Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Bill Cosby’s chief accuser says she wants justice
NORRISTOWN » For the second time in a year, a former Temple University athletic department employee entered a courtroom and revealed sordid details to a jury about the evening she claimed she was sexually assaulted by entertainer Bill Cosby.
Andrea Constand, now 45, testified in Montgomery County Court on Friday that Cosby sexually assaulted her at his Cheltenham mansion sometime in January 2004 after providing her with three “small round blue pills.”
“I began to see double vision. My mouth became very cottony and I started slurring my words as we were talking. I was very scared. I didn’t know what was happening to my body and why I was feeling that way. I started to panic a little bit,” said Constand, recalling her reaction after swallowing the pills that she believed were herbal.
Constand, who testified she went to Cosby’s home
discuss her career, said her legs were “rubbery” and she felt weak. The former director of women’s basketball operations at Temple University claimed Cosby guided her to a couch, where she passed out. Constand, wearing sneakers, a peach blouse, gray slacks and a white blazer, testified she was “jolted” awake to find Cosby touching her breasts, digitally penetrating her and forcing her to touch his penis.
“I was not able to do a thing to fight back. I wanted it to stop. I was limp and I could not fight him off,” said Constand, who paused several times while recalling the alleged incident but for the most part remained composed under questioning by Assistant District Attorney Kristen Feden. “I was humiliated. I was in shock and I was really confused.”
Constand was 30 and Cosby was in his 60s at the time of the alleged assault.
Cosby, now 80, who is reportedly legally blind, appeared to listen attentively to Constand’s testimony and occasionally consulted with his lawyers. Cosby has claimed the contact he had with Constand was consensual.
Constand said when she awoke hours later she found her clothes disheveled, her bra undone and as she went to leave the mansion Cosby gave her a muffin and some tea.
Constand claimed on a later date she confronted Cosby to try to determine what pills he had provided to her.
“He was very evasive to me. Mr. Cosby said to me, ‘I thought you had an orgasm?’” Constand recalled. “He would not answer my questions.”
Constand said she left Temple’s employ in March 2004 and returned to her native Canada. Constand testified that in January 2005, after a “bad dream,” she confided in her mother about the alleged assault and notified police.
“To seek justice for what he did to me,” Constand told Feden.
It’s the second time Constand confronted Cosby in court. Cosby’s first trial last June ended in a mistrial when a jury selected in Allegheny County could not reach a verdict. The current jury selected for the retrial is comprised of seven men and five women, who are Montgomery County residents.
Cosby is charged with three counts of aggravated indecent assault.
Constand told prosecutors she had gone to Cosby’s home to discuss her decision to leave Temple’s employ. Constand said she told Cosby, an alumnus and at that time a trustee of Temple, she was “stressed” and that’s when he appeared with the three blue pills.
“He said, ‘These are your friends, they’ll help you relax, they’ll take the edge off,’” Constand recalled, adding she took the pills because she “trusted him.” “I was thinking they were a natural remedy to make me relax.”
Constand appeared more uncomfortable, taking deep breaths and squirming in her seat at times, while lead defense lawyer Thomas Mesereau Jr. crossexamined her about a variety of subjects, including being at Cosby’s mansion alone with him while he was married.
“Did you ever see his wife?” Mesereau asked. “No,” Constand replied. “Did you ever ask where she was?” Mesereau continued. “No,” Constand said. “Did you care?” Mesereau pressed.
“It was none of my business,” Constand responded.
Referring to the actor as “Mr. Cosby” throughout her testimony, Constand admitted she had given him gifts in the past to thank him for invitations to dinner and other events. The gifts, she said, included hats, T-shirts and “some bath salts for him and his wife.”
Cosby’s wife, Camille, was not in the courtroom during the first five days of
the trial.
During his questioning, Mesereau suggested Constand gave inconsistent statements to investigators concerning her contact with Cosby before and after the alleged incident and implied her testimony cannot be trusted.
Specifically, testimony revealed Constand initially told detectives she had limited phone contact with Cosby after the alleged incident, however, phone records showed she had phone conversations with him more than 50 times, including two on Valentine’s Day 2004.
Constand also told one detective she had never been alone with Cosby before the night of the alleged incident, but testimony revealed she had previously been alone with Cosby on two other occasions when he made sexual advances toward her, including touching her thigh and attempting to unbutton her pants.
Mesereau questioned Constand if, after the sexual advances, she had a sense Cosby was attracted to her.
“No, I just thought he was being silly,” she testified, adding later, “I didn’t know what to think. I thought he just made a pass at me.”
Earlier, Constand told the prosecutor, “I trusted him and was never threatened by him.”
Mesereau pointed out Constand told a Canadian detective the assault occurred in January 2004 but later told a Cheltenham detective the assault occurred in March 2004.
“It was just my mistake. I was mistaken,” Constand testified.
Constand will be back in the witness box again on Monday as Cosby’s lawyers continue their crossexamination.