America’s Dad, having been publicly accused of drugging and sexual assault by dozens of women, is for the first time confronting criminal allegations that he drugged and raped a woman.
Bill Cosby entered a courtroom in Pennsylvania on Monday to, for the time, defend himself against criminal allegations of sexual assault in what many experts say will come down to who jurors find more credible: America's Dad? Or the woman who says he drugged and raped her in 2004?
"These three pills will help you relax, his words," Montgomery County District Deputy Attorney Kristen Feden told jurors on Monday. "This is a case about a man who used his power and his fame and incapacitated a young woman so she could sexually pleasure himself."
That woman, Andrea Constand said she trusted Cosby, who was 37 years her senior and, after developing a paternal friendship with him at his alma mater, and eventually accepted his offer to meet at his home in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania, to discuss her career plans.
Cosby admitted to authorities that the incident took place, but insisted it was consensual, according to a criminal complaint. Cosby also told police he apologized to Constand's mother and that his offer to pay for Constand to attend graduate school was turned down.
"Trust, betrayal, and the inability to consent — that is what this case is about," Feden told jurors.
Trust and betrayal was a theme also harnessed by Cosby's defense attorney, Brian McMonagle, who framed the case as a man being the victim of false allegations.
He told the jury that, as a former prosecutor, he knows sexual assault is a terrible crime, but "the only thing worse than that is the false accusation of sexual assault!"
"False accusation of sexual assault is an assault on human dignity," McMonagle said. "It can destroy his life, it can destroy his dignity."
Then, putting his hand on Cosby's shoulder, he asked the 12-member jury to take a close look at his client.
"I get a chance today to protect a man," McMonagle said. "What do you see? A comedian who made us smile at times when it was time to smile? Some of you may see a man made vulnerable through is infidelities. Some of you might see a man who has suffered undeniable personal tragedy. But I just ask you to see him as a citizen.
"A false accusation can destroy a life."
More than losing what he has left of his legacy, Cosby, who turns 80 in July, faces serious prison time if convicted — 10 years each for the three counts of aggravated indecent sexual assault.
In the deposition for the civil lawsuit he settled with Constand, Cosby admitted to procuring now-banned sedatives known as quaaludes in the 1970s to administer to women he was pursuing for sex. However, his attorneys intervened before he could answer a question about whether he had slipped any women the drugs without their knowledge.
In July 2015, when portions of Cosby's deposition in the civil lawsuit were ordered released for the first time, the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office re-opened a criminal investigation into the 10-year-old case, prompting the charges.
He has also been publicly accused by more the 50 other women in recent years of drugging and sexual assault, and prosecutors are expected to try to show a modus operandi by the comedian by calling a second alleged victim to the stand.
But McMonagle said Cosby only used sedatives with women on a consensual basis decades ago "when it was fashionable," and that if any pattern can be shown, it's that Constand and the other alleged victim, Kelly Johnson, are opportunistic.
Johnson came forward in 2015 to make her allegations public at a press conference.
"See a pattern?" McMonagle said. "Right to the cameras…Does she go to the police after that? No, media tour. Dr. Phil."
Before opening statements, Cosby arrived to a throng of cameras flanked by a former member of his TV family, Keshia Knight Pulliam, who played his daughter, Rudy, on the top-rated "Cosby Show." When asked how he was feeling, he didn't respond.
However, celebrity attorney Gloria Allred, who represents many of the women who have accused Cosby of sexual assault, told the Associated Press outside the court that she is hopeful "there will be justice in this case."
The statute of limitations has run out for the allegations made by her clients. She declined to predict an outcome, but, she added, "this case is not going to be decided on optics, it's going to be decided on the evidence, and finally, it's Mr. Cosby who's going to have to face that evidence and confront the accusers who are against him."
from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/2rX4Fcu
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