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Cosby, best known as the star of the 1980s TV
hit "The Cosby Show," is being retried in a Pennsylvania court
on charges of giving three blue pills to Andrea Constand and
raping her at his home near Philadelphia in 2004. The jury in
the first trial last year failed to reach a verdict.
Cosby, 80, says the sexual contact with Constand was consensual.
He could face 10 years in prison if convicted.
The prosecution and defense plan to call expert toxicologists
after the prosecution introduced a 2005 deposition in Constand’s
civil trial about Cosby’s knowledge and use of Quaaludes to
seduce women.
Cosby paid Constand $3.38 million to settle a civil lawsuit she
filed after Pennsylvania prosecutors in 2005 initially declined
to charge Cosby for the alleged assault. Other women have filed
civil lawsuits against him for defamation and assault.
Constand is one of about 50 women who have accused him of
assault dating back decades. Hers is the only case recent enough
to be the subject of criminal prosecution.
Cosby has denied the accounts of the other women.
On Wednesday, Cosby's star defense witness testified that
Constand once told her how easy it would be to fabricate an
accusation of sexual assault against a celebrity to make money.
Marguerite Jackson, an academic adviser at Temple University,
Cosby's alma mater, said Constand made the remark while they
were on a road trip by Temple's women's basketball team in Rhode
Island. Constand was director of operations for the team.
Constand on Monday denied ever knowing Jackson, rooming with her
or ever speaking to her.
(Editing by Michael Perry and Jeffrey Benkoe)
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