Jury mulls Cosby’s fate in indecent assault case
NORRISTOWN, Pennsylvania — The jury at Bill Cosby’s trial began deliberating Monday over whether he drugged and molested a woman more than a decade ago in a case that has helped demolish the 79-year-old comedian’s good-guy image.
A conviction could send Cosby to prison for the rest of his life, completing the stunning downfall of one of the most beloved stars in all of show business.
The case went to the jury of seven men and five women on Day 6 of the trial after closing arguments painted different pictures of what happened between Cosby and Andrea Constand at his suburban Philadelphia estate.
Defence attorney Brian McMonagle told the jury Cosby and Constand were lovers who enjoyed secret “romantic interludes” and that the 2004 encounter was consensual. McMonagle said while the comedian had been unfaithful to his wife, he didn’t commit a crime.
Prosecutors countered that “fancy lawyering” can’t save Cosby from his own words — namely, his admission about groping Constand after giving her pills he knew could put her to sleep. “Drugging somebody and putting them in a position where you can do what you want with them is not romantic. It’s criminal,” district attorney Kevin Steele said.
After the prosecution took five days to outline its side, the defence case consisted of just one witness — a detective — and six minutes of testimony Monday. Cosby did not take the stand, ending days of suspense over whether the jury would hear from him. Legal experts said testifying would have been a risky move that could have opened the TV star to withering cross-examination about some of the 60 or so other women who have accused him of drugging or molesting them.
He is charged with three counts of aggravated indecent assault, each one punishable by up to 10 years behind bars.
Constand, 44, testified last week that Cosby gave her three blue pills and then penetrated her with his fingers against her will as she lay paralyzed and half-conscious. She denied they had a romantic relationship and said she had rebuffed previous advances from him.
She sued Cosby after prosecutors in 2005 declined to press charges. Cosby testified over a decade ago as part of that lawsuit, eventually settling with her for an undisclosed sum.
His deposition was sealed for years until a judge released parts in 2015 at the request of the Associated Press, prompting a new set of prosecutors to take a fresh look at the case and charge him.
In his 2005 deposition, Cosby said he obtained several prescriptions for quaaludes in the 1970s and offered the nowbanned sedatives to women he wanted to have sex with. He also said he gave Constand three halftablets of the cold and allergy medicine Benadryl before the “petting” began. Prosecutors have suggested he drugged her with something stronger — perhaps quaaludes.