(In open court)
THE COURT: Ms. Johnson, you may proceed.
MS. JOHNSON: Thank you, your Honor.
MS. JOHNSON: When we were just talking about Astroglide, how was the Astroglide used at freak-offs?
CASANDRA VENTURA: As a lubricant.
MS. JOHNSON: With respect to these two supplies, baby oil or Astroglide, were there times when you ran out of them?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: What would happen when you ran out?
CASANDRA VENTURA: When we would run out, would have to either call somebody, staff to bring it or ask the bell desk and give them a tip.
MS. JOHNSON: When you say staff, whose staff are you talking about?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sean's staff.
MS. JOHNSON: Which members of Sean's staff would resupply the hotel rooms?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Assistants usually.
MS. JOHNSON: Who would call those staff members?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sean would advise me to or he would call himself.
MS. JOHNSON: And you also mentioned calling the bell desk. Who would call the bell desk?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Again, either me or him.
MS. JOHNSON: If you called, at whose direction would you be calling?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sean's.
MS. JOHNSON: Initially, what kind of lighting was used for freak-offs?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Initially it was candle-lit. So various candles.
MS. JOHNSON: Who decided what kind of lighting would be used?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sean.
MS. JOHNSON: What type of candles were used?
CASANDRA VENTURA: At a time, really strong smelling candles, like Glade or Diptyque. Any just really strong smelling --
MS. JOHNSON: Who would typically bring the candles to the freak-offs?
CASANDRA VENTURA: It was all part of the setup. So whether it was an assistant or me or him.
MS. JOHNSON: Approximately how many candles were used?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Approximately six to ten.
MS. JOHNSON: How were the candles placed in the room?
CASANDRA VENTURA: They were placed so that Sean could see me and the escort in the candlelight.
MS. JOHNSON: Who requested the candle setup?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sean.
MS. JOHNSON: Besides lighting, were there any other uses of candle wax at freak-offs?
CASANDRA VENTURA: A couple of times where it was poured on the body, but it wasn't common.
MS. JOHNSON: When you say poured on the body, whose body was it poured on?
CASANDRA VENTURA: My own or Sean's.
MS. JOHNSON: And whose decision was it to pour wax on either your body or Sean's body?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sean's.
MS. JOHNSON: Did the lighting that was used in freak-offs change over time?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes. There were lights after a certain point, like the lights that we would use in studio.
MS. JOHNSON: Can you describe what the light you would use in the studio is.
CASANDRA VENTURA: There are multicolored lights that change with the music, kind of like a club light.
MS. JOHNSON: What colors are those lights?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Red, green, blue, purple.
MS. JOHNSON: Who made the decision to change the lighting?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sean would have assistants bring the lights, so I guess him.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Gavin, can you pull up for identification Government Exhibit 3Q-118 for the parties and the Court only.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Ventura, do you recognize who's in this photograph?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: At what type of location is this photograph taken?
CASANDRA VENTURA: To me it looks like a hotel. It looks like The London hotel in New York.
MS. JOHNSON: Who took this photograph?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I believe I did.
MS. JOHNSON: Is this a true and accurate photograph of Sean?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: The government offers Government Exhibit 3Q-118.
MS. ESTEVAO: No objection.
THE COURT: It will be admitted.
(Government's Exhibit 3Q-118 received in evidence)
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Gavin, can you please publish Government Exhibit 3Q-118 to the jury.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Ventura, directing your attention to Sean's hand, what is he holding?
CASANDRA VENTURA: He's holding cash.
MS. JOHNSON: How do you describe the color of the room?
CASANDRA VENTURA: It's red from the studio light.
MS. JOHNSON: Is the studio lighting you described earlier responsible for that red color?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yeah.
MS. JOHNSON: You can take that down, Ms. Gavin.
MS. JOHNSON: What temperature were the rooms where the freak-offs were held?
CASANDRA VENTURA: They were usually pretty warm.
MS. JOHNSON: Who set the temperature?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sean.
MS. JOHNSON: And you described that the candles were strong. How did the room smell during the freak-offs?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I mean, if it were a Glade candle and a bunch of them, angel whispers, if anybody knows what that smells like, just on 10, it was super pungent and strong mixed with oil and just all of the other scents.
MS. JOHNSON: What other scents were there?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I mean, it was warm, so body odor, you know.
MS. JOHNSON: After a freak-off, can you describe the condition of the room where the freak-off was held?
CASANDRA VENTURA: The room was usually pretty bad off. There was oil all over the walls, the door handles, the bed, the sheets. We often would get to the room, I would need to call and ask for extra linens and towels and stuff like that to try to mitigate those problems, but oil, candle wax all over the place.
MS. JOHNSON: You mentioned you would call for extra linens. When would you do that?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Prior to starting.
MS. JOHNSON: Why would you call for extra linens?
CASANDRA VENTURA: To cover up the furniture that was there to try to protect it.
MS. JOHNSON: You described wax and oil damage. What else, if anything, was soiling the linens?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sometimes blood, urine.
MS. JOHNSON: So starting with blood, how would blood get on the linens at freak-offs?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I was expected to have freak-offs on my period.
MS. JOHNSON: Who expected you to do freak-offs on your period?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sean.
MS. JOHNSON: Did you want to do freak-offs on your period?
CASANDRA VENTURA: No. I don't think anybody really wants to do that.
MS. JOHNSON: And you also mentioned urine.
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: How would urine get on the linens at freak-offs?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sometimes Sean would have -- he, himself, he would have the escort urinate on me. Sometimes there was so much going on I don't know how they got soiled the way they did, to be completely honest.
MS. JOHNSON: So focusing on the urine, did you want an escort or Sean to urinate on you?
MS. ESTEVAO: Asked and answered.
MS. JOHNSON: Your Honor, I did not ask that question before.
THE COURT: Hold on. What is the objection?
MS. ESTEVAO: Asked and answered.
THE COURT: It's overruled.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Ventura, did you want Sean or an escort to urinate on you?
MS. JOHNSON: And before that happened, what, if anything, did you discuss about being urinated on?
CASANDRA VENTURA: There was no conversation. It just was a turn-on for him, so it happened.
MS. JOHNSON: Who directed an escort to urinate on you?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sean.
MS. JOHNSON: Can you please describe how it felt when this happened.
CASANDRA VENTURA: I mean, just as humiliating if anybody were there to see it. It was disgusting. It was too much. It was overwhelming. I choked. There couldn't have been anything on my face that was reading that I wanted to be doing that. I was kind of just laid on the floor in a position that I couldn't easily get out of, so --
MS. JOHNSON: Were you able to tell the escort to stop?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I just kind of put my hands up and eventually Sean saw and he told them to stop.
MS. JOHNSON: Why did you put your hands up?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Nothing I could really do laying on the floor.
MS. JOHNSON: You mentioned choking. Why were you choking?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Too much urine in my mouth.
MS. JOHNSON: And besides the escort urinating on you, who else, if anyone, did that?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sean.
MS. JOHNSON: Did you want Sean to urinate on you?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I don't want anybody to urinate on me, no.
MS. JOHNSON: And when in relation to the escort urinating on you did Sean urinate on you?
CASANDRA VENTURA: The same time.
MS. JOHNSON: Approximately how many times did this happen?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Throughout the relationship?
MS. JOHNSON: Yes.
CASANDRA VENTURA: Not super often, but often enough.
MS. JOHNSON: Before leaving the hotel, what, if anything, did you do to clean up the linens you described?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I mean, there wasn't really too much you could do but give a good tip and hope that they would help out. I would just try to clean up what I could. Usually like an assistant or staff or somebody would come, I believe, after.
MS. JOHNSON: Are you aware if hotels charged for damage to the rooms?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I am.
MS. JOHNSON: How do you know that?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Through conversations with the staff that got the call from the hotel. I remember specifically hearing like a number that was crazy. It was having to redecorate the room. It was a really high number to fix it.
MS. JOHNSON: Are you aware which hotel charged that really high number?
CASANDRA VENTURA: That was the Intercontinental in New York.
MS. JOHNSON: One more question for you about the urination. Why didn't you say no when this happened?
MS. ESTEVAO: Objection. Mischaracterizes.
THE COURT: Ms. Johnson, there's probably a couple more questions to ask.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Ventura, I believe you testified earlier about the urination, that it just happened and there wasn't any discussion. Is that an accurate summary of your testimony?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: When it happened without any discussion, what did you do?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I mean, I was squeamish immediately, and high, and in the moment with this man. So that's what happened.
MS. JOHNSON: When you say you were high and in the moment, what do you mean by that?
CASANDRA VENTURA: There's not a whole lot of control you have at that point of taking that many drugs and being laid on the floor with two men standing over you peeing on you. Could have gotten up and screamed, I guess.
MS. JOHNSON: Why didn't you say no when that happened?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I thought that it was obvious that I didn't want to do it, I guess.
MS. JOHNSON: Do you remember the person that I referred to as the first escort?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yeah.
MS. JOHNSON: Were there other escorts that you used beside the first escort?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: And after the first escort, who typically found escorts for freak-offs?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I was put on that task to find escorts.
MS. JOHNSON: And who, if anyone, put you on that task?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sean did.
MS. JOHNSON: What, if any, requirements, physical or otherwise, did Sean have for escorts?
CASANDRA VENTURA: At first it was very specific that he wanted a black male with a large penis, but eventually it just kind of became whatever's available.
MS. JOHNSON: Where did you find escorts to hire?
CASANDRA VENTURA: When it became really consistent, we had found an escort service called Cowboys 4 Angels, and they have escorts in, like, all the major cities in the U.S.
MS. JOHNSON: Before using Cowboys 4 Angels, how did you find escorts?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Initially craigslist or Backpage or whatever.
MS. JOHNSON: What is craigslist?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Craigslist is a website where you can put up ads and sell your bed and other things. It's just where you can place ads.
MS. JOHNSON: Besides placing ads, can you also respond to ads?
CASANDRA VENTURA: You can also respond to ads.
MS. JOHNSON: Did you post any ads to craigslist?
MS. JOHNSON: Did you respond to ads?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I did.
MS. JOHNSON: At whose direction did you respond to ads?
CASANDRA VENTURA: At Sean's direction. He'd tell me what to look for.
MS. JOHNSON: Your Honor, I'm not sure when the Court was planning on taking a break this afternoon.
THE COURT: I was planning on doing it at 3:00, but if this is a good place, we can take it now.
MS. JOHNSON: I think it would be a good place.
