Sean 'Diddy' Combs trial day 12 recap: Jurors hear from expert witnesses and Diddy's former assistant

Jurors in Sean "Diddy" Combs' sex trafficking and racketeering trial on Wednesday heard from a former Combs employee who agreed to testify only after he was guaranteed that he would not be prosecuted for any crimes he might detail.

That development came on the seventh day of testimony in the headline-grabbing case that has pulled back the curtain on the private life of a man who had been a music and cultural trendsetter for more than a generation.

Prosecutors used the testimony of former Combs assistant George Kaplan to try to prove how Combs allegedly built a criminal enterprise that would feed his sexual desires while protecting his public persona.

Kaplan told jurors about the elaborate process of setting up hotel rooms for Combs to participate in what prosecutors allege were drug-fueled sex parties called "freak offs" and how Kaplan personally cleaned the rooms afterward to "protect" Combs from potential embarrassment that might ensue if hotel staff saw the aftermath. The episodes, according to the testimony, could be days-long affairs featuring illegal drugs and sex workers.

Combs has pleaded not guilty in the federal criminal case and faces the possibility of life in prison if he is convicted. His lawyers have argued that Combs might have committed other crimes – like abusing his former partner and taking illegal drugs – but did not engage in sex trafficking or racketeering as prosecutors have alleged.

Federal prosecutors this week have been working their way down a lengthy witness list. They called their first expert witness on Wednesday morning, as well as a federal agent. Prosecutors plan to call one of their most high-profile witnesses Thursday when Scott Mescudi – the Grammy-winning artist known as Kid Cudi – takes the stand.

The remainder of the government's witness list is not public. Defense attorneys signaled to the court that prosecutors may not call a witness known as "Gina" – a third alleged victim who would testify against Combs – because they are having trouble communicating with her lawyer and arranging her appearance.

Witness explains to the jury a day in the life as Sean Combs' personal assistant

Kaplan, Combs' former personal assistant, began his testimony on Wednesday afternoon by explaining the process of setting up and cleaning hotel rooms for the rap mogul. His testimony comes as federal prosecutors try to establish both a pattern of conduct for Combs and a web of associates who helped him allegedly commit crimes.

He testified that he often was given only a few hours' notice to set up a room and came prepared with a "hotel bag" filled with what were essentials for Combs: candles, baby oil, Astroglide lubricant, an audio speaker and extra clothing.

Kaplan testified that he would be tasked with cleaning the rooms after Combs was done with them, finding "lots of empty bottles" and baby oil "on the table, on the floor, on the bed." He testified he was concerned that if hotel staff had cleaned the rooms immediately after Combs left, they might try to sell videos of images of freak-off aftermath.

According to Kaplan, Combs allegedly asked him to buy illicit drugs on two occasions — a bag of MDMA in Miami and an unknown substance in Los Angeles. He said he later gave the drugs to Combs.

Though seemingly mundane, the testimony about the tasks involved in his 15-month tenure as Combs' personal assistant potentially helps prosecutors show the jury how orchestrating elaborate freak offs required the help of a criminal enterprise. He is set to face cross examination tomorrow.

Expert witness offers context on toxic relationship

As the trial progressed Wednesday, prosecutors attempted to rebut defense efforts to push back on earlier testimony from star witness Cassie Ventura, the singer who had a 11-year relationship with Combs. Ventura told the jury that she was abused and assaulted by Combs and forced to engage in sex acts with strangers and male prostitutes to satisfy Combs' voyeuristic fantasies.

Psychologist Dawn Hughes was called by prosecutors to explain to the jury that many people opt to stay in abusive relationships because they feel trapped or form an "intense psychological bond" that draws them to their abuser.

"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." She explained that oftentimes victims' emotional strength becomes devoted to avoiding beatings instead of plotting a way out of an abusive relationship.

While Hughes as an expert witness was not allowed to directly analyze Combs' relationship with Ventura, she offered indirect context for some of the topics Ventura touched on during her testimony. If victims are able to escape an abusive relationship, Hughes told the jury, they often return, as Ventura testified that she did repeatedly with Combs.

Hughes also said that victims often adopt passive self-defense mechanisms that don't provoke their abusers, such as "curling up in a ball." Earlier witnesses Dawn Richard and Kerry Morgan both testified that they saw Ventura drop into a fetal position during beatings they said they witnessed Combs inflicting.

During a lengthy cross-examination, defense attorneys attempted to portray Hughes as a hired gun for prosecutors.

"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.

But prosecutors then tried to blunt that courtroom maneuver on redirect examination.

"Have you also been retained by defense attorneys?" prosecutor Mitzi Steiner asked.

"Yes of course," Hughes said, noting she was hired to work for one of Combs' own defense attorneys in a different case, although she was not called to testify in that case.

Jury sees evidence from raid of Combs' Miami Beach home

A special agent from United States Homeland Security Investigations, which conducted much of the criminal investigation into Combs, began the morning by walking the jury through some of the evidence that he said was recovered from the rap star's home on the exclusive Miami Beach enclave of Star Island.

Special Agent Gerald Gannon testified that federal agents recovered the parts of two AR-15 assault-style rifles with defaced serial numbers only feet from where Combs allegedly stored materials for freak-offs, including baby oil, lingerie, platform heels and sex toys. Prosecutors have argued that the threat of violence allowed Combs to coerce his alleged victims to participate in freak-offs.

Jurors also saw the trove of drugs allegedly found in Combs' residence, including a variety of pills, marijuana, powders and other drugs that prosecutors have alleged were used to make women compliant during freak-offs and would allow them to perform long past the point of exhaustion.