The second week of Sean “Diddy” Combs’s racketeering conspiracy and sex-trafficking trial began on Monday morning with the singer Dawn Richard returning to the witness stand.

Combs, 55, is facing charges of sex-trafficking, racketeering conspiracy, and transportation to engage in prostitution. He was arrested in September 2024 and has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.

Richard, a former member of the pop group Danity Kane, began testifying on Friday afternoon and continued into Monday morning.

She told the court she witnessed Combs physically abuse his former girlfriend, singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, who testified for four days last week and detailed years of alleged physical and emotional abuse from Combs during their relationship, which lasted from 2007 to 2018.

On Friday, Richard recounted a 2009 incident at Combs’s Los Angeles home where she alleged she saw Combs attempt to hit Ventura with a skillet, before kicking and beating her.

Richard testified that the next day, Combs threatened her and another witness to keep silent about the incident, warning them that where he comes from “people go missing if they say things like that, if they talk”.

On Monday, Richard testified that she “frequently” saw Combs be violent toward Ventura and that she saw her with visible injuries.

“Frequently, he would punch her, choke her, slap her in the mouth,” Richard said on Monday. “I saw him kick her, punch her in the stomach.

“It could be because Cassie was speaking up for herself, it could be random.”

Richard also claimed that members of Combs’s staff, including his bodyguards, also witnessed him being violent with Ventura, but told the court that “they wouldn’t react” or “do anything”.

Defense attorneys for Combs tried to challenge Richard’s credibility during cross-examination, noting inconsistencies in her account of the 2009 incident.

Richard finished testifying around 11.45am ET on Monday and told the court that she has a pending civil lawsuit against Combs.

After Richard concluded her testimony, Kerry Morgan, a former longtime friend of Ventura, was called to the stand.

Morgan, Ventura’s best friend from 2001 to 2018, testified that she witnessed Combs assault Ventura twice. One instance was in Jamaica, where Morgan alleged she saw Combs drag Ventura by her hair and throw her to the ground; another was in Los Angeles, where Morgan said she saw Combs hit Ventura and that one of his security guards refused to intervene.

Morgan also recounted a separate incident from 2018 where she was personally assaulted by Combs, which Ventura also testified about last week. She said Combs struck her in the head with a wooden hanger and choked her while Ventura was in the bathroom. She later went to urgent care for a concussion.

Following that incident, Morgan said that she considered filing a lawsuit but ultimately did not. Instead, she met with Ventura about a month later, who told her that she would be receiving $30,000 from Combs in exchange for signing a non-disclosure agreement. Morgan said that she received the money and signed the NDA.

Both Morgan and Ventura testified that their friendship ended soon after the 2018 altercation.

Morgan said that they stopped being friends because “her boyfriend assaulted me” and she added later, under cross-examination: “The reason I stopped speaking with her is because she was not supportive of me after that incident.”

Morgan further testified that during Ventura’s relationship with Combs, Ventura would tell her that she couldn’t leave him, as he “controlled everything” in her life, including Ventura’s career and her apartment.

Morgan said Ventura “lost” her self-confidence over time, noting that Combs would criticize Ventura’s appearance and behavior.

The defense asked Morgan whether Ventura was ever jealous of Kim Porter, the mother of several of Combs’ children, with Morgan saying she was, and that Ventura “was jealous because she could never go to New Year’s Eve parties”.

After Morgan concluded her testimony on Monday afternoon, the government called its next witness: David James, a personal assistant who worked for Combs between 2007 and 2009.

James testified that during his 2007 interview for the job, a female executive pointed to a photo of Combs on the wall and said: “This is Mr Combs’s kingdom and we are all here to serve in it.” He also recalled that Combs once described Ventura as “moldable”.

Additionally, James testified that he once suggested to Ventura that she leave; he said that she told him she couldn’t because Combs controlled her life and career.

Court adjourned around 3pm ET. James will resume testimony on Tuesday.

The federal trial began last week in Manhattan. Prosecutors allege that Combs ran a criminal enterprise that facilitated his drug-fueled sex sessions, referred to as “freak-offs”, involving paid sex workers.

The government alleges that Combs used threats, violence and drugs to coerce women into participating in the freak-offs, including Ventura.

During opening statements, Combs’s attorneys argued that the sexual encounters were consensual and part of a “swingers lifestyle”. They acknowledged Combs’s history of domestic violence and drug use, but argued that this doesn’t mean he is guilty of sex-trafficking or racketeering, and denied any criminal enterprise.

Last week, most of the focus was on the testimony from Ventura, Combs’s former girlfriend and the prosecution’s star witness.

Ventura testified that Combs coerced and blackmailed her into participating in the drug-fueled sex parties with male sex workers he called “freak-offs”, and also alleged that Combs raped her in 2018 after their breakup.

Over the week, prosecutors portrayed Combs as controlling and abusive, and as someone who exerted power over nearly every aspect of Ventura’s life and decisions.

Attorneys for Combs tried to undermine Ventura’s credibility and sought to depict her as a willing and consenting – and at times enthusiastic – participant in the “freak-offs”.

The trial is expected to last about seven more weeks. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.

• In the US, the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). In the UK, call the national domestic abuse helpline on 0808 2000 247, or visit Women’s Aid. In Australia, the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. Other international helplines may be found via www.befrienders.org.