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Bill Cosby Trial Day 6: Camille Cosby Arrives Bill Cosby Trial Day 6: The Defense Rests after One Witness
(about 3 hours later)
• The prosecution rested its case on Friday. Now the defense must decide whom to call as witnesses to defend Bill Cosby — or perhaps decide not to call anyone at all. • The defense rested its case Monday after calling one witness, a police detective, who testified for six minutes. Closing arguments in the sexual assault trial started immediately, with the defense going first.
• There was some speculation Mr. Cosby himself might testify. His wife, Camille, who had not been in court last week, walked in with him on Monday. • There had been some speculation that Mr. Cosby might testify, but he did not. His wife, Camille, who had not been in court last week, walked in with him on Monday.
• Judge Steven T. O’Neill said that the case would likely go to the jurors early in the week. • Judge Steven T. O’Neill, who said the case would likely go to the jurors early in the week, was right in his prediction.
Prosecutors asked Andrea Constand to tell her story, while defense lawyers attacked Ms. Constand’s credibility. Her testimony was emotional and she stayed composed, even as Mr. Cosby’s defense team produced phone records showing she called Mr. Cosby at least 53 times after the night she said she was assaulted at his home. She said that she had to speak to him for Temple University business. His lawyers rested their case after calling just one witness, a local detective who in 2005 had interviewed both Mr. Cosby and Andrea Constand, the Temple University staff member who has accused Mr. Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting her at his home outside Philadelphia in 2004.
Mr. Cosby’s spokesman opened the possibility on Friday that Mr. Cosby himself might testify. If the entertainer takes the risk of putting himself before the prosecutors on cross-examination, that might be a clear sign his team thinks the trial isn’t going his way. The detective, Sgt. Richard Schaffer, had testified last week as a prosecution witness. On Friday, Brian J. McMonagle, a lawyer for Mr. Cosby, brought him back to the stand for roughly six minutes, specifically to have him talk about a document he had created in 2005. The document, which the detective labeled “Questions for Andrea,” included some matters about her account that the had detective sought clarification on, including the question as to why she had gone to meet Mr. Cosby at a casino in Connecticut.
Another question for the defense is whether they call Bruce L. Castor Jr., the former district attorney who carried out the initial investigation in 2005. His name has been referenced several times in court by the defense team. But do they really want him to testify? Even though he concluded there was “insufficient credible and admissible evidence” to bring charges, he has also said that he believed Ms. Constand’s account and thought Mr. Cosby was guilty of some improper behavior. The defense has argued that that meeting and other evidence suggests that Ms. Constand had a romantic relationship with Mr. Cosby and that their sexual encounter in 2004 was consensual. Ms. Constand and her mother were in the courtroom Monday.
The detective testified for only a few minutes and then the defense rested.
Defense lawyers had asked to bring forward a second witness, Marguerite Jackson, an adviser at Temple, for reasons that were not clear. But Judge Steven T. O’Neill, who is presiding, denied the request to introduce her.
The judge interacted a bit with Mr. Cosby as Monday’s court session began, speaking directly to him across the court and presenting several questions to Mr. Cosby to confirm that he agreed with his lawyers’ decision to bring one witness and with the decision that he wasn’t going to testify. As his wife, Camille, watched from the front row, Mr. Cosby replied simply, “Yes” or “Correct.”
Prosecutors asked Ms. Constand to tell her story, while defense lawyers attacked Ms. Constand’s credibility. Her testimony was emotional and she stayed composed, even as Mr. Cosby’s defense team produced phone records showing she called Mr. Cosby at least 53 times after the night she said she was assaulted at his home. She said that she had to speak to him for Temple University business.
Another question for the defense had been whether to call Bruce L. Castor Jr., the former district attorney who carried out the initial investigation in 2005. His name has been referenced several times in court by the defense team. But even though he had concluded there was “insufficient credible and admissible evidence” to bring charges, he had also said that he believed Ms. Constand’s account and thought Mr. Cosby was guilty of some improper behavior.
“My gut told me that,” he told The New York Times in 2014.“My gut told me that,” he told The New York Times in 2014.
District Attorney Kevin R. Steele and Brian J. McMonagle, Mr. Cosby’s lead attorney, could begin their closing arguments on Monday. Perhaps the defense worries that this sentiment would come out on cross-examination.
Judge O’Neill told jurors they could expect to receive the case and begin their deliberations early in the week, perhaps even as early as Monday. District Attorney Kevin R. Steele was expected to lead the prosecution in its closing arguments on Monday.
The jurors may be relieved. They were drawn from the Pittsburgh area, 300 miles west of Norristown, Pa., because of concerns over pretrial publicity. They are being sequestered for the duration of the trial. Judge O’Neill will charge the jury, which means provide them with guidance and instruction on their deliberations, after the defense makes it closing arguments, most likely Monday afternoon.
The jurors may be relieved by the speed of the proceedings. They were drawn from the Pittsburgh area, 300 miles west of Norristown, Pa., because of concerns over pretrial publicity. They are being sequestered for the duration of the trial.
“You have been amazing in how you have taken that hardship, being away from your family, away from your normal routine,” Judge O’Neill said on Friday as he wished them a restful weekend.“You have been amazing in how you have taken that hardship, being away from your family, away from your normal routine,” Judge O’Neill said on Friday as he wished them a restful weekend.
But he warned them not to talk about the case with anyone and to keep an open mind, as they now come into the spotlight.But he warned them not to talk about the case with anyone and to keep an open mind, as they now come into the spotlight.