THE COURT: Thank you, members of the jury. As always, do not talk to each other about the case and we'll have some further instructions at the end of the day. We'll be back at 3:00 p.m. All rise.
(Continued on next page)
(Jury not present)
THE COURT: Anything to raise before we take our break? Ms. Johnson.
MS. JOHNSON: Nothing, your Honor. Thank you.
THE COURT: Anything from the defense?
MS. ESTEVAO: No, your Honor.
THE COURT: We'll be back at 3:00 p.m.
(Recess)
THE COURT: Ms. Johnson, do we have our witness? Are we just waiting for her? It's fine if she just needs a minute or two.
(Witness present)
THE COURT: Welcome back.
(Continued on next page)
(Jury present)
THE COURT: Ms. Johnson, you may proceed.
MS. JOHNSON: Thank you, your Honor.
BY MS. JOHNSON:
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Ventura, before the break, you were talking about craigslist. Do you remember that testimony?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: In what cities did you respond to ads on craigslist?
CASANDRA VENTURA: In New York, I think was the main.
MS. JOHNSON: At whose direction did you respond to ads on craigslist?
CASANDRA VENTURA: At Sean's direction.
MS. JOHNSON: When you responded to ads on craigslist, whose contact information did you use?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I used my own.
MS. JOHNSON: Did you use your own name?
MS. JOHNSON: What name would you use?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Jackie Star.
MS. JOHNSON: Would you use your own phone number?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I would have to use my own phone number, yup.
MS. JOHNSON: You also mentioned Backpage. What is Backpage?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Backpage is a similar thing to craigslist, ads.
MS. JOHNSON: Did you respond to ads on Backpage, as well?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I did.
MS. JOHNSON: At whose direction?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sean's.
MS. JOHNSON: Also before we broke you testified about a company called Cowboys 4 Angels. Do you remember that testimony?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yeah.
MS. JOHNSON: Who typically communicated with Cowboys 4 Angels?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I did. I communicated with a gentleman named Garren.
MS. JOHNSON: Who, if anyone, directed you to communicate with Garren?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sean.
MS. JOHNSON: And how did you typically communicate with Garren?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Usually through texts, occasionally a call.
MS. JOHNSON: When you would reach out to Garren, how much notice would you give him that you needed an escort?
CASANDRA VENTURA: It usually wasn't that much notice. It would be, like, somebody today.
MS. JOHNSON: What else, if anything, would you tell Garren during those communications?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I'd tell him what city we're in because he would basically send escorts based off of the city we were in, time, location, all of that.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Gavin, can you pull up for identification for the Court and parties only Government Exhibit B-236. You can put page 1 and 2 on the same screen. That would be helpful. I'm sorry, Ms. Gavin. I meant B-326 I'm sorry that I misspoke.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Ventura, do you recognize the communication in Government Exhibit B-326?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: What is it?
CASANDRA VENTURA: It's a text thread with me and Garren.
MS. JOHNSON: How do you recognize it?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I have his name in there as Garren CB4A, which is Cowboys 4 Angels.
MS. JOHNSON: Is this text thread from one of the devices you gave to the government?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: Is this a true and accurate text thread between you and Garren?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: The government offers Government Exhibit B-326.
MS. ESTEVAO: No objection.
THE COURT: It will be admitted.
(Government's Exhibit B-326 received in evidence)
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Gavin, could you please publish to the jury. Ms. Gavin, could you please blow up the chat participants in the top of the first page.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Ventura, you mentioned this already, but since the jury can now see it. The contact says Garren CB4A. What does CB4A stand for?
CASANDRA VENTURA: The company Cowboys 4 Angels.
MS. JOHNSON: You can go back to the message, Ms. Gavin. Thank you.
MS. JOHNSON: Who are the participants in this chat?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Garren and I.
MS. JOHNSON: Directing your attention to the first gray bubble on the first page, what is the date of the first message?
CASANDRA VENTURA: June 29th, 2012.
MS. JOHNSON: What does Garren say to you in that message?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Okay. This is the guy. He's new and really an amazing guy. I had him come to Miami for his final interview to meet with me and he is ready to go.
MS. JOHNSON: And then what are the next two messages that you receive?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Photos.
MS. JOHNSON: And then at the bottom, what does Garren tell you at the bottom of page 2?
CASANDRA VENTURA: His name is Trent. Have him for 7:00 p.m.
MS. JOHNSON: When you received communications like this with photographs, what did you do with the photographs?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I would usually show them to Sean and see if that person was of interest for a freak-off.
MS. JOHNSON: If that person was not of interest, what happened?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I would just tell Garren no, see if he had anybody else.
MS. JOHNSON: Did Sean have to approve the escorts?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I definitely had to show him, yeah.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Gavin, can you turn to pages 3 and 4 of this exhibit, please.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Ventura, directing your attention to the left page, starting at the top, I'll read the gray bubbles and you read the blue. So the first gray bubble has a photograph with a message of William, who you saw before, but we'd need to confirm William soon so he can rearrange his plans.
CASANDRA VENTURA: Okay for Trent. Let's do 8:00.
MS. JOHNSON: Okay. Sounds good. Send over that addy when you can.
CASANDRA VENTURA: 10 West End. Not close to home yet, stuck in traffic. Can we push to 9:00 p.m.?
MS. JOHNSON: Pausing you there. 10 West End in the previous message, who lived at 10 West End?
CASANDRA VENTURA: That was my apartment in New York, on 60th and West End.
MS. JOHNSON: Is this sort of short excerpt we read from the communication from you and Garren consistent with how you typically communicated with Garren about hiring an escort?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes. It was very transactional.
MS. JOHNSON: You also testified earlier about dancers or strippers were sometimes hired. Do you remember that testimony?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: Who would reach out to hire a dancer or a stripper?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I would be tasked to do that based off of seeing a website or something.
MS. JOHNSON: Who tasked you with hiring a dancer or a stripper?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sean.
MS. JOHNSON: In what cities did you hire dancers or strippers?
CASANDRA VENTURA: New York, Miami, Los Angeles.
MS. JOHNSON: Do you recall any of the names of the dancing or stripping services that you used?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I remember one was called, like, Latin Men, but I don't remember the exact names.
MS. JOHNSON: And aside from craigslist, Backpage, the stripping and dancing services and Garren, were there times you spoke directly with escorts?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: Who had typically communicated with escorts?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I did.
MS. JOHNSON: Who directed you to communicate with escorts?
MS. ESTEVAO: Objection. These types of questions are leading. I know there have been a number of them.
MS. JOHNSON: Your Honor, I'll rephrase.
THE COURT: Okay.
MS. JOHNSON: Who, if anyone, directed you to communicate with escorts?
MS. ESTEVAO: Same objection. It doesn't solve the problem.
MS. JOHNSON: It's who, if anyone.
MS. ESTEVAO: And it assumes a fact not in evidence that there was direction.
THE COURT: I think that's the objection here. Ms. Johnson, I think you need to ask a few questions before you get to that one.
MS. JOHNSON: What, if any, conversations would you have prior to communicating with an escort directly?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Can you repeat the question.
MS. JOHNSON: Sure. I'm sorry. You testified you would typically communicate directly with an escort. Do you remember that?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: Prior to communicating directly with an escort, what, if any, conversations would you have with Sean?
CASANDRA VENTURA: It would usually just be like are we going to have a freak-off this afternoon, like, very simple. Even though I had contacts, he had contacts, as well, Sean.
MS. JOHNSON: When you say contacts, what do you mean by that?
CASANDRA VENTURA: He had Garren's contact, he had some of the escorts' personal contact information, as well. So he reached out, as well.
MS. JOHNSON: How do you know that?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Because he would tell me.
MS. JOHNSON: Did you ever reach out to escorts independently?
MS. JOHNSON: How would you typically communicate with escorts?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Through text.
MS. JOHNSON: When would you, for example, go through someone like Garren versus communicating directly with an escort?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Occasionally Garren would actually just offer, like, maybe you should grab his number so you can call him directly. There was that much communication going on.
MS. JOHNSON: And when would that communication happen?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Just before. Are you talking -- I'm sorry. I don't think I understood.
MS. JOHNSON: You testified that Sean would tell you to grab an escort's contact information; is that right?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yeah.
MS. JOHNSON: When would Sean tell you that?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Before they would leave after a session usually.
MS. JOHNSON: How would you save an escort's contact information in your phone?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I used to just use the abbreviated word "strip" after their name, like Garren's was CB4A. If they came from that company, that's how I would put them in my phone.
MS. JOHNSON: Were there ever abbreviations you'd use besides CB4A?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Strip is the only one I can think of.
MS. JOHNSON: You testified earlier that Sean also had Garren and other escorts' contacts; is that right?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: Why did you contact escorts and Garren?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sean was a very busy person, but he would just ask me straight up if he was busy doing something, if I could do it.
MS. JOHNSON: Whose idea was it for you to contact escorts, yours or someone else's?
CASANDRA VENTURA: It was someone else's.
MS. JOHNSON: When you were reaching out to an escort, what, if anything, would you say to the escort about what you were hiring that escort to do?
CASANDRA VENTURA: It depended on, like, the situation, how they came in. But I would usually say that my husband is into something called voyeurism and he likes to watch me with another man. It was like a basic conversation that I had with most of the escorts. From there I would get a feel if they were willing to do it or not.
MS. JOHNSON: When did that conversation typically occur in the process?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Before, when they would first get there.
MS. JOHNSON: First arrive at a location?
CASANDRA VENTURA: First arrive at the hotel or wherever we were.
MS. JOHNSON: And circling back to one of your answers where you said that it was someone else's idea to contact escorts, who was that someone else?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sean.
MS. JOHNSON: So when you would speak to the escort when they arrived at the hotel and have the conversation you just described, who was typically present for that conversation?
CASANDRA VENTURA: It would usually be just me and the escort. If Sean wanted to hear or overhear, he could listen from the room over.
MS. JOHNSON: How would you know he could listen from the room over?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Just the actual distance. It wasn't super far.
MS. JOHNSON: Did you ever speak to Sean about him listening to the conversation?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yeah. He would tell me if he heard everything or not.
MS. JOHNSON: What conversations, if any, did you have with Sean about what to say to the escorts at this initial meeting?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I'm sorry. Could you rephrase that.
MS. JOHNSON: Sure. You described sort of an initial meeting with the escort. Do you remember that?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Uh-huh.
