Sean Combs trial updates: 'Mia' details several 'violent' encounters with Combs

The defense sought on cross-examination to undercut the credibility of Los Angeles Fire Department arson investigator Lance Jimenez and questioned him about a single black glove found on the back seat of rapper Kid Cudi's Porsche 911 Cabriolet. Jimenez previously testified about what he discovered during his investigation of an attempt to set the car on fire with a Molotov cocktail.

Jimenez testified that he did not send the glove for testing because he did not find it significant to his investigation.

"I believed it belonged to the owner," Jimenez testified. "It was a driving glove, according to him," referring to Scott Mescudi, aka Cudi.

"You thought it was significant enough that you talked to the owner about it?" defense attorney Marc Agnifilo asked.

"Yes," Jimenez replied.

"He said it was his glove, correct?" Agnifilo asked.

"That is my recollection, yes," Jimenez testified.

"Did you put anything in your report about this single glove?" Agnifilo questioned.

"I don't think I did," Jimenez testified.

On re-direct examination by the prosecution, Jimenez called the glove "irrelevant."

The defense said that female DNA was allegedly found on the malt liquor bottle filled with gasoline that was used to make the Molotov cocktail and that was found in the vehicle, but Jimenez had already testified to prosecutors that DNA was outside of his area of expertise.

Jimenez testified on cross-examination that Cassie Ventura did not call him back when he attempted to contact her about the car fire incident and that Capricorn Clark declined to speak with him.

The cross-examination did not mention fingerprints.

Jimenez's testimony has concluded. The next scheduled witness is Deonte Nash, a stylist and friend of Ventura's.

Defense attorneys for Sean Combs called it "outrageous" that federal prosecutors asked a Los Angeles Fire Department arson investigator about the destruction of fingerprints that he testified had been lifted from Scott Mescudi's front door.

The investigator, Lance Jimenez, testified he did not order the prints destroyed. He told the court that he blamed "someone in the LAPD."

When prosecutor Christy Slavik asked whether it was "unusual" for evidence to be destroyed in an open case, the defense objected and Judge Arun Subramanian summoned the attorneys to a sidebar.

The judge then sent the jury from the courtroom for a break. The defense moved for a mistrial, alleging Slavik's question was meant to plant an inference in jurors' minds that Combs was responsible for the destruction of evidence.

Subramanian denied the mistrial and gave the jury an instruction upon their return from the break.

"Before the break, you heard some testimony about fingerprint cards and I'm now instructing you that questions regarding the destruction of the fingerprint cards, and the answers, are irrelevant to this case and to the defendant and are not to be considered by you," Subramanian said.

Jimenez testified that he tried calling several people at Mescudi's suggestion, including previous witnesses Capricorn Clark and Cassie Ventura, and was unable to reach them.

There were never any charges connected to the arson but the case has not been closed. Jimenez testified that the current status of the case is "inactive pending anything further."

The mention of fingerprint evidence being inexplicably destroyed prompted an objection from the defense and a motion for a mistrial.

"The only way to cure the outrageous prejudice is to move for a mistrial," defense attorney Alexandra Shapiro said.

Darla Miles reports.

Shapiro accused the government of prosecutorial misconduct for asking the witness whether it was "unusual" for fingerprint evidence to be destroyed. She accused the government of trying to plant an idea that Combs was responsible for the destruction of the fingerprints lifted from Kid Cudi's front door.

"It was becoming clearer and clearer that this inference was what the government was doing this for," Shapiro said. "There's no way to un-ring this bell."

Prosecutor Christy Slavik said a mistrial is "absolutely unwarranted."

"The application for a mistrial is denied," Judge Arun Subramanian said.

The judge said there was no testimony in response to the question of whether it was unusual for fingerprint evidence to have been destroyed.

Subramanian said he would strike the testimony and give a curative instruction telling the jury the questions about the fingerprint destruction are irrelevant to the case and the responses should be disregarded.

It did not take long for LAFD arson investigator Lance Jimenez to conclude the car fire on January 9, 2012 was caused by a "makeshift firebomb" known as a Molotov cocktail.

"Somebody had lit it, cut the roof and dropped it in the front seat," Jimenez told the jury. "In my opinion it was targeted."

Jimenez said he took note of the slash in the canvas top of the black Porsche 911 Cabriolet and "burn patterns" on the seat, carpeting and roof.

"There was a bottle on the front seat and there was a cloth handkerchief on the center console that was burned," Jimenez said. "Inside the bottle I observed a liquid that gave an odor I know to be gasoline."

He said he also noticed a disposable red lighter on the ground. He walked the jury through photos of the damage, including the soot damage on the driver's door, the burns on the interior and the cut in the canvas roof. The jury also saw a picture of the lighter, the 40 ounce Old English 800 malt liquor bottle used to make the Molotov cocktail and burned handkerchief.

"The cloth was more of a silky type material. I think it just fell out of the bottle. The bottle didn't break so the liquid wasn't able to disburse. The fire just smoldered out. It didn't cause damage I think it was intended for," Jimenez said.

Jimenez testified that Kid Cudi had his home swept for fingerprints after the earlier break-in. Two prints were lifted from the glass front door, but Jimenez told the jury the fingerprint cards he turned in to the LAPD evidence unit were destroyed in August of 2012.