By MICHAEL R. SISAK and LARRY NEUMEISTER, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — R&B singer Cassie said Sean “Diddy” Combs’ infidelity was a painful part of their combustible, nearly 11-year relationship, as the music mogul’s defense team began cross-examination of the prosecution’s start witness on Thursday in his sex trafficking trial.

It was the third day on the stand for the 38-year-old Cassie after two days of questioning by prosecutors in a Manhattan courtroom. She testified Wednesday that Combs raped her when she broke up with him in 2018, after he locked her into a life of physical abuse by threatening to release degrading sexual videos of her.

Prosecutors accuse Combs of exploiting his status as a powerful music executive and entrepreneur to violently force Cassie and other women to take part in sexual encounters. He is charged with crimes including racketeering and sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion. Several other accusers are set to testify.

Combs denies all of the allegations and has pleaded not guilty. His attorneys acknowledge he could be violent, but say the sex he and others engaged in was consensual and that nothing he did amounted to a criminal enterprise.

Defense attorney Anna Estevao began by questioning Cassie in a gentle tone of voice — notable because so many cross examinations begin with efforts to unsettle or agitate a witness. Estevao’s approach was the opposite.

FILE – Cassie Ventura, left, and Sean “Diddy” Combs appear at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating “China: Through the Looking Glass” in New York on May 4, 2015. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)

“You and Sean Combs were in love for 11 years. You loved him and believed that he loved you as well,” Estevao said. The attorney said Cassie’s love explained, “Why it hurt so badly when he lied. … When he cheated on you.” Cassie responded “Yes” to both.

Combs appeared relaxed as cross examination got underway, sitting back in his chair with his legs crossed and conferring with his attorney Marc Agnifilo.

The first exhibits introduced by Estevao were messages between Combs and Cassie in the early years of their relationship. In April 2010, Cassie told Combs: “Going to sleep now so it can be tomorrow faster and you can be home. Love you!!!” Combs replied: “Love my baby.”

The testimony stood in contrast to the violence, fear and “disgusting” sex acts Cassie testified about in her first days on the stand. Early Thursday, the judge denied a request by defense lawyers to introduce text communications between Combs and Cassie that would include references to specific sexual acts.

Defense lawyers have indicated that the cross examination will likely be finished by the end of Friday’s court session.

Cassie has held up well over two days of direct questioning by prosecutors. She cried several times but for the most part has remained composed and matter-of-fact as she talked about some of the most sensitive subjects imaginable, in a courtroom packed with family and friends of Combs, journalists and one row of spectator seats occupied by Cassie’s supporters. She is in the third trimester of pregnancy with her third child.

Cassie said Wednesday that Combs forced his way into her Los Angeles apartment and raped her on the living room floor after she said she was ending their relationship.

Cassie also said she didn’t feel she could refuse Combs’ demands for her to have “hundreds” of encounters with male sex workers — which he watched and controlled for hours and even days — because he would make her “look like a slut” if he made the videos public.

“I feared for my career. I feared for my family. It’s just embarrassing. It’s horrible and disgusting. No one should do that to anyone,” said Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura.

The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Cassie has.

She sued Combs in 2023, accusing him of years of physical and sexual abuse. Within hours, the suit was settled for $20 million — a figure Cassie disclosed for the first time Wednesday — but dozens of similar legal claims followed from other women.

Combs, 55, has been jailed since September. He faces at least 15 years in prison if convicted. The trial is expected to last about two months.

Associated Press journalists Julie Walker in New York and Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed to this report.

Related Articles

Kim Kardashian testifies about being bound and held at gunpoint during Paris robbery

French actor Gérard Depardieu found guilty of sexual assault and given 18-month suspended sentence

Rapper Tory Lanez attacked at California prison as he serves time for Megan Thee Stallion shooting

KARE 11 has hired former KSTP meteorologist Wren Clair

David Beckham disgruntled over Minnesota United social media posts

By TODD RICHMOND, Associated Press

MILWAUKEE (AP) — A Wisconsin judge pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges that she helped a man who is in the country illegally evade U.S. immigration authorities looking to arrest him in her courtroom.

Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan entered the plea during an arraignment in federal court, an early step in the criminal justice process. Defendants routinely plead not guilty at this point to give their attorneys time to investigate and to preserve their right to a trial.

Dugan is charged with concealing an individual to prevent arrest and obstruction. Prosecutors say she escorted Eduardo Flores-Ruiz and his lawyer out of her courtroom through a back jury door on April 18 after learning that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were in the courthouse seeking his arrest for being in the country illegally. She could face up to six years in prison if convicted on both counts.

FILE – Judge Hannah Dugan poses for a photo in Milwaukee in 2016. (Lee Matz/Milwaukee Independent via AP, File)

Her attorneys have insisted she’s innocent. They filed a motion Wednesday to dismiss the case, saying she was acting in her official capacity as a judge and therefore is immune to prosecution. They also maintain the federal government violated Wisconsin’s state sovereignty by disrupting a state courtroom and prosecuting a state judge.

According to court documents, Flores-Ruiz illegally reentered the U.S. after being deported in 2013. Online state court records show he was charged with three counts of misdemeanor domestic abuse in Milwaukee County in March. He was in Dugan’s courtroom on April 18 for a hearing.