MS. JOHNSON: What, if anything, did you discuss with Sean about what you would say at that initial meeting?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Just Sean gave me direction. It was usually, you know, this is my husband's fantasy. We created this scenario that we were married, this is his fantasy, this is what I like to do for him to please him. So these were things that he would tell me to be able to say to the escorts or make them more comfortable in it, I guess. I don't --
MS. JOHNSON: Are those the things that you would then say to the escort?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yup.
MS. JOHNSON: After you had this initial conversation with the escort, what would you do next?
CASANDRA VENTURA: After that conversation, I would usually go back into the room with Sean and just finish getting ready to go out and start the session.
MS. JOHNSON: Would you tell Sean what the conversation with the escort was about?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes. If it was somebody that we hadn't used before or somebody that still didn't know us, like who we were, he would have questions about it and, you know, just inquire if it was a safe person. I felt comfortable with them if they were willing to do all the things that we had discussed.
MS. JOHNSON: Were there occasions where you did not use an escort who came to meet you and with whom you had this initial conversation?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes, with one particular in mind. The person tried, but eventually just said they could not keep an erection, so they were sent on.
MS. JOHNSON: Who sent them on?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sean.
MS. JOHNSON: And you mentioned something in your description of your conversation with Sean if the escort was safe, what did you mean by safe?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Safe that they -- there was sometimes a conversation. This wasn't all the time, where Sean wanted me to clarify if the person was a cop. At first I didn't understand, and I learned later, why. Also that the person wasn't going to, you know, just run and tell everybody about their experience with us.
MS. JOHNSON: What did you learn about why, what you just said?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I'm sorry.
MS. JOHNSON: You just said that sometimes Sean asked you to ask if a person was a cop, right?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yeah.
MS. JOHNSON: And you said, later, I learned about why?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yeah.
MS. JOHNSON: What did you learn?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I learned that this whole situation was not legal.
MS. ESTEVAO: Objection.
THE COURT: Sustained. The jury should disregard the witness's last answer.
MS. JOHNSON: How were escorts typically paid?
CASANDRA VENTURA: With cash, money.
MS. JOHNSON: At what point during the session were they typically paid?
CASANDRA VENTURA: At the end.
MS. JOHNSON: Approximately how much were escorts typically paid?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Anywhere from $1,500 to I would say $5,000, $6,000.
MS. JOHNSON: What role, if any, did you have in determining how much escorts were paid?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I didn't have a role. It wasn't my money.
MS. JOHNSON: Who typically handed cash to escorts?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I often did, sometimes Sean.
MS. JOHNSON: If you handed cash to escorts, where did you get the cash?
CASANDRA VENTURA: It was handed to me by Sean.
MS. JOHNSON: How did cash get to the location for the freak-offs, if you know?
CASANDRA VENTURA: It was brought by, like, security or somebody, or he brought it himself.
MS. JOHNSON: When you say he brought it himself, who is he?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sean.
MS. JOHNSON: When you were hiring, for example, a stripper or a dancer, were there ever times when you were required to pay a deposit in advance?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes, specifically with a dancer at a company.
MS. JOHNSON: How did you pay that deposit?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I would put that on my personal card.
MS. JOHNSON: Approximately how much did those deposits cost when you hired a dancer?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Anywhere between $165, $200.
MS. JOHNSON: For the escorts who you interacted with, what were they paid thousands of dollars to do?
CASANDRA VENTURA: To ejaculate, to finish.
MS. JOHNSON: Is that after they finished having sex with you?
CASANDRA VENTURA: After having sex, after a long session.
MS. JOHNSON: And for all the dancers you interacted with at freak-offs, were those individuals paid, as well?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: How much were those dancers paid when they came to freak-offs?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Anywhere between that range that I said before, $1,500 to $6,000, $7,000.
MS. JOHNSON: For all the dancers you interacted with, what were they paid, those $1,500 to $6,000 to do?
CASANDRA VENTURA: To entertain and to also ultimately have intercourse with me.
MS. JOHNSON: Generally, what gender were the escorts who were hired for freak-offs?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Male.
MS. JOHNSON: Were there any exceptions?
CASANDRA VENTURA: No. We did have a female one time, one or two times.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Ventura, there's a binder sitting next to you. Do you see that binder sitting next to you. Could you look through that binder at the photographs inside and let me know who you recognize those individuals to be.
CASANDRA VENTURA: Would you like me to look at all of them?
MS. JOHNSON: Yes, please. Have you looked at all of them?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: Who, generally, do you recognize the individuals depicted in those exhibits to be?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Generally, they're escorts that we hired, but not everybody.
MS. JOHNSON: Not everybody. Are some of them dancers?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Some of them I don't recognize.
MS. JOHNSON: We can go through them one by one.
CASANDRA VENTURA: Do you want me to --
MS. JOHNSON: You can leave that there. That's fine.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Gavin, can you please pull up Government Exhibit 2A-627. It's in evidence.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Ventura, we talked about this individual previously, right?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: We referred to him as the first escort; is that right?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Correct.
MS. JOHNSON: Do you know his name?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I don't. I can't remember it.
MS. JOHNSON: You earlier testified about a freak-off with him in LA; is that right?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: Are there any other cities in which you had freak-offs with this escort?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Besides Los Angeles, definitely Vegas, maybe New York, but not 100 percent sure.
MS. JOHNSON: You can take that down, Ms. Gavin. Can you please pull up Government Exhibit 2A-612 for identification for the Court and the parties only.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Ventura, do you recognize the individual depicted in 2A-612?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: How do you know that individual?
CASANDRA VENTURA: He was an escort that we called Dave.
MS. JOHNSON: Is this a fair and accurate picture of Dave?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: Government offers Government Exhibit 2A-612.
MS. ESTEVAO: No objection.
THE COURT: It will be admitted.
(Government's Exhibit 2A-612 received in evidence)
MS. JOHNSON: Can you please publish that to the jury, Ms. Gavin.
MS. JOHNSON: How did you hire Dave?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Dave was actually through craigslist or Backpage. One of the two. I don't remember specifically which one.
MS. JOHNSON: And in what cities did you use Dave?
CASANDRA VENTURA: We used Dave in New York. He would fly to Miami and Los Angeles.
MS. JOHNSON: When Dave would travel, who would arrange Dave's travel?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Occasionally I did. He would, Dave would himself. I think a couple of times a travel agent from Sean's company.
MS. JOHNSON: When you say he would, which he are you referring to?
CASANDRA VENTURA: To Dave.
MS. JOHNSON: Do you know Dave by any other names?
CASANDRA VENTURA: His real name is Clayton.
MS. JOHNSON: Do you know his real last name?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Howard.
MS. JOHNSON: Can you take that down, Ms. Gavin. Can you pull up Government Exhibit 2A-625 for the Court and the parties only.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Ventura, do you recognize who's depicted in Government Exhibit 2A-625?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: Who is that?
CASANDRA VENTURA: That is Daniel.
MS. JOHNSON: How do you know Daniel?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Daniel was an escort that we hired in New York City at one point.
MS. JOHNSON: Is this a fair and accurate picture of Daniel?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: The government offers Government Exhibit 2A-625.
MS. ESTEVAO: No objection.
THE COURT: It will be admitted.
(Government's Exhibit 2A-625 received in evidence)
MS. JOHNSON: Can you please publish that to the jury.
MS. JOHNSON: You mentioned you hired Daniel in New York; is that right?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: And what service did you contact to hire Daniel?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I believe it was a dancer service, but it's, like, vague.
MS. JOHNSON: You can take that down, Ms. Gavin. Can you pull up for identification Government Exhibit 2A-630.
MS. JOHNSON: Do you recognize who's depicted in Government Exhibit 2A-630?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: Who's that?
CASANDRA VENTURA: That's Jewels.
MS. JOHNSON: How do you recognize Jewels?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I was going to say worked with him for many years. But yeah, we had encounters for a few years.
MS. JOHNSON: When you say encounters, what do you mean by that?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Freak-offs, for several, really.
MS. JOHNSON: Is that a fair and accurate photograph of Jewels?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: The government offers Government Exhibit 2A-630.
MS. ESTEVAO: No objection.
THE COURT: It will be admitted. For this series of exhibits, if there's no objection, we'll deem it admitted.
(Government's Exhibit 2A-630 received in evidence)
MS. JOHNSON: Can you publish that to the jury, Ms. Gavin.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Ventura, do you know Jewels's last name?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I don't.
MS. JOHNSON: You mentioned you had freak-offs with him for many years. In what cities did you have freak-offs with Jewels?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Vegas. All of them.
MS. JOHNSON: How, if you know, did you hire Jewels?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I don't remember, actually. No.
MS. JOHNSON: We can take that down. Ms. Gavin, can you please pull up for identification Government Exhibit 2A-609.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Ventura, do you recognize the individual depicted in Government Exhibit 2A-609?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: Who is that?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I knew him as The Punisher.
MS. JOHNSON: How did you know The Punisher?
CASANDRA VENTURA: We used him a few times for freak-offs.
MS. JOHNSON: Is this a fair and accurate photograph of The Punisher?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: Government offers Government Exhibit 2A-609.
MS. ESTEVAO: No objection.
(Government's Exhibit 2A-609 received in evidence)
MS. JOHNSON: Can you display that to the jury, Ms. Gavin.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Ventura, did you know The Punisher's real name?
MS. JOHNSON: In what city was he used?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I believe we originally hired him in New York. I don't know that he traveled. I don't think he did.
MS. JOHNSON: Do you recall how he was hired?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I believe he was hired through a dancing service in New York.
MS. JOHNSON: You can take that down, Ms. Gavin. Can you pull up for identification Government Exhibit 2A-613.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Ventura, do you recognize who is depicted in Government Exhibit 2A-613?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: Who is that?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I knew him or know him as Johnny. I don't know his last name.
MS. JOHNSON: How do you know Johnny?
CASANDRA VENTURA: He was an escort that we hired.
MS. JOHNSON: Is this a fair and accurate photo of Johnny?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: The government offers Government Exhibit 2A-613.
MS. ESTEVAO: No objection.
(Government's Exhibit 2A-613 received in evidence)
MS. JOHNSON: Can you please publish it to the jury, Ms. Gavin.
MS. JOHNSON: In what city or cities did you hire Johnny?
CASANDRA VENTURA: He was hired in Los Angeles. Might have done some traveling to New York and Miami, but not 100 percent.
MS. JOHNSON: How did you hire Johnny, if you remember?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Johnny was through a service called Latin Men.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Gavin, you can take that down.
