testifies

Angels superstar Mike Trout testified Tuesday morning that he knew team employee Eric Kay had a drug problem but that pitcher Tyler Skaggs showed no signs of drug use.

Trout, a three-time American League Most Valuable Player, has played with the Angels his entire 15-year career and is under contract through the 2030 season. He was a teammate of Skaggs from 2014 to 2019, when the left-handed pitcher died in a Texas hotel room July 1, 2019, after snorting a counterfeit oxycodone pill that contained fentanyl, a powerful opioid.

Key, a former Angels communications director, was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison after being convicted in 2022 of providing the pills that led to the Skaggs’ overdose.

According to trial transcripts, Skaggs lawyer Daniel Dutko asked Trout about his reaction when he learned the next day in a team meeting that Skaggs had died.

“Cried,” Trout answered.

“You loved him like a brother,” the lawyer said as Trout nodded affirmatively. Trout added that he was unaware of any drug use by Skaggs.

Skaggs’ lawyer asked questions to elicit testimony from Trout that would humanize Skaggs, to establish that he was a valued teammate and friend. Trout said he and Skaggs were roommates in 2010 when both were 18 years old and playing for the Angels affiliate in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Trout, the highest-paid Angels employee making more than $37 million a year, attended Skaggs’ wedding in 2018.

Neither Dutko nor Angels attorney Todd Theodora asked Trout why he didn’t inform a team executive or human resources when he suspected Kay’s drug use.

Skaggs was found dead in his hotel room in Southlake, Texas, on July 1, 2019, before the Angels were scheduled to start a series against the Texas Rangers. The Tarrant County medical examiner found that in addition to the opioids, Skaggs had a blood-alcohol level of 0.12. The autopsy determined he died from asphyxia after aspirating on his own vomit, and that his death was accidental.

Trout’s testimony followed that of longtime Angels executives Tim Mead and Tom Taylor. Kay reported to Mead nearly his entire 23-year career and worked closely with Taylor, the team’s traveling secretary. Both men testified that they had no idea Kay was addicted to opioids or that Kay supplied Skaggs with drugs.

Skaggs’ widow, Carli Skaggs, and parents Debra Hetman and Darrell Skaggs are seeking $118 million from the Angels for Skaggs’ lost future earnings as well as compensation for pain and anguish, and punitive damages.

The Angels announcement that longtime former big league catcher Kurt Suzuki was hired as manager coincided with Trout’s testimony.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared in court to testify in his corruption trial, days after U.S. President Trump called for him to be pardoned. Protesters outside the court demanded the trial continue as a test of Israel’s democracy. Netanyahu denies all charges.

Sept. 19 (UPI) — Former U.S. attorney for Florida’s Southern District Alex Acosta testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee during a closed deposition on Friday.

Acosta arrived for the deposition hearing regarding the 2008 Jeffrey Epstein case on Friday morning and ignored reporters’ questions while entering the committee room in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, according to ABC News.

“We want to know what went on during the prosecution, when many believe that Epstein was awarded a sweetheart deal,” Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., told media on Friday.

“We’re going to ask a lot of questions about this,” Comer added. “This is going to be a pretty hard-hitting deposition.”

Friday’s deposition hearing occurred after the House committee on Monday obtained files related to the case, including a “birthday book” note alleged to have been written by President Donald Trump decades ago.

The president has denied writing the note and said it is a forgery.

Acosta was Trump’s Labor Department secretary for more than two years during the president’s first term.

He resigned amid controversy over his handling of the Epstein case as new charges were entered for alleged sex trafficking and other related offenses in 2019, CNN reported.

While he was a U.S. attorney, Acosta negotiated Epstein’s 2008 plea deal that resulted in the former hedge fund manager pleading guilty to state charges in Florida in exchange for avoiding potential federal charges.

The plea deal required Epstein to serve 13 months in thePalm Beach County jail and register as a sex offender, but he had work release.

