Cosby wants testimony about drugs, other women out of trial
NORRISTOWN >> Lawyers for Bill Cosby are continuing their legal battle to prevent any references to drugs and other women who allegedly had sexual contact with the entertainer from being mentioned when he faces trial for sexually assaulting one woman in 2004.
In the latest legal wrangling, Cosby, through his lawyers Brian J. McMonagle and Angela C. Agrusa, asked a judge to exclude any testimony he gave during a previous civil deposition that is related to women who allegedly had sexual contact with him,
other than accuser Andrea Constand and the one other woman that a judge previously said can testify at his upcoming June 5 trial.
“Counsel should be precluded from making references to other women who allegedly had sexual contact with Mr. Cosby, and witnesses should be admonished in advance of testifying that they may not reference other women, including those who have accused Mr. Cosby of sexual misconduct,” McMonagle and Agrusa wrote in papers filed in Montgomery County Court on Tuesday.
“This should include deposition testimony of Mr. Cosby related to allegations of alleged sexual contact with other women; deposition testimony of Mr. Cosby related to obtaining, offering and providing Quaaludes, other prescriptions or controlled substances to any other woman; and deposition testimony of Mr. Cosby related to any alleged offer or provision of money or educational funds to other women,” McMonagle and Agrusa added.
The filing sets the stage for another round of pretrial hearings before Cosby’s trial gets under way on charges of aggravated indecent assault in connection with his alleged contact with Constand, a former Temple University athletic department employee, after plying her with blue pills and wine at his Cheltenham home sometime between mid-January and mid-February 2004.
Earlier this year, Judge Steven T. O’Neill ruled that Cosby’s civil deposition testimony that he obtained Quaaludes in the past to give to women with whom he wanted to have sex can be heard by the jury. That ruling, sought by District Attorney Kevin R. Steele, was considered a legal setback for Cosby.
But in another pretrial ruling last month, the judge ruled only one of 13 other women who accused Cosby of alleged uncharged sexual misconduct can testify against him at the trial. The judge said prosecutors can present only the testimony of “prior alleged victim six” and not the testimony of the other 12 that Steele wanted as prosecution witnesses.
“Thus, the only evidence of Mr. Cosby’s conduct that can be admitted at trial is that with Ms. Constand and accuser number six,” McMonagle and Agrusa argued.
Defense lawyers also contend that Cosby’s deposition testimony about Quaaludes occurred when he was questioned about his alleged interaction with a woman identified in court papers as “accuser number four,” a woman whom O’Neill ruled cannot testify at trial.
“To allow the commonwealth to take this or other testimony about accuser number four and present it out of context with general testimony about other women to insinuate that Mr. Cosby ever provided Quaaludes to other women and had sex with them – when there is no such testimony – would be completely misleading,” McMonagle and Agrusa wrote.
McMonagle and Agrusa
“Any discussion of Quaaludes would only divert the jury away from its duty of weighing the evidence as to Ms. Constand, the only alleged victim. Quaaludes have not been available in this country for nearly two decades.” — defense lawyer Brian J. McMonagle
argued neither Constand nor “prior alleged victim six” specifically claimed they were given or took Quaaludes. Constand alleges Cosby provided her with three “round or oval, blue and small” pills and defense lawyers claim prosecutors cannot identify the pills and that Constand did not identify them as Quaaludes.
“Accuser Number Six also alleges she voluntarily took a pill in 1996, but does not identify it as a Quaalude,” McMonagle and Agrusa wrote.
Defense lawyers argued the pills allegedly taken by Constand and “prior alleged victim six” could not have been Quaaludes because Quaaludes became available in the mid-1980s, decades before the incidents alleged by Constand or “prior alleged victim six.”
“Any discussion of Quaaludes would only divert the jury away from its duty of weighing the evidence as to Ms. Constand, the only alleged victim. Quaaludes have not been available in this country for nearly two decades,” McMonagle and Agrusa wrote. “They were part of a bygone era where the use of drugs for recreational purposes and in combination with casual sex was part of the culture; the days and the mores of the 1960s and 1970s are long forgotten, unfamiliar, and would not be acceptable today.”
Prosecutors claimed Cosby provided incriminating testimony connected with a 2005 civil suit brought against him by Constand and they argued a jury should be permitted to hear that testimony. Cosby was deposed in connection with the lawsuit over four days in September 2005 and March 2006. The suit ultimately settled for an undisclosed amount on July 13, 2006.
In that deposition, Cosby, according to court documents, admitted that in the past he obtained Quaaludes to give to women with whom he wanted to have sex.
Cosby has suggested his contact with Constand was consensual.
The case represents the first time Cosby, who played Dr. Cliff Huxtable on “The Cosby Show” from 1984 to 1992, has been charged with a crime despite allegations from dozens of women who claimed they were assaulted by the entertainer.
If convicted of the charges at trial, William Henry Cosby Jr., 79, as his name appears on charging documents, faces a possible maximum sentence of 15 to 30 years in prison. He remains free on 10 percent of $1 million bail, pending trial.
The newspaper does not normally identify victims of sex crimes without their consent but is using Constand’s name because she has identified herself publicly.