Defense: Cosby wasn’t around for assault
NORRISTOWN » Jurors got a look Friday at Bill Cosby’s travel records as his lawyers made the case that he never visited his suburban Philadelphia mansion in the month he is accused of drugging and molesting a that the flights on Cosby’s Gulfstream IV — dubbed “Camille” after his wife of more than 50 years — coincided with comedy performances and other events on Cosby’s schedule.
None of the records showed him flying into or out of Philadelphia-area airports from December 2003 to February 2004.
Cosby spokesman Andrew Wyatt said outside court that the records “connect the dots” that the comedian wasn’t around Philadelphia at that time.
Cosby, 80, is charged with three counts of aggravated indecent assault. He says his sexual encounter with Constand was consensual.
Sequestered jurors got an early start to the weekend as Day 10 of the trial drew to a close shortly after lunch. Testimony will resume Monday. The jury is expected to get the case next week.
Earlier Friday, Cosby’s lawyers told the judge they want jurors to hear from Constand’s confidante before deliberations get underway, but said she’s been unreachable.
The defense asked for permission to read parts of Sheri Williams’ deposition into the record just as prosecutors did with Cosby’s old testimony. Williams gave the deposition as part of Constand’s 2005 lawsuit against Cosby, who wound up settling for nearly $3.4 million.
Judge Steven O’Neill appeared skeptical of the defense request, saying he wants to hear from a witness who can show the defense has made a reasonable effort to serve Williams with a subpoena to testify in person. O’Neill put off a ruling until Monday.
Constand testified at Cosby’s first trial last year that she and Williams were good friends and would speak “at all hours of the day: morning, noon, and night.” She said they were in touch as she went to police in January 2005 with allegations Cosby drugged and molested her about a year earlier.
Cosby’s lawyers said they expected Williams’ testimony to refute Constand’s claims that she was unaware he was romantically interested in her. And they said the testimony would show that Constand “could not have been the unwitting victim” prosecutors have portrayed.
Constand testified at the trial that Cosby had never expressed any romantic interest, though she called the passes she said he made at her before the alleged assault — touching her thigh and trying to unbutton her pants — “a little bit absurd.”
“Mr. Cosby was just a little bit younger than my grandfather. He was a married man and I absolutely showed no interest in him. But I wasn’t threatened and I didn’t judge him,” she testified.
Cosby testified in his own deposition — also given as part of Constand’s lawsuit — that he had a romantic relationship with her.