Although Epstein did not face federal charges, Florida officials had asked Acosta to review the case after accusing a state prosecutor of mishandling the matter, according to a 2020 NPR report.

Epstein committed suicide in a New York City jail ahead of his federal trial on sex trafficking charges in 2019.

The House committee recently released more than 33,000 pages of Epstein file documents and said more will be released.

The documents released so far are redacted to protect witnesses and block child abuse materials.

U.S. Border Patrol Sector Chief Gregory Bovino — the brash agent who led a phalanx of military personnel into MacArthur Park this summer — was called as a witness Wednesday in a misdemeanor assault case against a protester, who allegedly struck a federal agent.

Bovino, one of the faces of President Trump’s immigration crackdown that began in Los Angeles and is now underway in Chicago, took the stand to testify that he witnessed an assault committed by Brayan Ramos-Brito in Paramount on June 7.

Outfitted in his green Border Patrol uniform, Bovino testified that he witnessed Ramos-Brito drag his arm back and strike an agent with an open palm in the chest.

The incident occurred during a skirmish outside a federal building between federal law enforcement agents and locals frustrated by Trump’s immigration policies.

On a cross-examination, federal public defender Cuauhtemoc Ortega questioned Bovino about being the subject of a misconduct investigation a few years ago and receiving a reprimand for referring to undocumented immigrants as “scum, filth and trash.”

Bovino denied referring to undocumented immigrants that way and said he was referring to “a specific criminal illegal alien” — a Honduran national who he said had raped a child and reentered the United States and had been caught at or near the Baton Rouge Border Patrol station.

“I said that about a specific individual, not about undocumented peoples, that’s not correct,” he said.

Ortega pushed back, reading from the reprimand, which Bovino signed, stating that he was describing “illegal aliens.”

“They did not say one illegal alien,” Ortega said. “They said you describing illegal aliens, and or criminals, as scum, trash and filth is misconduct. Isn’t that correct?”

“The report states that,” Bovino said.

Ortega said that Bovino was warned if he committed any instance of misconduct again, “you could be fired.”

More than 40 people have been charged with a range of federal offenses, including assaulting officers and interfering with immigration enforcement, at either downtown protests or the scene of immigration raids throughout the region this summer, the U.S. attorney’s office in L.A. said this week.

Ramos-Brito’s case is the first to go to trial.

The case centers around a protest outside the Paramount Business Center, across the street from Home Depot.

Already tensions were high, with federal officials raiding a retail and distribution warehouse in downtown L.A. in early June, arresting dozens of workers and a top union official.

At the Paramount complex, which houses Homeland Security Investigation offices, protesters began arriving around 10 a.m on June 7. Among them was Ramos-Brito.

Several videos played in court Tuesday showed Ramos-Brito and another man cursing at Border Patrol agents and stepping inches from their faces with balled fists. At one point, Ramos-Brito approached multiple Border Patrol agents who appeared to be Latino and said “you’re a f—ing disgrace if you’re Mexican.”

Asst. U.S. Atty. Patrick Kibbe said that while many protesters were “passionately” demonstrating, Ramos-Brito crossed a line by striking U.S. Border Patrol Agent Jonathan Morales.

“There’s a constitutional right to protest peacefully. It is a crime to hit a federal officer,” Kibbe said.

Federal public defender M. Bo Griffith, however, said Ramos-Brito was the victim of an assault, not the other way around.

Both social media and body-worn camera footage played in court clearly show Morales shove Ramos-Brito first, sending him flying backward into the busy intersection of Alondra Blvd. While footage shows Morales marching back toward the agent with his fists balled, no angle clearly captures the alleged assault.

Aside from Morales, three other agents took the stand Tuesday, but none said they saw Ramos-Brito hit Morales. None of the agents who testified were outfitted with body-worn cameras that day, according to Border Patrol Asst. Chief Jorge Rivera-Navarro, who serves as chief of staff for “Operation At Large” in Los Angeles.

