean “Diddy” Combs watches as his defense lawyer Brian Steel cross examines Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Officer Christopher Ignacio at Combs’ s.є.x trafficking trial in New York City, May 28, 2025 in this courtroom sketch.
Jane Rosenberg/Reuters

Subramanian dispensed with the request, in part, because the witness never answered a question posed by prosecutors about whether it would be unusual for fingerprint evidence to have been destroyed by LAPD staffers.

The mistrial motion marked the first time Combs’ attorneys pushed to short-circuit the trial, now in its third week of testimony, and threatens to land Combs behind bars for life if he is convicted. Prosecutors allege that Combs used his money and power to lead a sprawling criminal enterprise that enabled him to coerce women into s.є.x.

Sean “Diddy” Combs’ defense lawyer Alexandra Shapiro requests a mistrial at Combs’ s.є.x trafficking trial in New York City, May 28, 2025 in this courtroom sketch.
Jane Rosenberg/Reuters

Combs has pleaded not guilty. His lawyers, confronted with testimony detailing a private life marked by violence, s.є.xual escapades and illicit drug use, have argued that Combs might be guilty of other crimes but not the charges included in the federal case against him.

The 15th day of the trial concluded with testimony from a close friend of Combs’ former lover and the prosecution’s star witness, Cassie Ventura. The friend, celebrity stylist Deonte Nash, testified to seeing Ventura physically and verbally abused by Combs.

He told the jury Ventura, a singer who hoped Combs would make her a star, told him that she did not want to participate in Combs’ s.є.x orgies, called “freak-offs.”

Ventura’s disturbing and often emotional testimony was the centerpiece of the trial’s start. Attorneys were rushed to finish Ventura’s appearance because she was on the verge of delivering her third child, and a source close to Ventura said Wednesday afternoon that Ventura has, in fact, given birth.

Defense attorneys unsuccessfully request a mistrial

Defense attorneys made their request for a mistrial after LA Fire Department arson investigator Lance Jimenez was questioned about the fingerprint evidence recovered while investigating the scene of Kid Cudi’s torched Porsche 911.

Kid Cudi testified last week that he suspected Combs was behind the fire, though the rap mogul has long denied being involved.

Jimenez told jurors that he responded to the incident on Jan. 9, 2012, and quickly reached the conclusion that the fire was caused by a “makeshift firebomb” known as a Molotov cocktail.

“Somebody had lit it, cut the roof and dropped it in the front seat,” Jimenez told the jury. “In my opinion, it was targeted.”

Jimenez said he took note of the slash in the canvas top of the black Porsche 911 Cabriolet and “burn patterns” on the seat, carpeting and roof. The description was backed up by photos shown to the jury and are now publicly available.

“There was a bottle on the front seat, and there was a cloth handkerchief on the center console that was burned,” Jimenez said. “Inside the bottle, I observed a liquid that gave an odor I know to be gasoline.”

Jimenez said he also noticed a disposable red lighter on the ground, and walked the jury through photos of the damage, including the soot damage on the driver’s door, the burns on the interior and the cut in the canvas roof.

The jury also saw a picture of the lighter, the 40-ounce Old English 800 malt liquor bottle used to make the Molotov cocktail and a burned handkerchief.

Jimenez testified that Kid Cudi had his home swept for fingerprints after the incident. Two prints were lifted from the glass front door, Jimenez told the jury, but the fingerprint cards he turned in to the LAPD evidence unit were destroyed in August 2012. The LAPD declined to comment about the investigation and destruction of the fingerprint cards.

After prosecutors asked Jimenez if it was “unusual” for fingerprint evidence to be destroyed, defense attorneys immediately moved for a mistrial, accusing the government of prosecutorial misconduct.

Combs’ team accused the government of trying to plant the idea that Combs was responsible for the destruction of the fingerprints lifted from Kid Cudi’s front door.

“It was becoming clearer and clearer that this inference was what the government was doing this for,” Shapiro said. “There’s no way to unring this bell.”

Subramanian denied the mistrial but gave the jury a warning.

