RETURNING CBS FALL. >> WELCOME BACK. THE PROSECUTION COULD SOON WRAP UP ITS CASE IN THE SEX TRAFFICKING AND RACKETEERING RACKETEERING TRIAL OF SEAN. SOME OF THEIR FINAL WITNESSES. A FORMER ASSISTANT TO COMBS AND A HOMELAND SECURITY SPECIAL AGENT, CBS NEWS LEGAL REPORTER KATRINA KAUFMAN JOINS US NOW LIVE OUTSIDE THE COURTHOUSE.
KATRINA, THANKS FOR JOINING US TODAY. WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT WHAT WE’VE HEARD AND SEEN FROM WITNESSES SO FAR TODAY? >> I’M REALLY GOOD SO WE HEARD. FROM BRENDAN PAUL. THIS IS A FORMER ASSISTANT OF SEAN COMBS, AND THIS IS SOMEONE WHO WAS ACTUALLY ARRESTED.
HE WAS GOING TO TAKE A FLIGHT, HE THOUGHT, TO THE BAHAMAS. WE SAW A PHOTO OF HIM ON A PLANE WITH SEAN COMBS AND KRISTINA KHORRAM COMBS, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF, WHO THE PROSECUTORS HAVE MADE IT CLEAR THEY VIEW AS A COCONSPIRATOR. IN THIS CASE. BUT BRENDAN PAUL SAID THAT HE HAD PICKED UP SOME COCAINE FROM A ROOM, HAD IT ON THE FLIGHT. IT BELONGED TO SEAN COMBS.
HE WAS ULTIMATELY ARRESTED AND CHARGED WITH DRUG POSSESSION. THOSE CHARGES WERE LATER DROPPED, BUT WE LEARNED ABOUT HIS TIME WORKING FOR SEAN COMBS AND SOME IMPORTANT INFORMATION THAT THE PROSECUTION IS TRYING TO GET ACROSS HERE IS THAT KRISTINA KHORRAM WAS AWARE OF EVERYTHING THAT WAS GOING ON, THAT HE, ON A NUMBER OF OCCASIONS, BOUGHT DRUGS FOR SEAN COMBS, THAT WHEN HE WAS HIRED, HE DESCRIBED HER AS IN FACT BASICALLY RUNNING THE ENTERPRISE ALL DAY, EVERY DAY, THAT SHE WAS ALWAYS AWARE OF EVERYTHING THAT SEAN COMBS WAS DOING.
SHE HAD ACCESS TO HIS PHONES. AND THE REASON THIS IS IMPORTANT IS BECAUSE OF THIS RACKETEERING CONSPIRACY CHARGE. THE PROSECUTION NEEDS TO SHOW THAT PEOPLE INVOLVED IN COMBS’S COMPANY WERE PARTICIPATING IN HIS ACTS IN THIS ALLEGED SEX TRAFFICKING, AND THE OTHER UNDERLYING CRIMES THAT THEY’RE ALLEGING HERE.
SO BRENDAN PAUL TESTIMONY WAS WAS VERY IMPORTANT. ALTHOUGH AT THE SAME TIME, THE DEFENSE BROUGHT OUT THAT HE’S SOMEONE WHO SAW A LOT OF THE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN SEAN COMBS AND JANE, ONE OF THE ALLEGED VICTIMS. HE SAID THAT HE NEVER SAW ANYTHING TO INDICATE THAT SHE WASN’T A WILLING PARTICIPANT IN THIS. HE ALSO SAID THAT HE DIDN’T THINK THAT SEAN COMBS WAS A CRIMINAL WHEN HE WAS WORKING FOR HIM, THAT HE WASN’T ACTING LIKE A DRUG MULE, WHICH IS ONE OF THE ACCUSATIONS AGAINST HIM.
HOWEVER, LIKE MANY OF THE PEOPLE WHO WORK FOR SEAN COMBS, WHEN ASKED HOW HE FEELS ABOUT HIM, HE SAID THAT IT’S COMPLICATED THAT YOU KNOW THE REASON HIS EMPLOYMENT ENDED, MUGO, WAS THAT HE WAS ARRESTED ON THAT DAY THAT ENDED HIS JOB.
A LOT OF WHAT HE DID FOR SEAN COMBS WAS OUT OF LOYALTY, AND HE HAD TO BE GIVEN IMMUNITY TO TAKE THE STAND TODAY OUT OF FEAR OF INCRIMINATING HIMSELF. >> YEAH. AND KATRINA, IT SEEMS. >> LIKE THIS CASE HAS JUST GONE. I MEAN, IT DOESN’T SEEM LIKE IT HAS.
IT’S GONE ON FOR WEEKS AFTER WEEKS. NOW, DO WE KNOW WHAT COMES NEXT? >> YES.
SO ACTUALLY, IT IS REALLY NEARING ITS END. WE JUST GOT WHAT SEEMS TO BE A FINAL TIMELINE.
THE PROSECUTION EXPECTS TO REST THEIR CASE ON MONDAY. THEN THE DEFENSE ATTORNEY, MARC AGNIFILO, WHO’S ONE OF THE LEAD ATTORNEYS FOR SEAN COMBS, SAID THAT HE ACTUALLY THINKS THEIR CASE IS GOING TO BE SHORTER THAN THEY SAID. THEY HAD SAID 2 TO 5 DAYS. HE THINKS THAT THEY WILL REST BY TUESDAY OR WEDNESDAY. SO WE’RE EXPECTING WE COULD HAVE CLOSING ARGUMENTS ON THURSDAY AND THEN IN THIS CASE WOULD GO TO THE JURY.
SO WE ARE REALLY NEARING THE END OF THIS. >> YEAH. >> WE’RE GETTING THERE. WE’LL SEE .
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