Some of the Border Patrol agents swarming L.A. in recent months come from stations that don’t normally wear body-worn cameras, according to Navarro. He testified that he has since issued an order that led to cameras being distributed to agents working in L.A.

The clash that led to the assault charge started when Ramos-Brito stepped to U.S. Border Patrol Agent Eduardo Mejorado, who said he repeatedly asked Ramos-Brito to move to the sidewalk as the protest was blocking traffic. Video shows Mejorado place his hand on Ramos-Brito’s shoulder twice, and the defendant swatting it away.

At that point, Morales, a 24-year veteran of the Border Patrol, said he thought he needed to step in and de-escalate the situation between his fellow agent and Ramos-Brito. He did so by shoving Ramos-Brito backward into the intersection, according to video played in court. Morales said Ramos-Brito then charged at him while cursing and threw a punch at the upper part of his chest and throat.

On cross-examination, Griffith confronted Morales and Mejorado with inconsistencies between descriptions of the event they previously gave to a Homeland Security Investigations officer and their testimony in court. It was not the first time such a discrepancy affected the case.

Federal prosecutors previously dropped charges against Jose Mojica, another protester who was arrested alongside Ramos-Brito, after video footage called into question the testimony of an immigration enforcement agent.

According to an investigation summary of Mojica’s arrest previously reviewed by The Times, Mejorado claimed a man was screaming in his face that he was going to “shoot him,” then punched him at the Paramount protest. The officer said he and other agents started chasing the man, but were “stopped by two other males,” later identified as Mojica and Ramos-Brito.

Video played in court Tuesday and previously reported by The Times shows that sequence of events did not happen. Ramos-Brito and Mojica were arrested in a dogpile of agents after Ramos-Brito allegedly struck Mojica. There was no chase.

Questioned about Mojica’s case in July, a Homeland Security spokesperson said they were unable to comment on cases “under active litigation.”

Defense attorneys said Ramos-Brito sustained multiple contusions on his face, neck and back and had cuts and scrapes on his body from being dragged across the pavement later.

According to his attorneys, Ramos-Brito’s only prior interaction with law enforcement was for driving without a license.

The case could prove to be a bellwether for other immigration protest charges filed by Acting U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli in a region where many potential jurors have negative views of immigration enforcement, or may be immigrants themselves.

On Tuesday morning, U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson had to remove 21 potential jurors from the pool, several of whom said they could not be impartial due to their views on immigration policy.

Many of the potential jurors said they were first or second generation immigrants from the Philippines, Colombia, Bulgaria, Jamaica and Canada.

“I believe that immigrants are part of this country and I’m kind of partial with the defendant,” said one man, a landscaper from Lancaster.

Cardi B testified Tuesday that she never touched, scratched or spat at a security guard who is suing her over an alleged assault by the pop star outside a Beverly Hills obstetrician’s office.

The rapper, whose real name is Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar, took the witness stand in the second day of the civil trial in an Alhambra court and vigorously denied assaulting Emani Ellis on Feb. 24, 2018. Cardi B was visiting the 5th-floor office of the obstetrician at the time and was four months pregnant with her first child.

“It was a verbal incident,” insisted Cardi B. “She didn’t hit me. I didn’t hit her. There was no touching. So, to me, it wasn’t no incident.”

The rapper did say that they went chest to chest in the hallway outside the doctor’s office, and that she called the guard a “b—” because she believed Ellis was recording her with a cellphone.

“Was there spitting?” the security guard’s lawyer, Ron Rosen, asked.

“Absolutely not,” Cardi B replied.

“Did you call her the N-word?”

“No,” the performer replied, noting that she considers herself “Afro-Caribbean.”

“Did you take a swing at her?” Rosen followed up.

“No,” replied Cardi B, who insisted it was a “verbal fight. … It did not get physical at all.”

Rosen delved into the difference between a fight and a verbal altercation, asking whether he and the pop star were then having a verbal altercation. Cardi B replied that they were debating, a statement that was greeted with laughter in the courtroom.