MS. JOHNSON: Who were some of the most frequently used escorts?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Most frequently used would be Jewels, Dave, Johnny. I think those were the main ones.
MS. JOHNSON: And we just looked at six photos of escorts. Are those all the escorts hired for freak-offs or just some of them?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Just some of them.
MS. JOHNSON: And we talked about travel a little bit with Dave. How, if you know, would travel be arranged for other escorts?
CASANDRA VENTURA: For other escorts, I mean, we didn't have a whole lot of them travel, but there was one particular trip that we took to Ibiza, and one of Garren's guys flew out there, so I think the travel was probably arranged by them.
MS. JOHNSON: When, if ever, did you book escort travel?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Occasionally, like if we absolutely needed to. It wasn't all the time.
MS. JOHNSON: Before booking any escort travel, what, if any, conversations would you have with Sean about booking travel?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I mean, he would ask me, like, what we were doing, if we were flying somebody in, who's available, and from there talk about how to get them there if they weren't in the town or they weren't in the city.
MS. JOHNSON: What would he say about when you say he talked about how to get them there, what would he say?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Do they need to fly in, do they need travel or are they here. Just basic questions.
MS. JOHNSON: You also mentioned, with respect to Dave, that Sean's travel agent was sometimes involved. Do you remember that?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yeah.
MS. JOHNSON: What, if any, role did you have in communicating with Sean's travel agent?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I definitely reached out to his travel agent. I believe we just acted as if it was a new employee or somebody that was being interviewed or something.
MS. JOHNSON: When you say we acted, who are you referring to?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sean and I.
MS. JOHNSON: And when you say acted as a new employee, who would you say was the new employee?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Dave, for instance. If we were going to have the travel agent book his travel or, you know, oh, I have a new staff member, we have somebody new coming to visit for a meeting so that it wouldn't be speculated.
MS. JOHNSON: Why was it necessary to tell the travel agent that Dave, for example, was a new employee?
CASANDRA VENTURA: It was important to Sean not to have his identity known --
MS. ESTEVAO: Speculation.
THE COURT: That's sustained.
MS. JOHNSON: What, if any, discussions did you have with Sean about communicating with the travel agent?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Can you repeat that. Sorry.
MS. JOHNSON: It's okay. You were talking about reaching out to the travel agent. Did you discuss that reach-out with Sean?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: What did you talk about?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I mean, it was by his direction, so we would discuss when they would arrive and when we would start.
MS. JOHNSON: You testified earlier about using some drugs at freak-offs. Do you remember that testimony?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yup.
MS. JOHNSON: And specifically we talked about using ecstasy at the first freak-off; is that right?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: Did you use drugs at other freak-offs?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: How many?
CASANDRA VENTURA: All kinds.
MS. JOHNSON: Let me rephrase that question, Ms. Ventura. How many freak-offs did you use drugs at?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Oh, all of them.
MS. JOHNSON: Why did you use drugs at every freak-off?
CASANDRA VENTURA: For me, it was dissociative and numbing. I couldn't imagine myself doing any of that without having some sort of buffer or just way to not feel it for what it really was, which was emotionless and sex with a stranger that I didn't want to be having sex with.
MS. JOHNSON: Who else, besides you, used drugs at freak-offs?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sean did and occasionally the escort, but I wasn't always clear on that.
MS. JOHNSON: Were there any freak-offs where you did not use drugs?
CASANDRA VENTURA: No, not that I remember, no.
MS. JOHNSON: You talked earlier about using ecstasy at the first freak-off. What other drugs, if any, did you use at freak-offs?
CASANDRA VENTURA: At freak-offs, marijuana, ketamine, GHB, sometimes mushrooms. Just whatever was the drug of choice at that point.
MS. JOHNSON: Who provided the drugs for freak-offs?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sean.
MS. JOHNSON: When, in relation to the session starting, would Sean provide you with drugs?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Before, sometimes an hour before, sometimes before we even got there somebody would drop drugs off to me where I was.
MS. JOHNSON: When you say somebody would drop off drugs to you, who dropped off drugs to you?
CASANDRA VENTURA: A staff member, security, assistant. Whoever was available.
MS. JOHNSON: When you say staff, whose staff dropped off drugs to you?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sean's staff.
MS. JOHNSON: And whose security dropped off drugs for you?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sean's security.
MS. JOHNSON: How did you know how far in advance to take drugs?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I would ask.
MS. JOHNSON: Who would you ask?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sean.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Gavin, can you please pull up Government Exhibit B-244 for identification, for the Court and the parties only. If you could pull up page 1 and page 2 side-by-side.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Ventura, do you recognize the document that's marked Government Exhibit B-244?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: What, generally, is this document?
CASANDRA VENTURA: It's a text message between me and Sean.
MS. JOHNSON: Is this a fair and accurate text message between you and Sean?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: The government offers Government Exhibit B-244.
MS. ESTEVAO: May I have one moment?
THE COURT: You may.
MS. ESTEVAO: No objection.
THE COURT: The exhibit will be admitted.
(Government's Exhibit B-244 received in evidence)
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Gavin, can you please publish the exhibit for the jury.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Ventura, focusing first on the left-hand side of the page, who are the participants in this conversation?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sean and I.
MS. JOHNSON: And focusing on the right-hand side of the screen, at the very top, what is the date of the first blue bubble?
CASANDRA VENTURA: April 6th, 2013.
MS. JOHNSON: For a few pages, I'm going to read the gray bubbles and you read the blue bubbles. Can you start with that first blue bubble.
CASANDRA VENTURA: About to touch down.
MS. JOHNSON: Call me as soon as you hit. I'm happy. Call APT. RM in London 5301, Sally Richards. So pausing there before we go on, what is your understanding of what Sean's text, RM in London Sally 5301 Sally Richards means?
CASANDRA VENTURA: That the room number is 5301 and Sally Richards is the name under the room.
MS. JOHNSON: At what hotel is the room at?
CASANDRA VENTURA: It says The London.
MS. JOHNSON: So continuing on, if you can, with the blue bottom at the page.
CASANDRA VENTURA: It says K, bags came out that quick.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Gavin, can we please turn to page 3 and 4. A. All set. What Tim do I tell him?
MS. JOHNSON: What do you think Tim is supposed to say?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Time.
MS. JOHNSON: 3:00 a.m. Who?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Punisher. His dad dies, Punisher will come at 6. Died.
MS. JOHNSON: Pausing you there, is this the same Punisher whose photograph we looked at a few moments ago?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: So continuing on down.
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yeah.
MS. JOHNSON: We forgot about Daniel.
CASANDRA VENTURA: He's, like, having a baby or something. He hit me a little while back.
MS. JOHNSON: So pausing you there. The reference to the name Daniel, is that the same Daniel we just looked at a photograph of?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: Continuing on. What you think Garren just hit me back.
CASANDRA VENTURA: We've had him before. White boy named William.
MS. JOHNSON: So him or Daniel, I'm good with whatever.
CASANDRA VENTURA: Checking on Daniel availability.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Gavin, can you turn to the next two pages, please. A. Can't buy Astro. It's too much. I'm buying crazy stuff.
MS. JOHNSON: Okay. Lol. I got. Lol.
CASANDRA VENTURA: Lol. Cool. When should I take the thing? Daniel isn't hitting back.
MS. JOHNSON: Just pausing you there to talk about two text messages. When you say can't buy Astro, what does Astro refer to?
CASANDRA VENTURA: The lubricant Astroglide.
MS. JOHNSON: And the next blue bubble, when it says, lol, cool, when should I take the thing? What does the thing refer to?
CASANDRA VENTURA: The thing refers to the drugs, ecstasy or MDMA.
MS. JOHNSON: Continuing on. Okay, so book other through Garren. Want me to hit Garren?
CASANDRA VENTURA: All set. When shall I take it? Where is it? When will you be there?
MS. JOHNSON: Pausing you there. What are you talking about taking in that text message?
CASANDRA VENTURA: The drugs, like, when do I take it.
MS. JOHNSON: In the next message from Sean says, it's in med bag. What's the med bag?
CASANDRA VENTURA: The med bag is where Sean kept his medicine. It's a Louis Vuitton bag and occasionally kept other drugs in there.
MS. JOHNSON: When you say other drugs, what other drugs are you referring to?
CASANDRA VENTURA: To ecstasy, MDMA, party -- more party drugs.
MS. JOHNSON: So can you continue reading the blue, please?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: Did you book with Garren?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes. 3:00 a.m. The white guy.
MS. JOHNSON: Di you want to take now and push up to 2:45. In that message, what is your understanding of what Sean is asking you of what you want to take now?
CASANDRA VENTURA: The drugs and to push up the time of the escort.
MS. JOHNSON: To push up the time for earlier?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yeah, to push it up earlier.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Gavin, can we turn to the next two pages, please.
MS. JOHNSON: So continuing on. Push up to 2:45 or I can.
CASANDRA VENTURA: No, that's 45 minutes, you said you'll be here in 20, I haven't even seen you, damn.
MS. JOHNSON: When you say, no, that's in 45 minutes, you said you'll be here in 20, I haven't even seen you, damn, why did you say that?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Because I wanted to see Sean before we started doing anything.
MS. JOHNSON: Did you want to see Sean before you started taking drugs?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yeah, I wanted to just see him before all of this.
MS. JOHNSON: So continuing to read. Lol, I'm ready. Did you get orange pill?
CASANDRA VENTURA: No. You told me not to take.
MS. JOHNSON: Can you take now? It's the orange in the 5HTP bottle.
CASANDRA VENTURA: Okay.
MS. JOHNSON: I took mine.
CASANDRA VENTURA: Okay. Getting now.
MS. JOHNSON: I'm flying. Meet me.
CASANDRA VENTURA: Orange or yellow?
MS. JOHNSON: Pausing you there. When Sean says I'm flying, meet me, what is your understanding of what I'm flying means?
CASANDRA VENTURA: He's high.
MS. JOHNSON: And when you say orange or yellow, what does Sean respond?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Orange.
MS. JOHNSON: At the bottom of the message, what does Sean say?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Have a drink, too.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Gavin, we can take that down.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Ventura, if you didn't take drugs before reaching the location of the freak-off, at what point would you take drugs when you reached the location?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Immediately after or when I actually got with Sean.
MS. JOHNSON: And relative to when an escort would arrive, when did you typically take drugs?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Before.
MS. JOHNSON: In addition to taking drugs at the beginning of the freak-off, how often did you take drugs during the freak-off?
