Cosby’s lawyer attacks accuser as trial opens
NORRISTOWN: Bill Cosby’s lawyer asked jurors on Monday not to view him as a fallen celebrity on trial in a sexual assault case, but as a flawed man “whose infidelities have made him vulnerable” to these types of accusations.
Cosby, 79, the champion of fatherhood and family values, walked into court without his wife of more than 50 years, Camille, or any of their four daughters.
A prosecutor in opening statements urged the jury to focus on the man, not the fictional characters he created.
“Actors and actresses, celebrities as a whole ... they become larger than life. We have a collective imagination of all of the characters they portray and, because of that, we think that we really know them,” Assistant District Attorney Kristen Feden said.
“In reality, we only have a glimpse of who they really are.”
About 60 women have accused Cosby of sexually assaulting them since 1965, but Cosby is charged in just one case, involving a former Temple University basketball team employee who said he drugged and molested her at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004.
“I have three friends for you to make you relax,” Cosby told Andrea Constand as he gave her three unmarked pills, Ms Feden said, quoting from Cosby’s deposition.
Ms Constand, who said she thought it was an herbal product, told police she fell into a stupor, unable to rebuff him as he molested her on the couch. She is expected to testify later this week.
Prosecutors on Monday opened the trial with a woman who broke down in tears as she testified that the comedian had violated her, eight years earlier, at a hotel bungalow in Los Angeles.
Kelly Johnson, of Atlanta, worked for one of Cosby’s agents at the William Morris Agency. Prosecutors hope her testimony will show that Cosby had a pattern of assaulting women after befriending them.
Ms Johnson said Cosby pressured her to take a large white pill that knocked her out. When she woke up, she said, he put lotion on her hand and forced her to touch his genitals.
“My dress was pulled up from the bottom, and it was pulled down from the top, and my breasts were out,” she said, crying. “And I felt naked.”
Defence lawyer Brian McMonagle suggested Ms Johnson was far from credible, arguing that she said years ago that the encounter took place in 1990, and failed to mention on Monday that Cosby had given her US$400 (13,600 baht).
Cosby grinned and tapped his cane at the defence table as Mr McMonagle confronted her with the discrepancies. Ms Johnson struggled to explain them.
She first raised the accusations in 2015, when she spoke out at a news conference organised by celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred.
“I felt embarrassed [at the time] because I had a secret about the biggest celebrity in the world at the time and it was just me, just my word against his, and I was very afraid,” Ms Johnson said on Monday, explaining the delay.
Ms Constand, 44, of the Toronto area, is expected to take the stand this week and tell her story in public for the first time.