The lawyer countered, “We’re debating about whether you assaulted and battered Ms. Emani Ellis?”

“I guess so,” replied Cardi B. “But I didn’t touch her. She didn’t touch me.” The recording artist said there were no videos of the incident.

Ellis filed suit in 2020, alleging assault, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress as well as negligence and false imprisonment.

Ellis, who worked as a security guard at the building where Cardi B had her medical appointment, said during testimony on Monday that she was doing her rounds when she saw the celebrity get off the elevator. She testified that she was overcome with excitement and declared, “Wow, it’s Cardi B.”

Ellis said the performer then turned to her and said, “Why the f— are you telling people you’ve seen me?” Cardi B then accused her of trying to spread news about her being at the doctor’s office, she testified.

Cardi B cursed at her, used the N-word and other slurs, called her names, threatened her job, body-shamed her and mocked her career, Ellis said. She alleged Cardi B spat on her, took a swing at her and scratched her left cheek with a 2- to 3-inch fingernail.

Cardi B said when she turned around after getting off the elevator, she heard Ellis say her name and then saw Ellis with her cellphone and said, “Why are you recording me?” The performer said the guard said, “My bad,” but continued to follow her and said she had the right to follow her.

Cardi B said that they went chest to chest and that she did curse at Ellis but that she never touched the guard, who was physically larger. When the obstetrician’s receptionist finally came out, the guard alleged the singer had hit her — something that Cardi B said never happened.

The rapper conceded she never saw proof that Ellis was recording her. She said her appointment was both sensitive and confidential; she was seeing a doctor because of concerns about her pregnancy, which wasn’t yet public.

For the second day of the trial, the rapper — who is known for her daring style choices — donned a blond showgirl hairstyle that contrasted with the black short hair she wore during the first day of testimony. Under questioning, she said they were both wigs and that she had 1-inch nail extensions.

She refused to concede that she usually wore 2- to 3-inch nails, replying that sometimes she does and sometimes she doesn’t.

Brazil’s far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro, testifying for the first time before the nation’s Supreme Court, has denied involvement in an alleged coup plot to remain in power and overturn the 2022 election result that he lost to current leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Bolsonaro, 70, and seven of his close allies were questioned by a panel of top judges on Tuesday as part of a trial over allegations that they devised a multi-step scheme to keep Bolsonaro in office despite his defeat to Lula.

Bolsonaro and his co-defendants risk prison sentences of up to 40 years in a trial dubbed “historic” – the first ever for an attempted coup under a democratic government in Brazil.

“That’s not the case, your honour,” Bolsonaro replied on Tuesday when asked by Judge Alexandre de Moraes – an arch political foe – about “the truthfulness” of the accusations against him.

“There was never any talk of a coup. A coup is an abominable thing … Brazil couldn’t go through an experience like that. And there was never even the possibility of a coup in my government,” Bolsonaro claimed.

Bolsonaro began his testimony “as if he were on an electoral campaign,” said Al Jazeera’s Monica Yanakiew, reporting from Rio de Janeiro.

The plot only failed, the charge sheet says, due to a clear lack of military backing.

Bolsonaro, a former military officer himself who has been known to express nostalgia for the country’s past military dictatorship, openly defied Brazil’s judicial system during his 2019-2022 term in office.

On Monday, Bolsonaro’s former right-hand man Mauro Cid – a co-defendant who has turned state’s witness – told the court Bolsonaro had “received and read” a draft decree for the declaration of a state of emergency.

He then “edited” the document, which would have paved the way for measures to “redo the election” and also envisaged the imprisonment of top personalities including Moraes, said Cid.

Cid also testified that he had received cash in a wine crate from Bolsonaro’s former running mate and Defence Minister Walter Braga Netto that investigators say was earmarked to finance an operation by special troops to kill Lula, his Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and Moraes.

‘My conscience is clear’

Apart from Cid, the other co-defendants are four ex-ministers and the former heads of Brazil’s navy and intelligence agency.