CASANDRA VENTURA: All the time.
MS. JOHNSON: How did you get more drugs?
CASANDRA VENTURA: If we ran out, we would call people, friends or drug dealers or whoever at the time.
MS. JOHNSON: Backing up a little. When you said you took drugs all the time throughout the freak-off, approximately how frequently would that be?
CASANDRA VENTURA: During a freak-off or just -- sorry.
MS. JOHNSON: No problem. How long would the high lap typically last if you took, for example, ecstasy?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Like three to four hours and then would take more because the sessions were quite long.
MS. JOHNSON: So if you took ecstasy, would you typically need to take more ecstasy every few hours when the high would run out?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yeah.
MS. JOHNSON: And when that would happen, how would you get more ecstasy to take?
CASANDRA VENTURA: We either had it or would have it brought to the room.
MS. JOHNSON: And who had the ecstasy in the room?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sean.
MS. JOHNSON: And if more drugs needed to be brought to the room, how would you get more drugs?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Either he would contact or I would make contact with his contact to bring more.
MS. JOHNSON: Who would you contact for additional drugs, if anyone?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Drug dealers, friends, assistants. Whoever had at that point.
MS. JOHNSON: And when you say assistants, whose assistants would be contacted?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sean's.
MS. JOHNSON: When you decided to take more drugs during the freak-off when the high was wearing off, why did you take more drugs?
CASANDRA VENTURA: For me to just remain high and not, like, be present with the experience.
MS. JOHNSON: Why did you not want to be present with the experience?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Because it was something I hated doing.
MS. JOHNSON: Circling back on bringing additional drugs, if you contacted the individuals you discussed, were you present when anyone dropped off additional drugs?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sometimes, but it was a really brief thing.
MS. JOHNSON: Who brought additional drugs to freak-offs?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Again, friends. Whoever had the hookup of the drug of the moment. So that could be a drug dealer, it could be a friend, it could be an assistant, anyone of Sean's, because I didn't have any of those things.
MS. JOHNSON: You testified earlier that ecstasy is typically a pressed pill. Do you remember that?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yeah.
MS. JOHNSON: How does ecstasy make you feel?
CASANDRA VENTURA: It's a euphoric feeling. I don't really know what's in it, the pressed pill. You're more sensitive, you're more aroused, you even just feel more sexual, I would say.
MS. JOHNSON: You also mentioned taking MDMA. What does MDMA look like?
CASANDRA VENTURA: It's like a crystalized drug and you can crush it up and turn it into powder and ingest it.
MS. JOHNSON: How would you take MDMA?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Put it in a drink usually.
MS. JOHNSON: How does MDMA make you feel?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Very similar to ecstasy, just kind of euphoric. Everything feels light and nice and -- yeah.
MS. JOHNSON: When, if ever, did taking drugs make you feel sick?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Often. I used to get sick a lot. My stomach used to not agree well with ecstasy especially, but MDMA, as well.
MS. JOHNSON: How often would you get sick from taking MDMA or ecstasy?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Almost every time, like before the actual high hit, I would feel like vomiting. It was usually like a normal thing.
MS. JOHNSON: Would you vomit or would you just feel nauseous?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I would actually vomit, yeah.
MS. JOHNSON: Did Sean know about the effects that ecstasy and MDMA had on you?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yeah.
MS. JOHNSON: How?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Because he would see me in the bathroom or I would tell him, so he would just know.
MS. JOHNSON: What, if anything, would Sean say when you got sick from MDMA or ecstasy?
CASANDRA VENTURA: He didn't say much, but if we were in the freak-off, he would be encouraging me to get up and continue on with it in that condition.
MS. JOHNSON: When you say continue on with it, what are you referring to?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Continue the freak-off, continue the intercourse, even though I felt like vomiting, or that I was.
MS. JOHNSON: Did you want to continue intercourse when you felt like vomiting?
MS. JOHNSON: Besides ecstasy and MDMA, what, if any, other drugs were used at freak-offs?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I said cocaine, GHP, ketamine, marijuana, mushrooms.
MS. JOHNSON: How does ketamine make you feel?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Ketamine, for me, is dissociative, like you can be there, but not mentally be there at all.
(Continued on next page)
BY MS. JOHNSON:
MS. JOHNSON: And how does GHB make you feel?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I would say that GHB makes you feel kind of drunk, a little bit, tipsy.
MS. JOHNSON: How about cocaine, how does cocaine make you feel?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Cocaine makes my heart race. I was never a huge fan.
MS. JOHNSON: You also mentioned mushrooms. How do mushrooms make you feel?
CASANDRA VENTURA: They are psychedelic, so you can see things. I feel like the walls come alive.
MS. JOHNSON: What does that mean, the walls come alive?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Everything has life to it when you're taking those kinds of drugs, like, psychedelics.
MS. JOHNSON: Have you ever used the phrase the turn-up?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: What have you used that to refer to?
CASANDRA VENTURA: To drugs, to party.
MS. JOHNSON: And of the drugs we've discussed, what are drugs that you would take to party?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Ectasy and MDMA would be the main ones.
MS. JOHNSON: And how, if at all, did taking the drugs we just discussed assist in sexual arousal?
CASANDRA VENTURA: They always did. Would it be OK to take a quick break?
MS. JOHNSON: Your Honor, is that OK?
THE COURT: Of course. It's 4:00 o'clock. Let's come back at 4:10.
CASANDRA VENTURA: Thank you.
THE COURT: All rise for the jury.
(Continued on next page)
(Jury not present)
THE COURT: All right. We'll back in ten minutes.
CASANDRA VENTURA: Thank you.
(Recess)
THE COURT: Let's come back. Please be seated. We're just waiting for Ms. Ventura.
MS. JOHNSON: Yes.
THE COURT: Welcome back. Let's get our jury.
(Jury present)
THE COURT: Please be seated. Ms. Johnson, you may continue when ready.
MS. JOHNSON: Thank you, your Honor.
BY MS. JOHNSON:
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Ventura, before we broke we were talking about using drugs at freak-offs. Do you remember that testimony?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: And you had testified about sometimes contacting people if you ran out of drugs at freak-offs. Do you remember that?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: When you reached out to a contact for more drugs, how did you know who to reach out to?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sean would tell me who to reach out to exactly.
MS. JOHNSON: OK. Earlier you described the term session referring to all of the sex acts with the escort. Do you remember that?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: Did the sessions follow a similar pattern at most freak-offs?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: And how did you know what the pattern was?
CASANDRA VENTURA: It was established pretty early on in doing the freak-offs, that Sean enjoyed a lot of conversation or describing -- usually started with oil and touching and went to oral sex, and then eventually turned into intercourse. It was, like, a gradual process.
MS. JOHNSON: And is that the same pattern that was typically followed in the session?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yeah.
MS. JOHNSON: Who decided what that pattern was?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sean did. I -- I often would try to speed it up, um, if anyone wasn't really paying attention.
MS. ESTEVAO: Objection, nonresponsive.
THE COURT: Sustained. A. Can you bring me back?
MS. JOHNSON: Of course. You were talking about what the pattern was, so let's focus on that for a moment.
MS. JOHNSON: What was the first sex act of the session?
CASANDRA VENTURA: First sex act of the session would just be, um, masturbating, looking at each other.
MS. JOHNSON: When you say looking at each other, who would you be looking at?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I would be looking at the escort and they would be looking at me. Um, I would describe what I saw in detail and, um, yeah, that's kind of how the beginning went.
MS. JOHNSON: Why would you describe what you saw in detail?
CASANDRA VENTURA: That is what turned Sean on. That was his fantasy. Um, so, yeah.
MS. JOHNSON: Who, if anyone, asked you to describe in detail what you saw?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sean.
MS. JOHNSON: How did you feel about describing what you were doing in the masturbation step of the session?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I mean, it was just always awkward. Um, I'm a pretty laid-back person, so, like, sitting there and describing somebody's penis to another male was just awkward, um, and pretty humiliating. But eventually, it just became normal.
MS. JOHNSON: Did you want to be describing what you were doing sexually?
CASANDRA VENTURA: No, I did not.
MS. JOHNSON: After masturbation, what was the next step in the session?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Masturbation was, just, continued, to put oil on, eventually get to each other, the escort and I, and actually start touching each other. Um, that would eventually lead to oral sex.
MS. JOHNSON: I'm going to pause you there.
CASANDRA VENTURA: Um-hmm.
MS. JOHNSON: When you moved to touching the escort, how would you know when to move from masturbation to touching the escort?
CASANDRA VENTURA: More often than not, I would ask if it's OK for me to.
MS. JOHNSON: Who would you ask?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sean.
MS. JOHNSON: And you moved from touching to oral sex. How would you know when to make that move?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I would just do it and hope that it would be accepted timing-wise, or he told.
MS. JOHNSON: Who would tell you?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sean would tell me.
MS. JOHNSON: When you would ask Sean if you could move from masturbation to touching, why would you ask him?
CASANDRA VENTURA: It was his fantasy. He was controlling the whole situation. He was directing it. He was doing the lighting. He was telling us where to be, what to say, how to act in the room.
MS. JOHNSON: And you testified that you would sometimes move straight to oral sex. Why would you want to move to the next sex act?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I would just try to speed the process along. It was, personally, if I get it done, then it's over and then we move on to the next thing. I just wanted it to be over.
MS. JOHNSON: When you say you wanted it to be over, what's it?
CASANDRA VENTURA: The freak-off session. I, more often than not, would just want to be able to get to the other room where we could just spend time with each other alone.
MS. JOHNSON: When you say get to the room where you could spend time alone, who was in the room when you were spending time alone?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Just me and Sean.
MS. JOHNSON: And after oral sex, what was typically the next sex act?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Oral sex would lead to intercourse. Um, and depending on the familiarity with the escort, um, sometimes Sean and the escort would both, um, have intercourse with me or be doing something at the same time. Sometimes he would just watch.
MS. JOHNSON: When you say he would be doing something with you at the same time, what was that something?
CASANDRA VENTURA: If I was having intercourse with an escort, um, Sean could walk up and have me give him oral sex. It was just, like, a lot happening at once.
MS. JOHNSON: During intercourse, would escorts ejaculate?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: And at what point would escorts ejaculate?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Usually when it was OK for them to, per Sean. But if they did, they would usually do it on me and then -- Sorry. Um, and then we would -- Sean and I would go into the next room, and he would want me to put the semen on his body.
