NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 The R&B singer Cassie could testify as soon as Tuesday in the sex trafficking trial of her ex-boyfriend Sean 鈥淒iddy鈥 Combs, as the music mogul is charged with orchestrating a deviant empire of exploitation that forced women into drugged-up sex parties he called 鈥渇reak-offs.鈥
. Prosecutors told jurors that for years, Combs to coerce women into abusive sexual encounters and became violent if they refused.
Lawyers for three-time Grammy winner argue that, though he could be violent, Combs never veered into sex trafficking and racketeering, telling jurors the sexual acts were consensual. Combs, 55, .
Testimony was to resume Tuesday with the continued cross-examination of a male stripper who says he was paid to have sex with Cassie while Combs watched and sometimes directed what should happen. The witness, Daniel Phillip, testified Monday that he stopped meeting with the couple after he saw Combs throw a bottle at her and then drag her by her hair into a bedroom as she screamed.
, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, has been at the center of Combs' stunning downfall. She alleging years of abuse. A surveillance video made public last year showed Combs beating her at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016. CNN aired the video last year, leading .
The video, which was played for jurors, shows Combs wearing only a white towel, punching, kicking and dragging Cassie in a hotel hallway.
Israel Florez, a former security officer at the hotel, testified Monday that he came across Combs while responding to a call about a woman in distress, and found Combs sitting in a chair with 鈥渁 devilish stare.鈥 Florez said Combs offered him a stack of money and said 鈥淒on't tell nobody."
Florez said he refused the cash and told Combs, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want your money. Just go back into your room.鈥
Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson said Combs beat Cassie often and with little provocation and threatened to ruin her music career by releasing videos of her engaging in sexual acts with male escorts during encounters he arranged.
Johnson said Combs sexually exploited and beat other women, including a woman identified only as Jane, who Combs is accused of attacking after she confronted him about the 鈥渇reak-offs.鈥
Cassie's lawsuit against Combs was settled within hours but it was followed by dozens of similar legal claims and touched off a criminal investigation.
An attorney for Combs, Teny Geragos, told the jury Combs' accusers were after his money, adding that jurors might think he's a 鈥渏erk鈥 and might not condone his 鈥渒inky sex,鈥 but that 鈥渉e's not charged with being a jerk.鈥
The Associated Press doesn鈥檛 generally identify people who say they are victims of sexual abuse unless they come forward publicly, as Cassie has done.
Judge Arun Subramanian says he鈥檚 inclined to grant a request by media organizations to view what a defense lawyer described as pornographic videos that will be shown to the jury as evidence in the case. But he鈥檚 giving the parties another day to make submissions on the matter.
Combs has been jailed in Brooklyn since his arrest in September. If convicted, he could get at least 15 years and up to life in prison.