Most who have taken the stand so far have rejected the bulk of the accusations in the charge sheet. The defendants are standing trial on five counts: attempting to stage a coup, involvement in an armed criminal organisation, attempted violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, aggravated damage and deterioration of listed heritage.

A coup conviction carries a sentence of up to 12 years. When combined with the other charges, the accused could be sentenced to up to 40 years behind bars.

Two former army commanders have claimed Bolsonaro hosted a meeting where the declaration of a state of emergency was discussed as a means of overturning Lula’s election victory.

Bolsonaro has denied all the charges, saying he is the target of political and media persecution.

“He said he was being persecuted by the press because he was elected independently of a political establishment and also because he had a conservative agenda, an anti-woke agenda,” said Yanakiew.

He has already been banned in a separate court ruling from running in elections until 2030 over abuse of power while in office and casting unfounded doubts on the country’s electronic voting system. However, he is still hoping to run in the 2026 presidential elections.

“They have nothing to convict me; my conscience is clear,” the former leader told reporters on Monday.

Almir Garnier, who was Brazilian Navy commander under Bolsonaro, denied the former president had discussed the declaration of a state of emergency with military officials.

He also denied offering Bolsonaro any Navy troops.

The Supreme Court headquarters in Brasilia was one of the targets of a rioting mob of supporters known as “Bolsonaristas” – who raided government buildings in January 2023 as they urged the military to oust Lula, an insurrection attempt that evoked the supporters of Bolsonaro ally United States President Donald Trump on January 6, 2021.

Bolsonaro was abroad in Florida at the time of this last-gasp effort to keep him in power after the alleged coup planning fizzled. But his opponents have accused him of fomenting the rioting.

Judges will hear from 26 other defendants at a later date. The court has already heard from dozens of witnesses in hearings that began in mid-May.

1 of 3 | Janice Combs, mother of Sean “Diddy” Combs arrives at Federal Court for the Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex trafficking trial in New York City on Friday. The Sean Combs jury Friday heard from “Mia,” one of the alleged sexual abuse victims in his sex trafficking and racketeering case. She acknowledged later positive social media posts about Combs, but said she had severe PTSD and her time with Combs was very confusing. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

May 30 (UPI) — The Sean “Diddy” Combs jury Friday heard from “Mia,” one of the alleged sexual abuse victims in his sex trafficking and racketeering case. She acknowledged later positive social media posts about Combs.

She testified Thursday that Combs repeatedly physically and sexually assaulted her, making her feel trapped in what she alleged was ongoing abuse.

“Mia” said she felt she didn’t have any safe way to report the abuse.

Combs denies all the charges and maintains sexual acts described by prosecutors were consensual.

Under prosecutor questioning “Mia” said she was traumatized by the abuse she alleges Combs inflicted on her and that it resulted in complex, severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Under cross-examination from defense lawyer Brian Steel, “Mia” was asked about posting a good birthday wish for Combs five years after the abuse was alleged to have occurred.

It said, “Thank you for being the good kind of crazy. Thank you for being a friend and bringing friends into my life.”

Asked why she would do that and also promote the person she claimed had stolen happiness in her life, “Mia” said her experience with Combs was “a very confusing cycle of ups and downs.”

In an effort to discredit her testimony and establish reasonable doubt of Combs’ guilt, the defense confronted her with more positive posts and messages from “Mia” about Combs.

“Mia” testified that she posted the positive social media posts about Combs in part because it was about demonstrating how great your life was even if it wasn’t true.

She added she felt fear any time Combs was unhappy because it meant she was unsafe.

“Mia” said during cross examination that her dynamics with Combs would shift and “when things were good, we felt really safe” and almost forgot about the abuse.

She said she had to “beg” Combs to allow her to go to her grandmother’s funeral.

On Tuesday, former Combs assistant Capricorn Clark testified she saw Combs beat Cassie Ventura for having a relationship with another rapper. She added Combs told her he wanted to kill Scott Mescudi, also known as “Kid Cudi.”

