Cosby’s accuser says she was drugged, groped; ‘I was frozen’
NORRISTOWN, Pa. — Bill Cosby’s chief accuser took the stand at his sexual assault trial Tuesday to tell her story publicly for the first time, saying the comedian gave her pills that left her paralyzed and helpless and then groped her.
“In my head, I was trying to get my hands to move or my legs to move, but I was frozen,” Andrea Constand, a 44- year-old former employ confrontation. ee of the basketball program at Temple University, Cosby’s alma mater, said in their long-awaited courtroom “I wasn’t able to fight in any way. I wanted it to stop.”
Cosby, 79, is charged with drugging and violating Constand at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004. The TV star once dubbed “America’s Dad” could get 10 years in prison if convicted.
Constand said Cosby assaulted her after giving her three blue pills he claimed were a natural remedy to ease her stress about a looming career change. She said she started feeling woozy after about 20 minutes, with blurred vision, slurred words and legs that felt like rubber.
She said he penetrated her with his hand and also placed her hand on his penis and moved it back and forth.
Afterward, she said, “I felt really humiliated and I felt really confused.”
Cosby stared down at the defense table as Constand testified.
Before Tuesday, Constand had never spoken about Cosby in public, barred from doing so under the terms of a confidential settlement they reached in 2006.
Some 60 women have come forward to say Cosby violated them, but the statute of limitations for prosecution had run out in nearly every case. Cosby has strenuously denied all accusations and has pleaded not guilty in this case. Constand’s case is the only one in which Cosby has been charged.
The stage was set for Tuesday’s long-awaited courtroom confrontation after prosecutors used the first day and a half of the trial to argue that Cosby made a habit of knocking women out with pills and then molesting them.
Kelly Johnson testified on Day 1 that Cosby drugged molested her at a Los Angeles hotel bungalow in 1996. She said she lost consciousness soon after Cosby pressured her to take a large white pill. She said that when she awoke, Cosby was naked and forced her to sexually gratify him.