SORRY STORY
Accuser’s mother: Cosby apologized to us
ANDREA CONSTAND’S mother took the stand Wednesday in Bill Cosby’s sex assault trial, testifying that the comic apologized to her and her daughter when faced with his alleged acts.
Gianna Constand told the jury that she confronted Cosby by phone during a two-hour call in which he “surrendered” a confession about the sexual assault.
Cosby assured her there had been no intercourse, only “digital penetration.”
“He was talking about it almost like he was … trying to make me believe it was consensual, that it was OK by her,” Costand said.
Her daughter held her ground through a harsh cross-examination, calmly fending off questions about bath salts and Valentine’s Day phone calls and even how dim the lights were at dinner.
The onslaught from defense lawyer Angela Agrusa portrayed Andrea Constand as a willing participant in a romance with the disgraced TV icon who later fabricated an assault yarn so she could sue him.
Constand, 44, stuck by her story that Cosby, 79, drugged her with three blue pills at his suburban Philadelphia mansion in 2004 and then groped her breasts, digitally penetrated her and rubbed her hand on his penis as she lay “frozen.”
When Agrusa suggested Constand’s first dinner with the married Cosby had all the trappings of a first date, Constand shot her down. Agrusa challenged her.
“You were sitting by the fire. The room was dark. There was a nice mood,” she said. “The lights were dim.”
Constand rebuffed the insinuations, saying, “I don’t really remember how dim the lights were, but I did have to eat my dinner.”
When Agrusa suggested Constand “allowed” Cosby to touch her inner thigh that night, the former head of women’s basketball operations at Cosby’s alma mater, Temple University, corrected her. “You said ‘allowed.’ Mr. Cosby did that of his own volition,” Constand said.
Agrusa painstakingly went through Constand’s phone records and highlighted two calls to Cosby on Feb. 14, 2004. “You called Mr. Cosby on Valentine’s Day,” she said, trying to strike a dramatic chord. “You know Mr. Cosby’s married, right?”
Constand said she was still seeking an explanation for what happened the night of the attack and also felt compelled to return his messages because he was a high-profile figure where she worked. She said she planned to corner Cosby and get some answers at a March 2004 dinner he was hosting for high school students. She arrived at the house with an unusual gift, she said. “You were going to confront the man you say assaulted you, and you’re bringing him bath salts?” Agrusa asked. Constand said she was delivering them for a mutual friend. Agrusa also hammered Constand over her first conversation with Cheltenham, Pa., Detective Richard Schaffer. According to Schaffer’s report, Constand initially said the sex assault took place the night of the dinner for the high school students.
“The victim stated that the date of the alleged incident may have been March 16, 2004,” the report dated Jan. 19, 2005, said.
Agrusa suggested Constand later “changed” her story to an earlier date because the facts didn’t line up in her favor.
Cosby, 79, has been charged with three counts of aggravated indecent assault, each carrying up to 10 years in prison. He has pleaded not guilty, claiming his sexual conduct with Constand was consensual.
Meanwhile, famed civil rights lawyer Gloria Allred, who represents several women accusing Cosby of drugging assaulting them, was bounced from the courtroom Wednesday when her cell phone rang.