Combs is charged with one count of racketeering conspiracy; two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.

May 27 (UPI) — Sean “Diddy” Combs beat his former girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, for having a relationship with another rapper, whom he threatened to kill, former assistant Capricorn Clark testified on Tuesday.

Clark told the court she witnessed Combs beating Ventura, and he told her he wanted to kill Scott Mescudi, also known as “Kid Cudi,” NBC News reported.

Combs, 55, allegedly armed himself with a firearm and rushed to Mescudi’s Los Angeles home upon learning of the relationship between the rival rapper and Combs’ ex-girlfriend Ventura, Clark testified, USA Today reported.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” Clark said while telling the court that Combs was in a rage and tried to break into Mescudi’s home.

Combs would not let her leave until she relayed a threat to Ventura, Clark testified.

She also said Combs repeatedly threatened her life several times while he employed her and at one time kidnapped her.

Clark teared up at times while telling the court Combs held her against her will for five days in New York City after he discovered jewelry missing from one of his homes.

She said Combs forced her to retake the polygraph test many times over several days due to her being “petrified” of her boss.

A very large man told her if she failed the polygraph test, “they’re gonna throw you in the East River,” Clark told the court.

She said the polygraph testing continued for five days until they could get a conclusive result.

Combs’ security staff would take her home each night and bring her back to the same dilapidated room on the sixth floor of a New York City building while the polygraph testing continued, Clark testified.

Combs also allegedly forced Clark to work as his personal assistant from 9 a.m. to 4 a.m. with no time off to sleep or eat.

The stress from her employment caused Clark to develop alopecia, which is a health condition that causes hair loss, she told the court.

She also said the human resources department at the business owned by Combs determined she was owed $80,000 in overtime pay after she complained about her working conditions.

Instead of paying her, Combs tore up the paperwork showing the amount of back pay he owed her, Clark testified.

“Your problem is you want a life and you can’t have that here,” Combs told Clark during the summer of 2006, she testified.

Clark said her duties as Combs’ personal assistant included booking hotels for Ventura and Kim Porter, with whom Combs fathered four children.

She also testified that Combs always brought a camera and a toiletry bag that contained illegal drugs and small bottles of baby oil and lubricant.

While in the south of France, Clark said Combs told her to obtain cocaine for one of his friends.

Clark told the court she finally quit after Combs overheard her complaining about his Miami home lacking turkey bacon and saying she hated being there.

She said Combs ran toward her and pushed her for 20 or 30 yards and yelled she could get out of his house if she hated being there.

The shoving continued until Combs’ security stopped him, and Clark said she quit after that incident.

Combs afterward asked her to work for his Sean John women’s apparel business, but Clark said she refused because she “didn’t want to be trapped in his house no more,” she told the court.

Clark’s testimony followed last week’s court appearances by Ventura, her mother, Regina Ventura, musical artist Dawn Richard and Mescudi.

All testified about abuse and threats made by Combs at various times.

Mescudi told the court Combs broke into his home and locked his dog in a bathroom on one occasion.

He said his car was blown up on another occasion.

Prosecutors argue such events demonstrate Combs’ alleged violent acts committed over two decades while coercing women to take drugs and participate in orchestrated sex parties that he called “freak offs” and often recorded on video.

Combs is charged with one count of racketeering conspiracy; two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.

He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and could be sentenced to between 10 years and life in prison if found guilty on one or more charges.

The trial began on May 5 at the U.S. District Court for Southern New York in Manhattan.

Reality TV star and business mogul Kim Kardashian has testified before a French courtroom about her experience getting robbed at gunpoint in a Paris hotel.

Taking the witness stand on Tuesday, Kardashian confronted the suspects accused of tying her up and taping her mouth shut on October 3, 2016, while they stole more than $6m in jewellery.

