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Bill Cosby Trial Day 3: Andrea Constand Faces Questioning Bill Cosby Trial Day 3: Andrea Constand Faces Questioning
(about 1 hour later)
• Bill Cosby’s lawyer bore down on Andrea Constand during her second day of testimony, challenging her account that Mr. Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her at his home outside Philadelphia in 2004.• Bill Cosby’s lawyer bore down on Andrea Constand during her second day of testimony, challenging her account that Mr. Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her at his home outside Philadelphia in 2004.
• Prosecutors still plan to introduce expert witnesses and deposition testimony by Mr. Cosby in which he spoke of obtaining quaaludes to give to women.• Prosecutors still plan to introduce expert witnesses and deposition testimony by Mr. Cosby in which he spoke of obtaining quaaludes to give to women.
• It isn’t clear how much more cross-examination Ms. Constand will face. Her mother is also expected to testify later in the trial.• It isn’t clear how much more cross-examination Ms. Constand will face. Her mother is also expected to testify later in the trial.
• The judge gave a warning to journalists to not transmit information from the courtroom or take photographs of the jurors.• The judge gave a warning to journalists to not transmit information from the courtroom or take photographs of the jurors.
In many respects Mr. Cosby’s lawyer, Angela C. Agrusa, revisited inconsistencies the defense had pointed out the day before, looking for an opportunity to shake Ms. Constand.In many respects Mr. Cosby’s lawyer, Angela C. Agrusa, revisited inconsistencies the defense had pointed out the day before, looking for an opportunity to shake Ms. Constand.
Why, she asked, had Ms. Constand first complained to the police about an attack that Ms. Constand said had happened in March 2004, only to later say it had been January?Why, she asked, had Ms. Constand first complained to the police about an attack that Ms. Constand said had happened in March 2004, only to later say it had been January?
Why, she asked, had she not told the Canadian police, to whom she first reported the incident, that she had had earlier meetings alone with Mr. Cosby, or recounted all of her prior contacts with Mr. Cosby to the police in Pennsylvania?Why, she asked, had she not told the Canadian police, to whom she first reported the incident, that she had had earlier meetings alone with Mr. Cosby, or recounted all of her prior contacts with Mr. Cosby to the police in Pennsylvania?
“You changed your story,” Ms. Agrusa said.“You changed your story,” Ms. Agrusa said.
Ms. Constand appeared calm and confident in her responses, often attributing any errors to simple mistakes. She suggested that the police report did not contain any mention of her earlier meetings alone with Mr. Cosby because “I was never asked.”Ms. Constand appeared calm and confident in her responses, often attributing any errors to simple mistakes. She suggested that the police report did not contain any mention of her earlier meetings alone with Mr. Cosby because “I was never asked.”
The defense has attempted to portray Ms. Constand, a Temple University staff member at the time, as a willing participant in a relationship with Mr. Cosby even though she knew Mr. Cosby harbored romantic interests and kept seeing him. Ms. Agrusa spoke of how, she said, Ms. Constand had called a friend at home after her first meeting alone with Mr. Cosby and reported that he had made a pass at her. The defense has attempted to portray Ms. Constand, a Temple University staff member at the time, as a willing participant in a relationship with Mr. Cosby even though she knew he harbored romantic interests and kept seeing him. Ms. Agrusa spoke of how, she said, Ms. Constand had called a friend at home after her first meeting alone with Mr. Cosby and reported that he had made a pass at her.
Ms. Agrusa also asked about the visit Ms. Constand made to see Mr. Cosby at Foxwoods casino in Connecticut in November 2003, when she spent time alone with him in his hotel room. Ms. Agrusa also asked about the visit Ms. Constand made to see Mr. Cosby at Foxwoods casino in Connecticut in November 2003, when she spent time alone with him in his hotel room, sitting on his bed. She accepted a $225 hair dryer from him as a gift, Ms. Agrusa recounted, suggesting that the conduct that prosecutors have portrayed as the grooming behavior of a predator was actually clear evidence of romantic intent.
Ms. Constand said it was not clear that Mr. Cosby’s interest at the first meeting had been romantic, and she testified Tuesday that, even when she thought he had intentions of that sort, she never felt the need to distance herself from Mr. Cosby because he was an older man, a trustee of the school where she worked, and not someone she viewed as a threat. “Mr. Cosby had already made clear that he had affection for you,” Ms. Agrusa said at one point.
Ms. Constand replied, “He had never disclosed to me that he had affection for me.”
Ms. Constand had testified Tuesday that, even when she came to understand that Mr. Cosby had intentions of that sort, she never felt the need to distance herself from him because he was an older man, a trustee of the school where she worked, and not someone she viewed as a threat.
