Day 28: Cross-Examination of Final Witness Ends With Shocking Video—Prosecution Rests

By Trinity Barnette

After nearly six weeks of disturbing testimony, hundreds of exhibits, and a trial that has gripped the public with its graphic and emotional revelations, the prosecution officially rested its case on Day 28. But before stepping down, their final witness—Homeland Security Special Agent Joseph Cerciello—was subjected to a relentless cross-examination by defense attorney Teny Geragos, who sought to dismantle key parts of the government’s narrative. The day ended with the jury being shown another explicit video that left the courtroom stunned—solidifying the grotesque nature of the allegations at the center of this trial.

The Final Cross

Defense attorney Teny Geragos, representing Sean “Diddy” Combs, opened her cross-examination of Special Agent Joseph Cerciello by challenging the context and implications of the evidence the government has presented over the past several weeks. She focused largely on records, surveillance logs, and the controversial timeline the prosecution has built around Jane’s involvement in “hotel nights.”

One of Geragos’s key strategies was to introduce text messages between Jane and an entertainer named “Sly” from 2021. In them, Jane appeared to initiate contact, referencing a past hotel night and asking Sly if he could fly out to see her. Geragos used this to imply that Jane willingly initiated sexual communication—contradicting Jane’s prior testimony that she only sent those kinds of messages at Combs’ direction.

She also pointed to text messages from early 2023, in which Jane texted Combs’ former assistant Brendan Paul before a planned hotel night, saying: “Let me make sure the coast is clear.” This appeared to suggest that both Jane and Combs were coordinating efforts to keep Brendan in the dark about certain activities. Another message from April 2023 had Jane telling an entertainer to “give it a beat for security,” while Combs messaged her, saying, “I can’t have [Kristina Khorram] know”—referring to his former chief of staff. These details painted a picture of secrecy and deliberate avoidance.

The defense also questioned the payment structure behind these hotel nights. Geragos highlighted travel invoices and financial records showing that a third-party travel manager—not Combs himself—was listed as the person paying for Jane and other entertainers’ accommodations. Geragos implied that this administrative buffer weakened the prosecution’s claim that Combs personally facilitated or funded sex trafficking-related logistics.

However, on redirect, the prosecution quickly countered by having Cerciello confirm that despite the travel manager’s name appearing on documents, Combs was the one who paid the travel management company from his own bank account. This meant that he did, in fact, financially orchestrate the travel and housing of Jane and an entertainer across state lines—a crucial factor in establishing violations under federal sex trafficking laws.

The Video That Shook the Room

As Day 28 neared its end, the jury was shown another disturbing piece of evidence—more than six minutes of explicit video footage involving Jane, captured between July and August 2024. With this latest addition, the jury has now seen over 40 minutes of sexually graphic material throughout the trial, a level of exposure that underscores just how graphic and deeply invasive this case has become. Gasps reportedly rippled through the courtroom, a now-familiar reaction to the disturbing nature of the prosecution’s evidence.