Bill Cosby goes on trial, his legacy, freedom at stake
NORRISTOWN, Pa. — Bill Cosby went on trial Monday on charges he drugged and sexually assaulted a woman more than a decade ago, with a prosecutor warning the jury not to fall into the trap of confusing the 79-year-old comedian with the beloved family man he played on TV.
Cosby used his power and fame to violate an employee of Temple University’s basketball program, Assistant District Attorney Kristen Feden said in her opening statement. The TV star previously admitted under oath that he gave Andrea Constand pills and touched her genitals as she lay on his couch at his suburban Philadelphia mansion, the prosecutor said.
“She couldn’t say no,” Feden said. “She can’t move, she can’t talk. Completely paralyzed. Frozen. Lifeless.”
Defence lawyer Brian McMonagle immediately attacked what he said were inconsistencies in Constand’s story, disputed that Constand was incapacitated, and made the case that she and Cosby, who was married, had a romantic relationship. McMonagle said Cosby gave her the cold and allergy medicine Benadryl only after she complained she couldn’t sleep.
McMonagle said Constand changed the date of the encounter from mid-March to mid-January of 2004. And he said Constand initially told police that she and Cosby had never spoken afterward, when, in fact, phone records show the two talked 72 times after mid-January — and two-thirds of the calls were initiated by Constand.
Cosby is charged with three counts of aggravated indecent assault. He could get 10 years in prison if convicted.
Cosby’s wife, Camille, was absent as the TV star, carrying a wooden cane and grabbing his spokesman’s arm for support, walked past dozens of cameras into the courthouse. He chatted with actress Keshia Knight Pulliam, who played his daughter Rudy on the top-rated Cosby Show, as they walked.
Cosby smiled but said nothing when someone asked how he was feeling.