A graphic designer testified Wednesday that she was so traumatized after Sean “Diddy” Combs held her over a 17th-floor apartment balcony that she sometimes screamed in her sleep afterward.
Bryana “Bana” Bongolan, 33, a friend of Combs’ former longtime girlfriend Cassie Ventura, said the 2016 assault at Ventura’s Los Angeles apartment caused a bruise on the back of her leg, along with back and neck pain. It also left her emotionally scarred, she told the jury.
“I have night terrors and paranoia and I would scream in my sleep sometimes,” said Bongolan, a creative and marketing director who runs her own art agency.
Her testimony came in the fourth week of evidence presentation by prosecutors as they seek to prove that Combs oversaw a racketeering organization composed of his employees and associates as he physically and sexually abused women for two decades.
Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and other charges that, if convicted, could send him to prison for 15 years to life.
Day 15
Bongolan is the latest woman to testify that the hip-hop mogul acted violently toward her and Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, who already testified for four days about the abuse she incurred. Other witnesses described seeing him physically abusing women.
Ventura testified that she saw Combs bring one of her friends back over the railing of a balcony at her apartment in the early morning.
Ventura said she was asleep in her room when she awoke to the episode.
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“I saw him bring her back over the railing of the balcony and then throw her onto the patio furniture,” Ventura testified.
When Bongolan recalled the attack, she said Combs barged into Ventura’s apartment, lifted her up and put her on the rail. She said she feared that she would plummet to her death as she pushed back against Combs.
“I was scared to fall,” she said. Combs was yelling at her throughout the ordeal, Bongolan said, estimating he held her over the railing for 10 to 15 seconds.
She said Combs then threw her onto balcony furniture. Adrenaline helped her power through the ordeal, Bongolan said. She recalled getting up immediately after being thrown down.
Bongolan said Ventura, who was sleeping in the bedroom, then came out and asked Combs: “Did you just hang her over the balcony?” Told that Bongolan’s ex-girlfriend was also in the apartment, Combs swiftly left, Bongolan said.
Bongolan said she has lasting effects from Combs assaulting her.
“I have nightmares and I have a lot of paranoia and I used to scream a lot in my sleep, but it’s dissipated a little bit,” she testified.
Part of her paranoia, she said, includes opening doors carefully and peeking into rooms before going inside, and she added that she had a nightmare as recently as a few days ago.
Bongolan said Combs gave her drugs on three or four occasions, including ecstasy, cocaine, ketamine and G, a substance she understood was the depressant GHB.
She said she also did drugs about once a week with Ventura when Combs wasn’t around.
Bongolan, testifying in response to a subpoena from prosecutors, was granted immunity after she initially said she would refuse to answer questions and invoke her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. She was at least the third witness given immunity to testify.
What Combs is on trial for
U.S. prosecutors allege that for 20 years, behind the scenes, Combs was coercing and abusing women with help from a network of associates who helped silence victims through blackmail and violence.
Combs faces an indictment that includes descriptions of “freak-offs,” which are defined in the court doc as “elaborate and produced sex performances that Combs arranged, directed, masturbated during, and often electronically recorded.”
Numerous witnesses have come forward to accuse Combs of terrorizing people into silence by choking, hitting, kicking and dragging them, according to prosecutors. One indictment alleges that Combs dangled someone from a balcony.
Although dozens of men and women have alleged in lawsuits that Combs abused them, this trial will highlight the claims of four women.
Combs is charged with sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has denied all the charges against him and has rejected a plea deal, choosing to go to trial instead.
If found guilty in the New York court, he could face life in prison.
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Global News will be covering the Diddy trial in its entirety. Please check back for updates.
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