Bill Cosby sexual assault trial: Jury hears 30 minutes of graphic past depositions
— -- As part of numerous requests and follow-up questions by the jury, the judge in the Bill Cosby sexual assault trial read parts of the comedian's decade-old deposition from a civil suit for more than 30 minutes on Tuesday to add "context" to their deliberations.
They will decide if the comedian sexually assaulted accuser Andrea Constand in 2004.
According to depositions Cosby made in 2005 and 2006, he gave Constand Benadryl and admitted to having two sexual encounters with Constand. His depositions were graphic, describing “necking” “petting” and “make out” sessions he said he engaged in with Constand.
That civil suit was eventually settled out of court.
The jury also had a question about evidence and another about defining one of the counts in the charge against Cosby. The judge said he was not permitted to give further explanation.
The three counts against Cosby, who was charged in Montgomery County in 2015, each carry a maximum 10-year sentence. O’Neill has wide discretion in the sentencing. If convicted, Cosby would be required to register as a sex offender.
The last question from the jury on Tuesday was if they could hear testimony of a Canadian police officer who took the initial report from Constand in 2005.
The testimony from Durham Regional Police Service officer David Mason was based on notes he took during the police interview. The testimony was read aloud to the jury by the court reporter. He testified that Constand said Cosby gave her three blue pills and that she grew dizzy and passed out. She also told police she had never been alone with Cosby before that night, and that she had gone with him to his home following a dinner with a number of other people at a restaurant.
Constand has since amended these details to say that she was invited by Cosby to his house and went alone, where the alleged assault took place, and that on several prior occasions she had been alone with Cosby and that he had made sexual advances on her.
Monday's closing arguments from both sides concluded after six days of testimony. Cosby did not testify but his past deposition was read aloud in court. His accuser Constand, her mother, and another accuser, Kelly Johnson, took the stand.
Cosby, 79, has always denied giving Constand anything other than Benadryl on the night in question and has said that anything romantic that transpired between them was consensual.
"I wanted her to be comfortable and relaxed and be able to go to sleep after our necking session," Cosby said in the 2005-2006 deposition.
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele closed the prosecution's case on Monday by describing Cosby as a calculating sexual predator, who not only drugged and assaulted Constand more than a decade ago, but also recast the attack as romantic.
Brian McMonagle, one of Cosby's lawyers, also delivered a dramatic closing argument, highlighting Constand's inconsistencies and those of Johnson, the other accuser who testified last week. The defense poked holes in Johnson’s testimony, citing discrepancies in her recounting of the alleged incident
Cosby has denied any wrongdoing in other accusations.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that Cosby, if convicted of all three counts against him, could serve a maximum of 30 years in prison.
