Accuser Takes Stand, Says She Considered Cosby 'Mentor,' Someone Trustworthy
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (KDKA) - Day two of Bill Cosby's sexual assault trial brought lots of fireworks.
The alleged victim was called to the stand Tuesday afternoon.
Before Andrea Constand described how Cosby allegedly sexually assaulted her, she told the jurors how he was her Temple [University] friend, her mentor and someone she trusted. She referred to him the whole time as "Mr. Cosby" as she fought back tears. Her lips were quivering as she got into the details of the night of the alleged sexual assault.
The alleged victim has been called to the stand! Very well-spoken, seems VERY sincere & believeable. Jurors listening very carefully.
— Julie Grant (@JulieGrantEsq) June 6, 2017
On the stand, she said Cosby invited her to his home, gave her wine and three blue pills which caused her to start seeing double. She said she remembers him moving her to the couch and sexually assaulting her. When asked if she fought him off, she said she couldn't.
She said, "In my head, I was trying to get my hands to move or my legs to move, but I was frozen and those messages didn't get there."
Not long after the alleged assault she said she confronted Cosby about it, wanting to know what the pills were that he gave her. She said Cosby told her they were herbal that night.
The alleged incident happened in January of 2004. A year later, after having a terrible nightmare about it, she said she told her mother about it and made police reports to Canadian police and police in Pennsylvania.
When asked why she waited so long to say something she said, "It was a very big burden on me, one that I did not have the courage at the time to tell my family."
She told the jury Cosby apologized to her and her mother by phone.
While she was testifying, Cosby wasn't looking at her. He was staring straight ahead – toward where the attorneys would be standing – and not looking toward the witness stand.
On cross examination, the defense pointed out some inconsistencies in her testimony, including that she told Canadian police she had never been alone with Cosby prior to the alleged assault and she admitted that was untrue. She also told police her contact with him was "rare and brief" after he violated her, but there are 72 documented phone calls between them.
She also told police the sexual assault happened after they had gone out for a group dinner. Today, she said she was "mistaken."
The cross examination will pick back up Wednesday morning.
Court adjourned for the day in Bill Cosby's trial. The alleged victim in the case will have to return tomorrow to continue testifying.
— Julie Grant (@JulieGrantEsq) June 6, 2017
The first witness called, and the second witness overall, is the mother of the woman who testified on day one of the trial that Cosby sexually assaulted her in Los Angeles during the 1990s, almost exactly the same way as the victim in Montgomery County.
The mother said her daughter was diagnosed as clinically depressed after the alleged sexual assault. When defense counsel, Angela Agrusa, questioned her about why she never directed her daughter to call police, the objections and the responses between Assistant District Attorney Kristen Feden and Agrusa got extremely heated.
Feden raised her voice and yelled over Agrusa on more than one occasion. Judge Steven O'Neill appeared to get a little upset with Feden and told her to "Slow down."
Agrusa has a much softer cross-examination style than lead defense attorney Brian McMonagle, who cross-examined the mother's daughter on Monday. Agrusa asked the mother if she is here to "help her daughter out" and she answered, "I am here to tell what I know."
While the mother admitted not being present when the sexual assault is alleged to have occurred, she said her daughter told her about much of it in the weeks after the incident.
The third witness called by the prosecution is retired California attorney Joseph Miller. He deposed the alleged victim as part of a worker's compensation claim she filed against William Morris Agency. The alleged victim had worked at the William Morris Agency as an assistant to Tom Illius, who was Cosby's agent at the time he was on "The Cosby Show."
She testified Monday that Cosby told Illius lies about her to get her fired. Her mother said the emotional distress from the alleged incident was the root of the worker's compensation claim she filed against William Morris Agency.
Miller took notes during the deposition about problems the alleged victim was having at work. Miller told the jury he remembers her being upset and crying when she revealed she was assaulted by Cosby. According to his notes, she told him she felt sleepy after taking the pill and did not know how long she was at the bungalow because she lost her sense of time.
Both attorneys asked Miller to review those deposition notes on the stand as part of their questioning. Some things Miller remembered. Other things, he needed to review his old notes to remember. Miller noted a note in the margin that he made that said "tearful" and he remembers the woman being intimidated by the situation. Miller said the settlement was close to $10,000.
There is no transcript of that old deposition because Miller said at the time they took it, he and the other lawyer on the case decided not to have a transcript produced because of the sensitive details the woman revealed. On cross-examination by McMonagle, Miller said his notes say that the alleged victim told him the sexual assault occurred in May of 1990 and the victim made a visit to Cosby's home in 1996, six years later. That conflicts with what the woman said on Monday when she told the jury she visited Cosby's home first and after the sexual assault at the bungalow, she never had another visit with Cosby.
Detective David Mason with Durham Regional Police Service in Canada was the third witness called today and the fourth witness overall.
He told the jury about getting called to take a sexual assault report on Jan. 13, 2005. He went to the home of the victim in the Montgomery County criminal case and interviewed her. Mason told the jury he remembered the woman being nervous and embarrassed about it, but not appearing upset.
He said he remembers her saying she waited so long to report it because of Cosby's connection to Temple University, where she was once employed, and also, her desire to have a career in sports broadcasting.
Mason said the alleged victim told him and two other detectives that she went out to dinner with Cosby and a few other people at a local restaurant and she went back to Cosby's home afterward. Mason said she told him Cosby gave her three pills to help her relax. Mason said the woman told him Cosby said they were herbal. Mason said after she took the pills she immediately started feeling dizzy and her legs felt like jelly.
Mason said the woman said she remembers Cosby touching her breasts and putting her hand on his genitals. Mason said the woman could not say with certainly whether there was intercourse.
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