MS. JOHNSON: OK. When escorts would ejaculate on you, who, if anyone, would tell them where to ejaculate?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sean was usually right there directing it, where it could be.
MS. JOHNSON: Were there occasions when escorts ejaculated without having been told to do so?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: What happened on those occasions?
CASANDRA VENTURA: They got paid less.
MS. JOHNSON: What, if anything, would Sean say about when escorts ejaculated without having been told to do so?
CASANDRA VENTURA: He was pretty open with the fact that he wasn't pleased by their performance. So, yeah. He would take less money.
MS. JOHNSON: And when you would go into the other room and you said Sean asked you to put semen on him?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Um-hmm.
MS. JOHNSON: Did you do that?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I did.
MS. JOHNSON: Where did you put it?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Usually on his chest, on his nipples.
MS. JOHNSON: Did you want to do that?
MS. JOHNSON: And, in total, how long approximately did each of these sessions last?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Um, each session? Not, like, a full freak-off?
MS. JOHNSON: Yeah, each session.
CASANDRA VENTURA: Um, anywhere between, like, an hour to three hours. Just depended.
MS. JOHNSON: And the individual stages that you described, how long typically did each of those stages last?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Felt like forever. One thing could be hours, honestly, depending on how high we were. Yeah.
MS. JOHNSON: And you testified about wanting to speed the process along?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Um-hmm.
MS. JOHNSON: How would Sean react when you tried to speed up the process?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Um, he would tell me to slow it down or tell both me and the escort to slow it down. Um, I could often, like, if I left the room to use the bathroom, I could hear -- I could hear Sean telling the escort to slow it all down, because I usually wanted to just finish.
MS. JOHNSON: Besides asking you to slow down, were there occasions where you had to start a stage over if you moved too quickly?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yeah. We would go back to square one.
MS. JOHNSON: Approximately how many sessions would you have with one escort during a freak-off?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I would say at least two to three. Um, but a freak-off could be three to four different men.
MS. JOHNSON: And how is it determined how many sessions would be had with any one escort?
CASANDRA VENTURA: It was based off the high and just how things were moving.
MS. JOHNSON: Did you ever want to have additional sessions with an escort?
MS. JOHNSON: Who, if anyone, would ask you to have -- would tell you to have additional sessions with an escort?
MS. ESTEVAO: Objection, form.
MS. JOHNSON: I can rephrase, your Honor.
THE COURT: You may.
MS. JOHNSON: I'm sorry.
THE COURT: You may.
MS. JOHNSON: Thank you, Judge.
BY MS. JOHNSON:
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Ventura, you just testified you did not want to have additional sessions with an escort?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I hated it.
MS. JOHNSON: Did you have additional sessions with escorts during freak-offs?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sometimes, yes.
MS. JOHNSON: Why?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Because Sean would want to do more, go longer, finish up strong, as he would say.
MS. JOHNSON: You also testified that there were sometimes three to four escorts at a freak-off. Do you recall that?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: Were there any occasions where there was more than one escort present for one session?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: Approximately how many times was that?
CASANDRA VENTURA: That, I don't know an exact number, but definitely more than once.
MS. JOHNSON: Did you want more than one escort to be present at a session?
CASANDRA VENTURA: No. It was already enough managing one additional person.
MS. JOHNSON: And when more than one escort was present, how did the sex acts proceed?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Just, it was very, like, like porn.
MS. JOHNSON: What do you mean by that?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Um, it was just I was an object, um, being heavily objectified by men in that scenario.
MS. JOHNSON: You talked about managing an additional escort. What did you mean by managing?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Um, just having to be the only female in the room, like, with the sexual stuff. It, just, having to entertain one more person, make sure one more person is satisfied. Um, yeah.
MS. JOHNSON: During these sessions, where was Sean physically relative to you and the escort?
CASANDRA VENTURA: If he wasn't involved, he would be, like, just outside the room, kind of covered up, not seeing, you could just hear his voice or in the corner. Um, it -- yeah, if he was involved, though, he would be right next to us.
MS. JOHNSON: And when you say involved, is that what -- are you referencing he would be a part of the sex as you discussed earlier?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yeah, with me.
MS. JOHNSON: If Sean was in the corner of the room, what was he generally doing there?
CASANDRA VENTURA: He was generally masturbating and just talking.
MS. JOHNSON: What kinds of things did he say?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Um, he would just ask me, like, how -- how the dick felt, like, what it looked like, how it made me feel. Um, this is so awkward.
MS. JOHNSON: You also mentioned sometimes Sean would be outside the room?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Um-hmm.
MS. JOHNSON: Is that right?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yeah.
MS. JOHNSON: How frequently did that happen?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Um, I mean, it varied. No real number.
MS. JOHNSON: When Sean was outside of the room during a freak-off, what, if any, conversations did you have with Sean before it started about where he would be?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Um, we didn't really. Um, I guess, on occasion, he -- there was, like, a couple of occasions where he said he wanted to watch from a different room or he would set up, like, my phone and his phone on a FaceTime so that he could watch while he wasn't, like, present in the actual room. So I was still expected to do the same thing, even though he wasn't there.
MS. JOHNSON: So on the occasions when Sean was out of the room, what did you and the escort typically do?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Um, if he could see me, if Sean could see me on the FaceTime, I was still doing the same thing. So talking and having, this, sexual encounter with the escort. But if he was just out of the room and not paying attention, I would stop.
MS. JOHNSON: How would you know if Sean was out of the room and not paying attention?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I would just know that you can't hear him or he didn't call. He's not paying attention.
MS. JOHNSON: During freak-offs, what difficulty, if any, did escorts have in getting or maintaining erections?
CASANDRA VENTURA: It was actually pretty frequent with people that we didn't know well. Um, yeah, and they would express it, like, it's -- every time Sean would talk, it would throw them off, or if he moved a candle or, you know, just was distracting, I guess.
MS. JOHNSON: And what did Sean do when escorts were having trouble with erections?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Um, he would give them a pep talk. I don't -- at the end, they definitely didn't get paid the normal amount. I know that.
MS. JOHNSON: How do you know that?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Because he would tell me and he would tell them as well. It wasn't really a secret.
MS. JOHNSON: When you say he, who is he?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sean.
MS. JOHNSON: Were there any occasions where Sean offered the escorts drugs like Viagra?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yeah.
MS. JOHNSON: And who else besides escorts did Sean offer Viagra to?
CASANDRA VENTURA: He offered it to me before.
MS. JOHNSON: And what did he say about you taking Viagra?
CASANDRA VENTURA: That it has the same effect on women, just sensitivity.
MS. JOHNSON: Did you take the Viagra that he offered you?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I did.
MS. JOHNSON: And how did you feel?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sensitive and engorged.
MS. JOHNSON: Did you want to take the Viagra?
CASANDRA VENTURA: No. I thought -- no, I didn't.
MS. JOHNSON: When escorts were having trouble getting erect, what, if anything, did you observe affected their inability to get erect?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Like I said before, just the distraction of seeing Sean move around, maybe just hearing his voice. It's quite recognizable. Any distractions, though, really, some of the men would actually just say that, like, having someone else in the room just was disturbing for them. It made them uncomfortable.
MS. JOHNSON: Were there any distractions that you observed other than Sean's voice?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Um...
MS. ESTEVAO: Your Honor, I'm going to object at this point. Cumulative and it's straining. Relevance.
THE COURT: I'm sorry. The last part of it, I missed.
MS. ESTEVAO: Relevance.
THE COURT: OK. I'll sustain the objection, and you can maybe rephrase the question.
MS. JOHNSON: Sure.
BY MS. JOHNSON:
MS. JOHNSON: After the end of a session, what would you and Sean do next?
CASANDRA VENTURA: The end of an entire session or?
MS. JOHNSON: Just one session within a freak-off.
CASANDRA VENTURA: We would hang out and take more drugs with each other.
MS. JOHNSON: After a session, would you ever have sex with Sean?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yeah.
MS. JOHNSON: And where would you have sex with Sean after the session?
CASANDRA VENTURA: In the room outside of where the session was, separate room.
MS. JOHNSON: You mentioned earlier today that freak-offs were video recorded. Do you recall that testimony?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yep.
MS. JOHNSON: How were they recorded?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Um, in the beginning, they were on video cameras, like, the ones with the small tapes, then eventually phones, iPads, computers.
MS. JOHNSON: Whose devices were used to record freak-offs?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Um, his devices and my own. Sean's and my own.
MS. JOHNSON: Approximately when did freak-offs start being recorded?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Pretty early on. Within the first year.
MS. JOHNSON: Who, if anyone, proposed recording freak-offs?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I wouldn't say there was a proposal. It just started happening.
MS. JOHNSON: How did it start happening?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sean brought out a camera and set it up, and that's what was happening.
MS. JOHNSON: Did you want to be recorded?
CASANDRA VENTURA: No. I remember feeling insane at first and then, um, he explained to me that it's for him for afterwards, so, yeah.
MS. JOHNSON: Did you ever watch the videos again?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: When would you watch the videos again?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Um, I would watch them with Sean afterwards when we -- usually when we were having intercourse. But I also, if I saw them and I was on my own, I was deleting them.
MS. JOHNSON: You mentioned that some of these videos were recorded on some of your devices?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Um-hmm.
MS. JOHNSON: Do you remember that?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yep.
MS. JOHNSON: Why were your devices used?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Because they were there. No real reason.
MS. JOHNSON: Did you want these videos to be on your devices?
MS. JOHNSON: If you saw videos on your devices, what did you do?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Delete them.
MS. JOHNSON: Who set up the recording equipment during freak-offs?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sean. If he wanted me to move it, I would move it.
MS. JOHNSON: How would you know when he wanted you to move it?
CASANDRA VENTURA: He would tell me.
MS. JOHNSON: Whose idea was it to use your devices?
CASANDRA VENTURA: It was Sean's idea.
MS. JOHNSON: Were you always successful -- why did you delete the videos that you found on your devices?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Humiliating. Disgusting. I never wanted anyone to ever see me like that. It just was not OK for me, and I felt, like, it was just tossed around, like, the idea of it was tossed around like it was nothing, like ... Yeah.
MS. JOHNSON: The idea of what was tossed around like it was nothing?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Objectifying me and putting me in these really compromising gross positions with strangers that I just... Yeah.
MS. JOHNSON: You also testified that Sean's devices were sometimes used to record freak-offs. Do you remember that?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes.
