Baby oil, drugs and violence

This newsletter contains graphic descriptions that some readers may find disturbing.

It didn't take long for the second week of Sean "Diddy" Combs' criminal trial to kick things into high gear.

On May 12, the court decided on the dozen people who could decide the former music icon's fate. The jury pool of 18 New Yorkers, which includes six alternates and ranges from 30 to 74 years old, was soon put to work.

They listened to opening statements for both sides, previewing the arguments and witness testimony they would hear over the next seven or so weeks in the Manhattan courtroom.

Two of my colleagues, Entertainment Reporter Patrick Ryan and Justice Department Correspondent Aysha Bagchi, were in the courthouse and reported their biggest takeaways from the proceedings.

Read on for the most noteworthy statements they heard from the prosecution, their witnesses and Combs' defense team.

Witnesses testify for the first time

For the first time, the court heard from some of the people testifying against Combs.

The prosecution first brought forward former InterContinental Hotel assistant security director Israel Florez, now an LAPD officer. Florez was cross-examined about his recollection of events when he responded to a call for "a woman in distress" after Combs attacked then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura Fine in an incident partially captured in a 2016 hotel surveillance video.

Then Daniel Phillip closed out the day with explicit details of his alleged paid sexual encounters with Cassie between 2012 and 2013, claiming he witnessed Combs' violence toward the singer. During these sessions, he said, Combs would issue instructions, such as putting on more baby oil or going slower.

The former male revue show performer said he was hired to have sex with Cassie on multiple occasions as Combs masturbated. He claimed that in one of their encounters, after Cassie asked Combs to "hold on one second" while using her computer, Combs threw a bottle of liquor in Cassie's direction and dragged her back to the bedroom by her hair as she screamed. When asked why he didn't intervene, Philip said: "If I tried to do something, I might lose my life."

Prosecutors: Diddy, a 'cultural icon,' had 'another side to him'

U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson laid the groundwork for prosecutors' case against Combs in her opening statement.

• Johnson acknowledged fans might know Combs as a "cultural icon, a businessman, larger than life." But she said there is "another side to him," one that allegedly "committed crime after crime" for 20 years.
• The court will see some videos of these alleged "freak off" sexual performances, which prosecutors say Combs orchestrated using illicit substances, threats and trafficking of escorts. Jurors will "hear (Combs) directing them," Johnson said. Some of these escorts will testify.

Diddy's lawyers say he might have committed domestic violence, but not sex trafficking

Meanwhile, Combs' team – led by Teny Geragos – did not shy away from his apparent proclivity for violence but insisted is not guilty of sex trafficking.

• "Sean Combs has a temper," Geragos said. "My client is not proud of that." However, she said, "Domestic violence is not sex trafficking."
• She admitted Combs "was physical" and a drug user, and "he had a bit of a different sex life." But the drugs were for "personal use," not coercion. She warned jurors not to "impose your moral beliefs" on Combs.
• Combs' alleged victims were "capable and strong" and "they did not stay with him over and over again because of force, fraud, or coercion." Remaining in a relationship with Combs was "a choice" Cassie made "every single day for years," Geragos said.

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