But Ms. Agrusa pressed forward with a line of questioning that tried to suggest some level of plotting by Ms. Constand, who later filed a civil suit against Mr. Cosby and won a financial settlement. Producing Ms. Constand’s phone records, Ms. Agrusa asked, Why had Ms. Constand called Temple University to get her cellphone records from a year earlier? Why had Ms. Constand’s mother, she asked, bought a recorder to record phone calls with Mr. Cosby?But Ms. Agrusa pressed forward with a line of questioning that tried to suggest some level of plotting by Ms. Constand, who later filed a civil suit against Mr. Cosby and won a financial settlement. Producing Ms. Constand’s phone records, Ms. Agrusa asked, Why had Ms. Constand called Temple University to get her cellphone records from a year earlier? Why had Ms. Constand’s mother, she asked, bought a recorder to record phone calls with Mr. Cosby?
Ms. Constand’s mother, Gianna, is expected to testify later in the trial. A relative of the family who is a police official had testified Tuesday that he had recommended that the family tape record conversations with Mr. Cosby so as to protect herself.Ms. Constand’s mother, Gianna, is expected to testify later in the trial. A relative of the family who is a police official had testified Tuesday that he had recommended that the family tape record conversations with Mr. Cosby so as to protect herself.
She began her testimony on Tuesday, the second day of the trial at the Montgomery County Courthouse. Ms. Constand testified that, after she rebuffed his sexual advances, Mr. Cosby, whom she had admired and looked to for guidance drugged and sexually assaulted her. Mr. Cosby, who says the sexual encounter on the night in question was consensual, has said he gave Ms. Constand nothing stronger than a few tabs of Benadryl, not to incapacitate her, but to calm her down because she was complaining of stress. The defense argued that she was not upset at the time and, in an effort to bolster that argument, went through Ms. Constand’s phone records from Temple University, showing that she placed repeated calls to him in January and February 2004 — around the time she said the alleged incident had occurred, often calling several times a day.
Ms. Agrusa on Wednesday continued her questioning into the lunch break and there was no sense of just how much more time the defense would spend aggressively delving into any inconsistencies in her accounts. In one instance, Ms. Agrusa said, the records showed that Ms. Constand called him six times over several days, until Mr. Cosby appeared to call her back. “You were calling Mr. Cosby with a lot of frequency,” Ms. Agrusa said.
“I may have been returning phone calls,” Ms Constand said.
“He called from all over the place,” she added, suggesting that the records did not show Mr. Cosby’s calls from other numbers.
Similarly, Ms. Agrusa focused on Ms. Constand’s statement that she planned on taking Mr. Cosby a gift of bath salts when they met on March 16, 2004. “You were going to meet the man who assaulted you and you were bringing him bath salts?” Ms. Agrusa asked incredulously.
“Yes,” Ms. Constand answered. She then clarified to say that the salts were not her gift, but that of a friend.
She began her testimony on Tuesday, the second day of the trial at the Montgomery County Courthouse. Ms. Constand testified that, after she rebuffed his sexual advances, Mr. Cosby, whom she had admired and looked to for guidance, drugged and sexually assaulted her.
Ms. Agrusa on Wednesday continued her questioning into the lunch break and there was no sense of just how much more time the defense would spend aggressively delving into her accounts.
The judge, Steven T. O’Neill, warned journalists about trying to transmit from the courtroom and told them not to take photographs of the jurors, who are anonymous.The judge, Steven T. O’Neill, warned journalists about trying to transmit from the courtroom and told them not to take photographs of the jurors, who are anonymous.
Court officials said one unidentified member of the news media had already been removed for violating the court’s decorum order, although they did not specify what the infraction was.Court officials said one unidentified member of the news media had already been removed for violating the court’s decorum order, although they did not specify what the infraction was.
The judge complained from the bench that someone had tried to contact a witness.The judge complained from the bench that someone had tried to contact a witness.
Few expected that two days into the trial, both Ms. Constand and Kelly Johnson, another woman who says Mr. Cosby assaulted her, would have already testified.Few expected that two days into the trial, both Ms. Constand and Kelly Johnson, another woman who says Mr. Cosby assaulted her, would have already testified.
Now, Kevin R. Steele, the Montgomery County district attorney, will be weighing when to introduce Mr. Cosby’s deposition testimony from a 2005 civil suit, in which he admitted obtaining quaaludes to use in his pursuit of sex.Now, Kevin R. Steele, the Montgomery County district attorney, will be weighing when to introduce Mr. Cosby’s deposition testimony from a 2005 civil suit, in which he admitted obtaining quaaludes to use in his pursuit of sex.
Other witnesses the prosecution is to call include Ms. Constand’s mother; a drugs expert who will likely explain the effects of quaaludes and other drugs on behavior; and an expert on the behavior of sexual assault victims who will probably be used to counter such defense questions as why Ms. Constand took nearly a year to come forward.Other witnesses the prosecution is to call include Ms. Constand’s mother; a drugs expert who will likely explain the effects of quaaludes and other drugs on behavior; and an expert on the behavior of sexual assault victims who will probably be used to counter such defense questions as why Ms. Constand took nearly a year to come forward.
The courthouse was crowded again on Wednesday, with members of the public and journalists, but with proceedings moving briskly along, it’s hard to tell if the trial will last a full two weeks.The courthouse was crowded again on Wednesday, with members of the public and journalists, but with proceedings moving briskly along, it’s hard to tell if the trial will last a full two weeks.