Jurors hear Cosby's side of alleged sexual assault for 1st time
— -- Bill Cosby's 2005 deposition in the Andrea Constand civil suit was read aloud at his sexual assault trial today, giving jurors his side of the alleged attack for the first time.
That 2005 suit was eventually settled out of court for an undisclosed amount. Cosby told Pennsylvania authorities in 2005 that Constand was never unconscious or incapacitated the night he gave her what he said were one-and-a-half Benadryl pills, adding that after some consensual “petting,” the pair spoke for some time before he went to bed.
The deposition was read by a Pennsylvania police sergeant in the Norristown, Pennsylvania, courtroom. According to the deposition, Cosby engaged in “petting” with Constand “at least” four times at his home – each time initiated by him - and that she only rebuffed him once.
Cosby said it was on her second visit to his home that she rebuffed him. The "petting" began downstairs but ended when she said "stop," he claimed.
Asked whether she was angry at him, Cosby replied, "My impression was that she just didn’t want to go that far."
Cosby also told police that Constand never asked what type of pills he had given her that evening. He said he later told Constand’s mother by phone that he would look up the name of the pills and inform her but never did.
“I didn’t know where she was going with her questions and I - from her tone - felt like I was being attacked," he said.
Later in the day, the police sergeant read a portion of the deposition in which Cosby said he gave Benadryl to Constand to "relax" her on the night of the alleged assault.
“I wanted her to be comfortable and relaxed and be able to go to sleep after our necking session," he said.
Before the trial began, Cosby said he didn't expect to testify in person and hasn't so far.
Constand testified for a total of seven hours on Tuesday and Wednesday. During her testimony, she was asked by the assistant DA if she was able to refuse Cosby's advances on the night in question after allegedly taking three blue pills given to her by the comedian.
"I wasn’t able to,” she said. “In my head I was trying to get my hands to move or my legs to move, but I was frozen and those [mental] messages didn’t get there and I was very limp, so I wasn’t able to fight him anyway. I wanted it to stop.”
During cross-examination she also addressed the discrepancy of when alleged sexual assault took place.
"I was just confused. I was mistaken," she responded.
Cosby, 79, was charged in 2015 with felony aggravated indecent assault shortly before the statute of limitations on Constand's claim expired.
This is the first time that Cosby has been charged with a crime, though in recent years, he has been accused by more than 50 women of drugging and/or sexual misconduct. Cosby has repeatedly denied the claims. Only one other accuser, Kelly Johnson, was allowed to testify in this case. She took the stand Monday.
If convicted, Cosby faces up to 10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine.