“Before the break, you heard some testimony about fingerprint cards, and I’m now instructing you that questions regarding the destruction of the fingerprint cards and the answers are irrelevant to this case and to the defendant and are not to be considered by you,” Subramanian said.

Jimenez testified he tried calling several people at Kid Cudi’s suggestion, including Ventura and Combs’ former assistant Capricorn Clark. He said he was unable to reach them.

No charges were filed in connection with the arson, though the case has not been closed. Jimenez said the status is “inactive pending anything further.”

Los Angeles police officer recounts aftermath of alleged Porsche firebombing

Prosecutors began the day by calling to the witness stand the Los Angeles police officer who responded to Kid Cudi’s home on Dec. 22, 2011, after he reported a break-in.

LAPD officer Christopher Ignacio said he went through the home with the rapper and recorded the incident as trespassing for “someone entering someone’s property without the owner’s consent.”

When he ran the license plate from a black Cadillac Escalade seen driving from the house, the report from the California Department of Motor Vehicles showed the registered owner as Bad Boy Productions, Inc., Combs’ company.

Jurors saw the DMV report linking the car to Bad Boy Productions, the only piece of evidence that ties Combs’ company to the incident.

Tuesday, Combs’ former personal assistant, Clark, told jurors that Combs and a bodyguard kidnapped her at gunpoint from an apartment and drove to Kid Cudi’s home. She testified they entered the house. Kid Cudi testified that nothing was missing but he found Christmas presents opened on the counter and his dog locked in a bathroom.

On cross-examination by Combs’ attorneys, defense lawyers attempted to stress that Ignacio’s report did not mention a firearm being involved.

During Tuesday’s testimony, defense attorneys similarly pressed Clark about her recollection that Combs had a gun on him at the time of the incident – a detail that could be vital to prosecutors who could argue the alleged kidnapping is connected to the racketeering conspiracy component of the case against Combs.

Ventura’s Friend: ‘Quite often’ saw Ventura with bruises

Cassie Ventura’s longtime friend and celebrity stylist Deonte Nash testified he “quite often” saw Combs’ girlfriend Ventura with bruises, and he “quite often” knew her to spend nights with Combs in hotel rooms against her will.

On Ventura’s 29th birthday, Nash testified that Combs told Ventura, “[expletive] you. I do all this for you, and you can’t do this one thing for me,” Nash said. “Cassie said, ‘He’s just mad that I don’t want to go to the hotel and freak off with him.’”

Combs, according to Nash’s testimony, would decide how Ventura would appear, from her clothing to her hairstyle. He recalled arriving with Cassie at the 2014 Vanity Fair Oscars afterparty. “She looked bomb. Her hair was down,” Nash said, but he told the jury Combs came over and said, “I thought I told you she needs to wear her hair up.”

Nash testified Combs angrily grabbed him by his jacket and lifted him up. “I just started asking people at the party for hairpins,” Nash said.

During his testimony, Nash recalled numerous instances of violence and threats of violence by Combs, specifically one incident when he said Ventura considered climbing over a hotel balcony in Beverly Hills to escape Combs, who had just arrived. Nash testified that Ventura “was frightened” after he told her “that Puff was downstairs looking for her.”

Sean “Diddy” Combs watches as prosecutor Maurene Comey questions celebrity stylist Deonte Nash, at Combs’ s.є.x trafficking trial in New York City, May 28, 2025 in this courtroom sketch.
Jane Rosenberg/Reuters

Testifying because he was subpoenaed, Nash recalled Combs telling Ventura “that he wouldn’t put her music out, that he would get her parents fired from their jobs, that he would put out s.є.x tapes.”

Federal prosecutors have alleged Combs maintained coercive control over Ventura that caused her to engage in freak-offs that she did not want to be part of.

The celebrity stylist remains a friend of Ventura’s to this day, he testified, and said he helped her pick a wedding dress as well as talked to her about what she would wear while testifying at trial.

Defense portrayed Combs as having the final say over Cassie’s look as a business decision instead of an element of coercion, as prosecutors alleged.

“It’s important for the person who ran the label that the person look good, fair to say?” defense attorney Xaviar Donaldson asked.

“Sometimes, yeah,” Nash agreed.