Dawn Richard

Dawn Richard testified for the prosecution over Day 9 and Day 10 about her work for Sean Combs, her acquaintance with Casandra Ventura through that work, and violence and threats she said she witnessed or experienced. She described an alleged 2009 incident at Combs's Los Angeles home in which he tried to strike Ventura with a skillet and then punched, kicked, and dragged her upstairs. Richard said that, the next day, Combs brought her and Kaleena Harper to a locked recording studio and made statements she understood as a warning not to speak.

When Richard resumed direct examination on Day 10, she described additional alleged violence from 2009 through 2011, Ventura's injuries and efforts to hide them, alleged threats to employees who spoke with Ventura, drug deliveries, and firearms she said Combs and bodyguards carried. The court had ruled that the alleged threat connected to violence Richard observed could be introduced if the government established the required foundation, but excluded several other proposed discussions on Rule 403 grounds.

Nicole Westmoreland cross-examined Richard about her civil lawsuit, compensation sought, prior government interviews, later communications with Combs, and differences between earlier accounts and her trial testimony. Richard said she had tried to give her best recollection of the frying-pan incident and acknowledged some changed or different accounts concerning cocaine use and One Stop. On redirect, she said recalling events from 2004 through 2011 took time and that she had not reviewed the government notes or attorney letter used during cross-examination for accuracy. The court permitted only a brief redirect concerning her lawsuit and reasons for post-employment communications; recross addressed her effort to restart Dirty Money with Combs and the compensation sought in her lawsuit.