MS. JOHNSON: And what, if anything, did you ask Sean to do with the videos?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I would frequently ask him to delete videos, because he had his assistants and staff members would have access to his computers and phones.
MS. JOHNSON: To your knowledge, did Sean delete the videos that were on his devices?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I don't know.
MS. JOHNSON: Were there times when you saw videos even after Sean said he deleted them?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes, and I would delete them.
MS. JOHNSON: How often did that happen?
CASANDRA VENTURA: On occasion. It wasn't all the time, but enough.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Ventura, when, if ever, did you leave a freak-off before it was over?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Um, when I was literally just trying to go home.
MS. JOHNSON: What do you mean by that?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Um, there was an instance in Los Angeles where it got violent, and I chose to leave.
MS. JOHNSON: Where were you in Los Angeles?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I was at the Century City or, sorry, InterContinental Century City.
MS. JOHNSON: And what happened when you chose to leave?
CASANDRA VENTURA: When I chose to leave, I grabbed what I could and I got out. And Sean followed me into the hallway before the elevators and grabbed me up, threw me on the ground, kicked me, tried to drag me back to the room. He took my stuff. Yeah.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Ventura, I'm going to start at the beginning of that incident.
MS. JOHNSON: Prior -- strike that.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Gavin, can you please pull up for identification for the court and the parties Government Exhibit B-625. Can you please also put up page two, side by side.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Ventura, do you recognize the document at B-625?
MS. JOHNSON: What do you recognize it to be?
CASANDRA VENTURA: A text message between me and Sean.
MS. JOHNSON: Is this a true and accurate text message between you and Sean?
MS. JOHNSON: The government offers Government Exhibit B-625.
MS. ESTEVAO: Can I have one moment, please?
THE COURT: You may.
(Counsel confer)
MS. ESTEVAO: No objection.
THE COURT: B-625 will be admitted.
(Government's Exhibit B-625 received in evidence)
BY MS. JOHNSON:
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Ventura, focusing you on the top of page one, if --
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Gavin, if you could blow up that top section.
MS. JOHNSON: Who are the participants in this chat?
CASANDRA VENTURA: That's me and Sean.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Gavin, can you take that down. Can you blow up the bubble on page two, please.
MS. JOHNSON: What's the date of this message?
CASANDRA VENTURA: March 5, 2016.
MS. JOHNSON: And what event, if anything, did you have at or around March of 2016?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I had my first big movie premier.
MS. JOHNSON: And in relation to March 5, when was that premier?
CASANDRA VENTURA: That premier was on the following Monday or Tuesday. So this was on a Friday, I believe.
MS. JOHNSON: And, sorry, Ms. Gavin. Can you take that down and put pages two and three side by side.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Ventura, directing your attention to the first message on page two. Who is this message from?
CASANDRA VENTURA: From me.
MS. JOHNSON: I'm sorry.
CASANDRA VENTURA: Oh, to?
MS. JOHNSON: On the page on the left. I'm so sorry.
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yeah. That's from Sean.
MS. JOHNSON: OK. And what does that message say?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Thanks. So what you gonna do so I can plan the rest of my night.
MS. JOHNSON: And when Sean asked you, so what you gonna do so I can plan the rest of my night, what was your understanding of what Sean was asking you?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I mean, my understanding after that time passed was that he wanted to have a freak-off or do something along those lines.
MS. JOHNSON: Turning to the next page. And, Ms. Gavin, can you blow up the green message at the top, please.
MS. JOHNSON: How do you respond, Ms. Ventura?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I say, Baby, I want to FO so bad but I don't want to fuck myself up. What am I to do?
MS. JOHNSON: What does FO stand for?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Freak-off.
MS. JOHNSON: When you say, Baby I want to FO so bad, but I don't want to fuck myself up, what did you mean by that?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I -- there's a lot in that little line. But I definitely didn't want to mess myself, my body, up for my premier by partying. But I was telling him that I wanted to have an FO with him.
MS. JOHNSON: And why did you tell him you wanted to have an FO, even if you didn't want to mess up your body by partying?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Honestly, it was, like, a bit of damage control ahead. I -- I personally felt like if I, um, sort of initiate or go along with creating this night, that my premier wouldn't be ruined. I don't know.
MS. JOHNSON: What were you worried would happen at your premier if you didn't have a freak-off with Sean before the premier?
CASANDRA VENTURA: He would have just made it miserable for me. Um, I never really had, like, the chance to -- or the opportunity to enjoy the things that I had worked really hard on. So it just felt, like, I was just trying to play a balancing act a bit.
MS. JOHNSON: I think you mentioned damage control. What did you mean by damage control?
CASANDRA VENTURA: If I pleased him with a freak-off, then my premier would run smoothly. That's how I looked at it.
MS. JOHNSON: And, Ms. Gavin, can you pull that down.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Ventura, directing your attention to the text message on the bottom in green.
CASANDRA VENTURA: Um-hmm.
MS. JOHNSON: Can you blow it up, Ms. Gavin.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Ventura, what does this message say?
CASANDRA VENTURA: It says, I'm going to boa quickly to see Erin because I didn't get to see her and ... we can have fun ... I don't want you thinking I don't want to.
MS. JOHNSON: When you say, I don't want you thinking I don't want to, what are you referring to?
CASANDRA VENTURA: To the freak-off.
MS. JOHNSON: And why did you say that?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Because I didn't want him thinking I didn't want to. That would be a problem.
MS. JOHNSON: Why would that be a problem?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Because I knew what he wanted and, you know, I just ... I knew the nuanced conversation. I understood it differently.
MS. JOHNSON: So, turning to the hotel, I believe you testified earlier this was at the InterContinental in Century City?
MS. JOHNSON: OK. Inside the hotel room, at a high level, can you describe to the jury what happened?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Um, inside the hotel room, we were having a freak-off. And is it OK to say who was there?
MS. JOHNSON: Yes.
CASANDRA VENTURA: Jewels was one of the escorts. And in the middle of it -- there was a lot of drinking, there was a lot of partying, but in the middle of it, I'm not sure what happened, but I got hit by Sean and I had a black eye. And at that point, all I could think about was getting out of there safely. I had my premier and I didn't want to mess it up, so I left.
MS. JOHNSON: At what point in the freak-off did Sean hit you?
CASANDRA VENTURA: It was, like, in between sessions, so when we weren't in the room with the escort.
MS. JOHNSON: Was Jewels still present in the overall hotel suite --
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes, he was.
MS. JOHNSON: -- when Sean hit you?
MS. JOHNSON: After that happened, after Sean hit you, what happened next?
CASANDRA VENTURA: After he hit me, um, and I saw the result of it, I just -- I knew I had to get out. So when he was distracted, I don't know exactly what he was doing, he was either in the shower or on the phone, I just grabbed my stuff and ran out as fast as I could.
MS. JOHNSON: And where -- and where were you headed when you ran out of the room?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I was headed home to my apartment.
MS. JOHNSON: What happened next?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Um, I made it to the elevators, I got my sneakers on, and then the next thing I knew, I was just thrown to the ground. Yeah, it -- it was really fast, thrown to the ground.
MS. JOHNSON: You said you got your sneakers on when you got to the elevator. Where were your sneakers before?
CASANDRA VENTURA: My sneakers, I think, were in my bag. I just ran out without any shoes.
MS. JOHNSON: Why did you run out without any shoes?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Faster.
MS. JOHNSON: You said you were thrown down in the elevator lobby. Who threw you down?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sean. He grabbed me by the back of my neck and my hoodie and just threw me to the ground.
MS. JOHNSON: And in the interaction in the elevator lobby, what kind of things was Sean saying to you?
CASANDRA VENTURA: It's a little bit fuzzy to remember. Um...
MS. JOHNSON: Well, I don't want you to speculate, so let's pull up some exhibits.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Gavin, can you please pull up Government Exhibit 10C-104 in evidence. If you could just pause it at that first second.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Ventura, do you recognize this hallway?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes. That's the Century City InterContinental hallway.
MS. JOHNSON: OK. Ms. Gavin, can you please play until 14 seconds.
(Video played)
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Ventura, in which direction are you walking in this video?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I'm walking towards the elevator.
MS. JOHNSON: Sorry. I skipped a step. Who is in this video?
CASANDRA VENTURA: That's me.
MS. JOHNSON: OK. Ms. Gavin, can you play until 33 seconds.
(Video played)
MS. JOHNSON: Pausing there.
MS. JOHNSON: Who is depicted on the screen at 33 seconds?
CASANDRA VENTURA: That's Sean.
MS. JOHNSON: And in which direction is Sean heading?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Same as me, towards the elevator.
MS. JOHNSON: What is Sean wearing in this video?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Towel and socks.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Gavin, can you please take this exhibit down and pull up 10C-103. Can you please play until 29 seconds, please. Actually, pausing there first.
(Video played)
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Ventura, do you recognize what's depicted here in 10C-103?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes. That's the elevator area, um...
MS. JOHNSON: Is that at the InterContinental?
CASANDRA VENTURA: That is at the InterContinental, yeah.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Gavin, can you play until 29 seconds.
(Video played)
MS. JOHNSON: Who is depicted in this frame?
CASANDRA VENTURA: It's me.
MS. JOHNSON: And can you play a few more seconds, Ms. Gavin.
(Video played)
MS. JOHNSON: Pause there.
MS. JOHNSON: Who is behind you now?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Sean.
MS. JOHNSON: Can you play until 56 seconds.
(Video played)
MS. JOHNSON: Pausing there.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Ventura, in which direction is Sean pulling you at the end of that clip?
CASANDRA VENTURA: He's pulling me towards the room.
MS. JOHNSON: And earlier in that clip, do we see what you described earlier of being thrown to the ground?
MS. JOHNSON: How many times had Sean thrown you to the ground like that before?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Too many to count. I don't know.
MS. JOHNSON: And when you were thrown to the ground at the InterContinental, what did you do?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I, at that moment, covered my face and just stayed there.
MS. JOHNSON: Why did you cover your face?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Because I didn't want him to do any more damage than he had already done.
MS. JOHNSON: Why did you just stay on the ground?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Because it felt like the safest place to be.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Gavin, can you take this down, please, and pull up 10C-105. If you can play from 23 seconds to 30 seconds.
(Video played)
MS. JOHNSON: Just pausing, I'm sorry, before we start.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Ventura, do you recognize what's depicted on the screen in 10C-105?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Yes. That's the opposite side of the hallway at the InterContinental.