Court documents say Dugan was alerted to the agents’ presence by her clerk, who was informed by an attorney that the agents appeared to be in the hallway. An affidavit says Dugan was visibly angry and called the situation “absurd” before leaving the bench and retreating to her chambers. She and another judge later approached members of the arrest team in the courthouse with what witnesses described as a “confrontational, angry demeanor.”

After a back-and-forth with the agents over the warrant for Flores-Ruiz, Dugan demanded they speak with the chief judge and led them from the courtroom, according to the affidavit.

After she returned to the courtroom, witnesses heard her say something to the effect of “wait, come with me” before ushering Flores-Ruiz and his attorney out through a door typically used only by deputies, jurors, court staff and in-custody defendants, according to the affidavit. Flores-Ruiz was free on a signature bond in the abuse case, according to online state court records. Federal agents ultimately captured him outside the courthouse after a foot chase.

The state Supreme Court suspended Dugan last week, saying the move was necessary to preserve public confidence in the judiciary.

A former federal prosecutor in Wisconsin, John Vaudreuil, said the Trump administration wants to make an example out of Dugan. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi or Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche are likely making the decisions on how to proceed rather than the local U.S. attorney in Milwaukee, making it less likely prosecutors will reduce the charges against Dugan in a deal, he said.

Her attorneys will likely try to push the case to a jury trial, Vaudreuil said, because they know that “people feel very strongly about the way the president and administration is conducting immigration policy.”

Associated Press writer Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, contributed to this report.

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER and ANNE D’INNOCENZIO, Associated Press Business Writers

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumers spent slightly more at retail stores last month after ramping up their shopping in March to get ahead of tariffs.

Sales at retail stores and restaurants rose just 0.1% in April from March, the Commerce Department said Thursday. That is much lower than the previous month’s 1.7% gain, which reflected a surge in car sales as consumers sought to get ahead of President Trump’s 25% duty on auto imports that went into effect this month.

Last month’s tiny increase after the March surge makes it harder to get a clear read on consumer spending trends and reflects the ongoing turmoil and uncertainty in the economy in the wake of Trump’s stop-and-go tariff policies. Many publicly-traded companies have withdrawn or held off on the traditional practice of forecasting their revenues and earnings for the rest of this year because the economic landscape has become so chaotic.

Meanwhile, Americans are increasingly gloomy about the economy’s prospects, according to sentiment surveys, but it’s not yet evident whether that will translate into reduced spending and slower economic growth.

In April, sales were flat or down for many retailers: They plunged 2.5% at sporting goods stores, which saw prices jump last month, according to the government’s inflation report earlier this week. Sales dropped 0.4% at clothing stores, while they ticked down 0.2% at health and personal care stores and slipped 0.1% at auto dealers.

Gas station sales dropped 0.5%, even as prices declined 0.1%. The figures aren’t adjusted for price changes.

Still, there were signs that at least some Americans were willing to spend. Sales at restaurants and bars jumped a healthy 1.2% last month, a sign many consumers boosted their discretionary spending.

And sales at home and garden centers jumped 0.8%, the biggest gain since 2022, which suggests Americans are pursuing more home renovations as elevated mortgage rates cooled home sales.

Trump imposed sky-high tariffs on imports from China last month that fueled fears of a recession, higher inflation, and even the specter of empty shelves by the winter holidays. But on Monday the U.S. and China announced a deal that sharply reduced the duties, partly assuaging those concerns.

Retailers still face a lot of uncertainty around tariffs and how shoppers will react to higher prices after several years of sharply rising costs.

A government report, released Tuesday, showed that inflation cooled for the third straight month in April, though economists and many business owners expect inflation will climb by this summer.

Trump had imposed massive 145% import taxes on Chinese goods last month, thought they were reduced to 30% for the next 90 days. China reduced its retaliatory duties to 10% from 125%.

Also Thursday, retail giant Walmart said its sales grew at a solid pace in the quarter ended April 30, as their customers stepped up purchases of groceries, toys, automotive goods and kid’s clothes. Yet profits slipped and CEO Doug McMillon said the company would soon raise prices to offset the impact of tariffs.

Retailers and importers had largely stopped shipping shoes, clothes, toys, and other items when the duties were so high, raising worries about empty shelves for the key back-to-school and holiday seasons. But many are now scrambling to resume shipping their goods from China while there is a pause in the trade war.

While many retailers and suppliers are relieved with the reduced tariffs, they still face a lot of hurdles. For one, they’re bracing for higher costs for shipping and freight as competition heats up to get their goods on shipping containers.

San Francisco resident Elenor Mak, whose company Jilly Bing manufactures Asian American dolls in China, said she feels some relief that she has a more realistic path forward but the challenges are far from over.

Mak is talking to her factories to see whether her dolls can be produced in time for the winter holidays, but she fears she will be at the back of the production line because she is a small business. She also is unsure about how to price her goods and said she is bracing for cost increases across the board, from third-party testing fees to freight costs.

Before the tariff wars, her dolls had an average selling price of $68. She worries about sending confusing messages to shoppers: “How do you explain: ‘We weren’t going to restock—but now we might—and it could cost 30% more?’” she asked. “We’re doing our best to plan, but we’re still navigating a lot of unknowns.”

D’Innocenzio reported from New York City.