This story may contain accounts and descriptions of actual or alleged events that some readers may find disturbing.
Sean Combs’ one-time personal assistant, David James, returns Tuesday to the witness stand in Combs’ sex trafficking and racketeering trial.
He testified that he was required to ensure Combs’ hotel rooms were stocked with 40 different skin care products, a Louis Vuitton bag that routinely contained $10,000 cash, “probably 25 or 30 different pill bottles,” baby oil, Astroglide lubricant, condoms and prophylactics that he paid for in cash provided by one of Combs’ security guards.
James testified that he procured drugs for Combs, sometimes prescription Percocet, which he told the court he sometimes filled under his own name.
James also testified that Combs allegedly took ecstasy pills marked with the face of former President Barack Obama. Asked how often he saw Combs take drugs, James responded, “I would say every day.”
Obtaining and distributing narcotics is among the alleged racketeering acts in the indictment against Combs.
In his testimony, James recalled taking ecstasy and dancing around one of Combs’ parties. Later, James testified, Combs reviewed footage of the party, noticed James in the footage and allegedly told him, “I’m going to keep this footage in case I ever need it.”
James further testified that in 2008, Combs asked him to bring an iPod into a hotel room in Miami.
“I saw Cassie [Ventura] on the bed. She had a white comforter up to her neck, her head to the side and she did not move when I entered,” James testified. He also told the jury that he remembered a “completely naked” man in the room he did not recognize.
The man “scurried out as if he didn’t want to be seen,” James told the court.
James also testified about a time when Combs dispatched him and a security guard named D-Roc to Mel’s Diner in Los Angeles at 3 a.m. or 4 a.m.
“We pulled into the parking lot and D-Roc looks over and says, ‘That’s m************ Suge Knight,’” James testified, clarifying for the jury that the then-chairman of Death Row Records was a Combs rival.
James testified that D-Roc approached Knight and said, “It’s me, D-Roc, Biggie’s boy.”
James testified that four black SUVs pulled into the parking lot and that he allegedly saw someone pass Knight a gun.
“D-Roc said, ‘We got to f****** go,’” James told the court.
James testified that when he returned to Combs’ house, Combs and Ventura were outside arguing: “Cassie looked very distressed. She was telling him not to go” to the diner.
James told the court that Combs told him to get behind the wheel of a black Escalade and drive to the diner. “M************ go,” James testified Combs told him from the back seat of the vehicle. James further told the court that Combs had three handguns on his lap at the time.
“I was really struck by it. I realized for the first time being Mr. Combs’ assistant that my life was in danger,” James testified. A short time later, James gave his notice and left the company, he testified.
On cross-examination, defense attorney Marc Agnifilo challenged James’ recollection of the event, which prosecutors have said supports their contention that Combs was the leader of a criminal enterprise.
“Did you leave D-Roc at the diner?” Agnifilo asked.
“That’s a crazy statement,” James replied.
Asked why he did not object to returning to the diner with an allegedly gun-carrying Combs, James answered, “You have someone with three guns in close proximity, I didn’t think I had the option.”
“You were executing the mission,” Agnifilo asserted.
James responded, “I was doing what I was told.”
Tune in to Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy twice weekly for real-time updates on the trial.
If you are affected by abuse and needing support, or know someone who is, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). You can also chat online at thehotline.org or online.rainn.org, respectively.
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