Image source, Reuters / Jane Rosenberg

Cassie Ventura's testimony for the prosecution has now been going on for several hours over two days.

In it, she has detailed alleged instances of physical abuse, blackmail, and sexual assault against her former boyfriend Sean "Diddy" Combs.

When the prosecution has finished, Combs' lawyers will have their chance to cross-examine the R&B singer.

They will seek to elicit testimony from her that could support their defence of the music mogul.

Yesterday, the prosecution indicated it planned to complete their questioning today and the defence said their questions will likely stretch into Thursday.

The defence's opening arguments on Monday and cross-examination of the two previous witnesses could give clues into the direction they plan to take when questioning Ventura.

On Monday, Combs' lawyers said that while he may be guilty of domestic violence, he is innocent of the sex trafficking charges at the heart of the case.

They have also previously said Combs' sexual encounters were all consensual and went on for years without complaint.

We may see that cross-examination begin as soon as this afternoon, if the prosecution finishes their questioning shortly after the trial resumes.

Nada Tawfik
Reporting from court

Warning: This post and others below contain distressing details

Also before lunch, prosecutors asked about Cassie's assertions that Diddy would pressure her about the freak-offs.

In one text message shown to the court, Diddy is seen telling Cassie he wants to have a proper freak-offs without "K" - meaning ketamine, which Cassie testified was her "preferred drug" for the sessions, because it was "very dissociative".

We also saw text messages in which she complained that the so-called "freak-offs" were all they did as a couple.

She tells him, "I'm just getting back on track. I'm sure you can call Kim." It's unclear whether Cassie was referring to Kim Porter, the mother of several of Diddy's kids.

Cassie also outlined another moment: Her 29th birthday party, when, she told the court, Combs kept pulling her away from karaoke with friends to go do a "freak-off".

She told the court she finally "gave up" and went along with it, even though she didn't want to.

Nada Tawfik
Reporting from court

Before the lunch break, prosecutors were asking questions about the logistical details of the freak-offs, clearly trying to build their case against Combs to the jury.

They gave Ventura a binder with several photos of the male escorts, and one by one, are asked questions about them. She said she couldn't remember all of their names, but generally shared how she and Diddy found the men and in what cities they participated in so-called "freak-offs".

This line of questioning could help the government set up their charge of transport to engage in prostitution, with prosecutors trying to establish that the escorts travelled to different states for the purpose of the "freak-offs".

Cassie explained that it was expected of her to hire the escorts, though Diddy was the one who was paying.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

During questioning this morning, we and the jury were also taken through another incident, this one at the Cannes film festival in France, when Ventura told the court that Combs got angry with her and kicked her off a boat they were staying on with no shoes and no passport, early in the morning.

Later, on a flight back home, Ventura said Combs switched seats to sit next to her after she tried to avoid him on the commercial flight.

She testified that on that flight he played her videos he had recorded of their so-called "freak-offs" on his laptop - sitting near other people - and threatened to release them if she did not behave.

They got back to New York and immediately had another "freak-off", she said.

"At that point, whatever was going to make him not be angry at me and not threaten me I was going to do," she told the court.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Warning: This post and others below contain distressing details

It's been a difficult morning in court hearing more stories about Combs' alleged physical and emotional abuse and seeing images of Ventura's bruises.

At one point, we were shown a photo of a massive gash in Ventura's eyebrow. She told the court Combs attacked her one day after coming to her apartment and finding her sleeping instead of packing for a music festival they were supposed to go to.

Two friends were there and tried to jump on Combs' back to get him off her - but Ventura said he knocked her down and she hit her eyebrow on the bed.

Combs had a security guard take her to the plastic surgeon, she testified, and said she still has a scar on her eyebrow even now.

Before court adjourned for our lunch break, Ventura was wiping her eyes with a tissue, the first time we've seen her do that today.

After a lengthy morning of testimony from Casandra "Cassie" Ventura, court is now breaking for lunch.

Stick with us, we will continue to bring you updates and analysis from court.

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court

Warning: This post and others below contain distressing details, including potentially offensive language

Throughout Ventura's testimony, prosecutors seem to be trying to paint a picture of Combs' engaging in blackmail and the alleged non-consensual nature of the freak-off sessions.

As we have reported, these were the encounters in which a paid escort had sex with Ventura, which she says Diddy watched, directed and recorded.

Cassie says Combs would threaten to release videos of her drunk and during the freak-offs if she upset him.

She was worried of the implications on her career and her family, she tells the court.

"I would have to answer to my mother," she says, adding the videos "make me look like a slut".

In one set of text messages seen by the court, Ventura asks Diddy to delete videos from his phone. He replies that he has and that they aren't on the iCloud either.

Cassie testifies that she saw more than a handful of videos that weren't deleted, despite what he told her.

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court

Warning: This post and others below contain distressing details

Ventura is going into more detail about the physical and mental toll she says Combs' days-long sex parties, or freak-offs, took on her.

She says her drug of choice to get through those times was ketamine, because it made her dissociate from the sex acts she didn't want to be doing.

She tells the court she often did several drugs at a time, and wouldn't sleep or eat. As a result, Ventura said she had gastrointestinal issues, sores in her mouth and frequent urinary tract infections. Even when dealing with the "painful" UTIs, Ventura says Combs still made her participate in the freak-offs.

To recover after a multi-day freak-off, Ventura says she would need IV fluids and massages.

She also testifies that she had an addiction to opiates, which she would take to come down from the other drugs she was taking and to feel "numb".

When Combs wanted a freak-off, Ventura tells the court he would pursue her until he got one. She tells the story one such incident on her 29th birthday, when she says she wanted to go out with friends, but ended up having a freak-off instead.