MS. JOHNSON: OK. Ms. Gavin, can we play to 30 seconds, please.
(Video played)
MS. JOHNSON: And was Sean visible in that clip?
MS. JOHNSON: Where was he?
CASANDRA VENTURA: He was dragging me around the corner.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Gavin, if you can take that down and pull up 10C-103, again, please, and where we are at 56 seconds.
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Ventura, taking it back to your testimony about staying on the ground, were there occasions when you tried to fight back when Sean hit you?
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Gavin, can we please play from 143 to 146.
(Video played)
MS. JOHNSON: OK. Sorry. Just one moment. I gave you the wrong timestamp. Can you play from 56 seconds to 1:32.
(Video played)
MS. JOHNSON: Starting from where you're at the corner. Pausing you there.
BY MS. JOHNSON:
MS. JOHNSON: Ms. Ventura, what are you doing in the corner?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I picked up the hotel phone that was on that floor.
MS. JOHNSON: OK. And where is Sean?
CASANDRA VENTURA: He's standing facing me.
MS. JOHNSON: And what does he have in his hands?
CASANDRA VENTURA: My purse and my overnight bag.
MS. JOHNSON: OK. If we can take -- Ms. Gavin, if we can take that down. Pull up 10C-104. If you can play from 1:40 to 1:50.
(Video played)
MS. JOHNSON: Which direction is Sean walking?
CASANDRA VENTURA: He's walking back towards the room we're staying in.
MS. JOHNSON: What does he have in his hands?
CASANDRA VENTURA: All of my bags.
MS. JOHNSON: And if you can play to 2:08.
(Video played)
MS. JOHNSON: Which direction is Sean walking?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Back towards the elevator bank.
MS. JOHNSON: And where are you at this point?
CASANDRA VENTURA: Um, I think I'm off -- I don't know. I'm off camera, or I'm either on the phone, or I don't know. So I went down the other hallway as well.
MS. JOHNSON: Are you still in the elevator bank?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I think I'm still in the elevator bank. I'm probably about to get on the phone.
MS. JOHNSON: What does Sean have in his hands?
CASANDRA VENTURA: I don't see anything in his hands.
MS. JOHNSON: Your bags are no longer in his hands, is that right?
CASANDRA VENTURA: No. It looks like he dropped them off.
MS. JOHNSON: Your Honor, it's 5:00 o'clock. Should we?
THE COURT: Are you at a good stopping place?
MS. JOHNSON: I'm at a good stopping place.
THE COURT: All right. Thank you, members of the jury. I'll give you the same instructions that I gave you yesterday. Do not talk to each other about the case. Do not look up anything about this case. One just specific point about that. If you have notifications on any of your devices, please turn those off, especially if they are from any news organization of any kind. Do not talk to anybody about the case. And no one here should be talking to any of the jurors directly or indirectly. With that, have a great evening. We'll see you here tomorrow morning at 9:15. All rise.
(Continued on next page)
(Jury not present)
THE COURT: Please be seated. Ms. Ventura, we'll see you hear tomorrow at 9:30.
CASANDRA VENTURA: Thank you.
THE COURT: Does Ms. Ventura have any escort or anyone we need to coordinate with?
MS. COMEY: Yes, your Honor. I believe the agents are going to coordinate escorting her out of the building.
THE COURT: All right.
(Witness temporarily excused)
THE COURT: Ms. Johnson, what are we looking at for tomorrow?
MS. JOHNSON: Your Honor, I expect that we'll finish direct tomorrow. I'm hesitant to give you an exact time. I probably need at least half the day.
THE COURT: Half the day?
MS. JOHNSON: At least.
THE COURT: Anything further from the government right now?
MS. JOHNSON: Nothing right now, although I know the parties intend to submit some letters later this evening.
MS. COMEY: Yes, your Honor. We wanted to flag for your Honor, we do plan to put in a letter on the sealed, the sealed exhibits, the videos. We're planning to put that in -- Can you hear me?
THE COURT: I can hear you.
MS. COMEY: We're planning to put that in tonight. Also, we've been doing research on the issue Ms. Shapiro raised about witness contact with counts. We found some law and we found some examples of judges in this district denying those kinds of applications from the defense, so we're planning to put in a letter on that for your Honor as well.
THE COURT: OK. Do you have -- I mean, if you're going to submit letters on this, is there an objection to the proposal made by the news organizations that three pool reporters have access to the terms?
MS. COMEY: Yes, your Honor. I've been in touch with victim with Jane's counsel, who strongly objects and wants to be heard on this and wants to put in a letter, and I believe Victim 1's counsel also objects. The core of the objection is that this was blackmail material that was used to victimize these women, used to convince them to do more or coerce them to do more of these acts, and showing them to anyone more than absolutely necessary would feed into that victimization, would re-victimize them, and would unnecessarily humiliate them. We have now heard vivid testimony about how humiliating one victim found all of these incidents to be. And, in our view and in victims' counsel view, it is absolutely unnecessary and unwarranted to show them to anyone outside of the jury and the parties.
THE COURT: And I know that I'll take a look at these exhibits. I know they will be identified for the court. But, in general, I understand there are images and then separately there are videos. The videos pertain to whom?
MS. COMEY: To Ms. Ventura and to Jane. They are only of those two victims.
THE COURT: They are depictions of sexual encounters the ones that are being discussed in this case?
MS. COMEY: Exactly, your Honor.
THE COURT: The images are of?
MS. COMEY: They are screenshots.
THE COURT: Of those same videos?
MS. COMEY: Of those same videos. And the reason there are screenshots is our plan was, to avoid unduly humiliating these women in public, to have them identify themselves and the escorts in screenshots, and then minimize the amount that we play while they are on the stand. And, instead, play whatever excerpts we think the jury needs to see when the witnesses are not, the victims are not themselves on the stand.
THE COURT: I take it that the argument on narrow tailoring is that is exactly what the parties are doing, because the testimony will be heard in open court and the image, the only thing not being shown in open court will be the images and the videos themselves. Those materials, from the parties' position, or at least the government's position, constitutes the revictimization of these individuals. And so whether it stems from the Crime Victims' Rights Act or from basic notions of avoiding that kind of trauma to alleged victims at this point, those are compelling interests that would override any interests in the public of having access to these materials. So if we, even spotting the news organizations, that there is a compelling interest on the side of the public having access to trial materials, those are overridden by the interests in these victims. I'm not seeing, since I've had a chance to look through all the cases, I'm not seeing any case that would suggest in any way, shape, or form that images or videos of these types of acts that are alleged to be sexual abuse would be required to be shown in open court when they pose the obvious risk of revictimization of the people who are providing this testimony, especially when the individuals are subjecting themselves to testimony about the incidents in open court, and the public will have access to that testimony.
MS. COMEY: Precisely, your Honor. And we are not collectively aware of any case. We collectively have extensive experience trying cases that involve sexual abuse of adults and minors. We are not aware of a single case in which a video of alleged sexual abuse has been shown outside of the jury and the parties.
THE COURT: The news organizations cite to Brown v. Maxwell, but that case is different. That involved a situation where the entire summary judgment record was sealed and the Court of Appeals determined that the district court had aired by not doing a document-by-document review of what needed to be sealed, so the Court of Appeals did it. However, there is a footnote opinion that says that material was redacted, especially when it related to intimate encounters that the parties expected to remain confidential, and that would seem to apply, among other reasons, to the materials that we're talking about here.
MS. COMEY: That's exactly right, your Honor. I'm actually familiar with the materials from Brown v. Maxwell because many of them were subject of the criminal case against Maxwell, and my understanding is not a single nude image was released in that. And the process that followed, I believe Judge Preska conducted after the Circuit reversed Judge Sweet's universal sealing of the summary judgment record, not a single image of nudity was released for very good reason. So I don't think there is any basis in the case law whatsoever for the showing of any nude images, particularly of alleged abuse, to anyone outside of the jury and the parties.
THE COURT: All right. So, to complete the record, you're going to put in the letters that you indicated, and also please identify those exhibits so I can review them --
MS. COMEY: Yes, your Honor.
THE COURT: -- consistent with the rules here. I'm provisionally denying the application raised by the news organizations and including the suggestion that three pool reporters be allowed to view and report on the video exhibits. But, obviously, if something comes in overnight, I'll take a look at it. If it changes anything, I'll let everybody know.
MS. COMEY: Thank you, your Honor.
THE COURT: Was that the only issues the parties expected letters to come in?
MS. COMEY: We also plan to put in a letter, I think I mentioned, on the defense's application that witnesses not be permitted to communicate with their counsel while on cross- examination.
THE COURT: Thank you.
MS. COMEY: We plan to put it in a letter on that issue.
THE COURT: Very good. And just looking ahead, Ms. Estevao, I take it that, given what Ms. Johnson has said, your cross-examination will go into Thursday, is that basically right?
MS. ESTEVAO: Easily, yes.
THE COURT: All right. So, Ms. Comey or Ms. Johnson, who is your next witness after Ms. Ventura?
MS. COMEY: We are still trying to figure that out, your Honor. We have assured defense counsel, we will inform them of that tonight. And part of that is we want to look at the calendar about who would be available to be in New York, if we need to put witnesses on, on Friday.
THE COURT: OK. Anything from the defense?
MS. SHAPIRO: Your Honor, just with regard to the letter Ms. Comey mentioned about the witness' communications with her attorney on cross or other witnesses' communications with their attorneys on cross. It would be -- we would like to respond to that letter. And I realize that cross is going to start tomorrow, so we would appreciate if the court would set a very tight deadline so we have time to respond in writing before the court rules on that.
THE COURT: I think that was directed at you, Ms. Comey.
MS. COMEY: I'll take as much time as Ms. Shapiro is willing to give me.
MS. SHAPIRO: We can meet and confer.
THE COURT: It's 5:00 o'clock right now. You say you've identified some cases?
MS. COMEY: We have your Honor. I would like to put them in a format legible and coherent, though.
THE COURT: 8:00 o'clocl.
MS. COMEY: All right, your Honor. Thank you.
THE COURT: 8:00 p.m., Ms. Shapiro, respond. If it comes in the morning, I'll read it before we convene.
MS. SHAPIRO: We'll do this as quickly as possible.
THE COURT: Let's plan to be here at 9:00 a.m. Anything else from the defense?
MR. AGNIFILO: No, Judge.
THE COURT: All right. We are adjourned. See everybody at 9:00 a.m.
(Adjourned to May 14, 2025, at 9:00 a.m.)