The case concerns a group of about a dozen suspects known in French media as “les papys braqueurs”: the grandpa robbers. The group, many in their 60s and 70s, are part of a crime ring, according to prosecutors. One has died since the robbery took place, while the charges against another have been dismissed due to health concerns.

But Kardashian recounted the terror she felt as members of the group burst into her hotel room after a night at the Paris Fashion Week.

“We were leaving the next morning, so I was just packing up,” Kardashian said. “It was around three in the morning. I heard stomping up the stairs when I was in bed.”

She explained that she figured it was her older sister, Kourtney Kardashian, returning to the hotel room. But instead, it was a group of armed men, dressed as police officers and wearing balaclavas.

Waving a gun at her, one of the men asked her to surrender her $4m engagement ring, a gift from her then-husband Kanye West, a rapper now known as Ye.

“Then I heard one of the gentlemen forcefully say ‘Ring! Ring!’ in English, with an accent, pointing,” she said.

At one point, she said the robbers threw her onto the hotel bed. She was wearing a bathrobe at the time.

“I was certain that was the moment that he was going to rape me,” Kardashian explained. “I absolutely did think I was going to die.”

Her mind flashed to the idea of her sister coming home to find her body, she added. “I thought about my sister, thought she would walk in and see me shot dead and have that memory in her forever.”

But the robbers proceeded to restrain her with zip ties and duct tape. They told her she would be safe so long as she remained quiet.

“I have babies,” Kardashian, a mother of four, remembered thinking. “I have to make it home. They can take everything. I just have to make it home.”

Eventually, she was locked in the hotel room’s marble bathroom while the robbers made their escape. During her testimony, she explained that the suspects did not beat her during the attack.

“I was grabbed and dragged into the other room and thrown onto the floor, but wasn’t hit, no,” she said.

Eventually, Kardashian said she was able to use the bathroom sink to loosen the restraints on her hands. She hobbled downstairs, where she met with her stylist Simone Harouche, who had locked herself in a bathroom one floor below to call for help during the attack.

“She was beside herself. I’ve never seen her like that before,” Harouche said of Kardashian. “She just was screaming and kept saying, ‘We need to get out of here. We need help. What are we going to do if they come back?’”

The attack prompted the entertainment industry to adopt new procedures around security and social media posts, including through the delayed publication of certain images that might help robbers identify targets and locations.

Some critics, however, blamed Kardashian herself for her luxurious lifestyle and lack of on-hand security. The controversial fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld, for instance, was quoted by the Reuters news agency as questioning Kardashian’s habit of posting photos of herself on social media.

“You cannot display your wealth and then be surprised that some people want to share it with you,” the late designer said.

That kind of commentary has sparked its own backlash, with some denouncing it as victim-blaming. Still, Judge David De Pas in Paris asked those involved if they had not made themselves targets.

“Just because a woman wears jewellery, that doesn’t make her a target,” Harouche said. “That’s like saying that because a woman wears a short skirt that she deserves to be raped.”

Kardashian added that she had a bodyguard in a separate hotel. “We assumed that, if we were in a hotel, it was safe, it was secure,” she said.

She added that she now keeps five or six guards around her. She also blamed the Paris attack for prompting a copycat robbery at her Los Angeles house.

“I started to get this phobia of going out,” Kardashian said. “This experience really changed everything for us.”

Tuesday’s appearance is expected to be the only time Kardashian testifies in the criminal case, which includes 10 defendants: nine men and one woman.

Five of the men face armed robbery and kidnapping charges that could result in life imprisonment. Others face lesser charges of being accomplices or possessing unauthorised firearms.

Prosecutors say the ringleader in the group was a 69-year-old man named Aomar Ait Khedache, nicknamed “Omar the Old”. He wrote a letter of apology that was read aloud in the court.

“I do appreciate the letter, for sure. I forgive you,” Kardashian replied, looking at Khedache. “But it doesn’t change the feelings and the trauma and the fact that my life was forever changed, but I do appreciate the letter, thank you.”