She tells prosecutors that Combs would fly in escorts from New York to LA or Miami - a line of testimony that prosecutors might revisit to build on the sex-trafficking allegation.

Nada Tawfik
Reporting from court

Warning: This post and others below contain distressing details

Ventura has testified that Diddy would often show up to her home unannounced, yelling and banging on her apartment door if he was angry.

She tells the court that she ended up seeing Diddy again shortly after the 2016 hotel incident, despite earlier refusing to let him into her apartment, as my colleague mentioned.

She says she went to his home in Los Angeles for a fitting for un upcoming premiere of a movie she starred in.

The jury is shown a photo of her in his bedroom, wearing a gown and sunglasses, which she says was to cover her black eye.

The jury then sees two sets of photos of Diddy and Cassie at the movie premiere and at the after party.

Cassie points out the visible bruises on her body and explains that she wore "quite a bit of makeup" to hide her facial injuries.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Warning: This post and others below contain distressing details

We learn this morning that after the alleged assault seen in the 2016 video, Ventura's friend was so concerned about her upon seeing her swollen eye when she got back to her apartment from the hotel that the friend called the police.

Ventura tells the court that officers came to her apartment and that she answered a few questions, but would not give them Combs' name. "In that moment, I didn't want to hurt him... I wasn't ready,” she says.

Meanwhile, we see text messages she was sending Combs, asking him to give her space: "You are sick for thinking it's okay to do what you've done."

"Please stay away from me," she wrote.

She says Combs later came to her apartment on the 17th floor and banged on the door, but says she didn't let him in.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Warning: This post and others below contain distressing details

During the first hour of Ventura’s testimony, we're taken back to the day in 2016 when Combs allegedly beat her in the hallway of a hotel, seen in a surveillance video that would later go viral.

We see selfies Ventura took in the aftermath of the incident, sunglasses covering her black eye and lips swollen from the beating.

We see text messages between the two - Combs begging Ventura to call him back because he was "getting arrested".

Israel Florez, a security guard at the hotel who responded to Ventura's call for help that day, testified on Monday that he did not call the police but did file an incident report.

Ventura tells the court he pleaded with her and told her he had six kids and she needed to call him back. Ventura says she did not.

As she answers prosecutors' questions today, Ventura's voice does not break as it did yesterday.

In his cream sweater and pants, Combs is glancing in Ventura's direction as she testifies, but she does not look toward him.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

It's our first day in the main courtroom, which means we have our first glimpse at the jury.

They don't betray much emotion as Ventura's testimony takes us through some of the allegedly abusive moments of her relationship with Combs.

They look back and forth between Ventura and the prosecutor as she asks her questions, some of them with their hands on their chins, focused on her answers and the images in front of them.

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court

Warning: This post and others below contain distressing details

On the witness stand, Casandra Ventura is picking up where her testimony left off yesterday - reviewing the now-infamous security footage of Combs that appears to show him beating her in the hallway of a Los Angeles hotel n 2016.

Prosecutors are now talking her and the jury through the footage minute by minute, asking Ventura to describe what's going on as Combs appears to repeatedly lunge at her on the screen.

During all this, the expressions of Combs' family members in the audience remain steely. Some are wearing sunglasses, while others, like his son King, are staring straight at the monitor without much emotion.

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court

Just a few minutes ago, Casandra Ventura entered the courtroom for her second day of testimony. She is wearing a long grey dress and a black trench coat.

Like yesterday, we can see that Ventura is about eight months pregnant. But unlike yesterday, today Ventura walked to the stand before jurors were seated - a matter which has been argued between the defence and prosecution, with the defence saying Ventura's pregnancy might garner undue sympathy for her testimony.

All heads turned to see Ventura when she walked into the courtroom, but Combs didn't look over as she passed him.

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court

Proceedings began today with a debacle between the defence and prosecution about evidence. Prosecutors say the defence needs to submit the exhibits they'll use in their cross examination of Casandra Ventura "now".

The defence said they would do it by the time their questioning starts.

Judge Arun Subramanian expressed some annoyance that this matter was being addressed while a witness, Ventura, was waiting outside to continue her testimony.

He agreed the defence should get the exhibits to the government before they cross-examine her today.

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court

Combs has entered the courtroom wearing cream-coloured sweater with a collared shirt underneath.

When his family members entered, he turned around to wave and blow kisses to them.

So far I've seen Combs’ sons King and Justin and his mother Janice Combs in court today.

These family members and others - including his 18-year-old twin daughters, who I haven't seen yet today - were also in the courtroom earlier this week.

Image source, Reuters

Cassie Ventura's husband, Alex Fine, is in court watching the trial again today. He has been in court every day this week.

But he is expected to leave the courtroom for certain sections of his wife’s testimony.

On Tuesday, the Combs defence team sought to block him from sitting in court entirely because he could be a future witness.

The prosecution countered that Cassie had the right to have supporters in court.

Both sides came to an agreement that Fine could stay in court until certain allegations are raised in Cassie's testimony, which Fine may be required to testify on.

Cassie Ventura has just entered the courtroom and is back on the witness stand.

She will soon continue her testimony in the Sean "Diddy" Combs sex-trafficking trial.

The legal teams and the judge are currently discussing some issues about evidence.

When that is finalised, we expect Cassie Ventura to return to the witness stand and continue her testimony.

Combs is facing charges that include racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution.

If he’s convicted, he could face life in prison.

Some of the most severe allegations fall under the racketeering charge, which includes accusations of kidnapping, drugging and coercing women into sex, and threatening them with firearms or violence.

He has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.