Combs's defence team, which includes Teny Geragos, has argued that the music star had been known to have violent outbursts, but argued he was not party to sex trafficking. In an opening statement at the Southern District of New York Federal Court,

Jennifer Beidel, a former US attorney for the Southern District of New York, tells the BBC that because of the length of Casandra Ventura and Sean "Diddy" Combs' relationship - about a decade, on and off - Ventura's testimony in this case is crucial.