The Latest: Cosby’s lawyers cite accuser’s inconsistencies

They say the inconsistencies include Constand’s answers on how long she had known Cosby and whether she’d ever been alone with him before the night she says he molested her.

Constand says Cosby gave her pills that left her paralyzed and then groped her.

Cosby lawyer Angela Agrusa questioned why Constand continued to interact with Cosby after the night she says she was assaulted.

Cosby denies the charges against him.

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3:30 p.m.

Bill Cosby’s primary accuser says she viewed the comedian as a mentor and someone she trusted.

Andrea Constand said Tuesday that she met the comedian while working for the women’s basketball team at his alma mater, Temple University. She says they were friends for about 16 months before he sexually assaulted her.

She says they became friends over conversations about the basketball team and later her career.

Constand says she fended off mild advances from Cosby before the night he gave her pills that he said were natural and would “take the edge off.” She says she then felt paralyzed and helpless as Cosby groped her.

The TV star once dubbed America’s Dad could get 10 years in prison if convicted of sexually assaulting Constand. He has previously called the encounter consensual.

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3:20 p.m.

Bill Cosby’s chief accuser has begun testifying at his sexual assault trial, telling jurors that the entertainer drugged and violated her at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004 after earning her trust as a mentor.

Andrea Constand said Tuesday that she felt paralyzed and helpless as Cosby groped her breasts, penetrated her with his hand and placed her hand on his penis.

The 79-year-old comedian stared down at the defence table, resting a hand across his forehead, as Constand described the encounter. The TV star once dubbed America’s Dad could get 10 years in prison if convicted.

She says Cosby assaulted her after giving her three blue pills he claimed were a natural remedy to ease her stress about a looming career change.

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2:10 p.m.

The primary accuser in the sexual assault case against Bill Cosby, Andrea Constand, has entered the courtroom in the second day of his trial.

Cosby is accused of drugging and sexually assaulting Constand at his home outside Philadelphia in 2004.

It wasn’t immediately clear how soon she would take the stand.

The 44-year-old Constand has never spoken publicly about the TV star under the terms of a confidential settlement they negotiated in 2006. Her deposition from that lawsuit remains sealed.

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1 p.m.

Jurors at Bill Cosby’s sexual assault trial are hearing from the Canadian police officer who initiated the original investigation into allegations the entertainer drugged and violated a woman in 2004.

Det. Dave Mason testified Tuesday that accuser Andrea Constand told him she felt woozy soon after Cosby gave her pills and that she was semi-conscious as he touched her breast and genitals.

Constand went to police in her native Ontario about a year after she says Cosby assaulted her at his suburban Philadelphia home.

The case was eventually forwarded to investigators there, but Cosby wasn’t charged until a new prosecutor reopened the case in 2015.

Mason testified that Constand said she’d waited to come forward because she was embarrassed and was daunted by Cosby’s strong standing at his alma mater Temple University, where she worked for the basketball program.

He says she told him and two other investigators that she felt Cosby place “something foreign” in her genitals but wasn’t specific.

Mason, trained as a sexual assault response officer, said he got the impression Constand couldn’t remember some details because of the effects of the pills.

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12:30 p.m.

A lawyer’s notes from a two-decade-old deposition appear to contradict a woman’s testimony about when she says Bill Cosby drugged and violated her at a posh Los Angeles hotel bungalow.

Lawyer Joseph Miller testified at Cosby’s trial on in suburban Philadelphia Tuesday that his notes show Kelly Johnson told him the encounter happened in May 1990. Johnson testified on Monday that the alleged assault happened in 1996.

Miller also said that Johnson told him about another encounter with Cosby at his home in 1996, but that she didn’t mention any drugging or sexual contact that time. Johnson told jurors the visit happened before Cosby allegedly assaulted her.

Johnson is the only other accuser allowed to testify at Cosby’s trial on charges he assaulted another woman at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004.

Prosecutors brought in Miller and Johnson’s mother to help bolster her testimony.

Other details did match up. In her deposition and trial testimony, Johnson said she lost consciousness after Cosby pressured her to take a large white pill and woke up on a bed with her dress pulled down and her breast exposed. Johnson gave the deposition while pursuing a claim that she’d developed debilitating stress from her job as a secretary at the talent agency representing Cosby.

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11:15 a.m.

A worker’s compensation lawyer says he was taken aback by a woman’s 1996 deposition testimony that she’d been drugged and violated by Bill Cosby at a Los Angeles hotel bungalow.

Joseph Miller testified Tuesday at Cosby’s sex assault trial that Kelly Johnson made the disclosure while pursuing a claim that she’d developed debilitating stress from her secretarial job at Cosby’s talent agency.

Johnson is the only other accuser allowed to testify at Cosby’s trial, which stems from allegations he drugged and assaulted a different woman at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004.

Miller was the second witness called to help bolster Johnson’s testimony Monday that she lost consciousness after Cosby pressured her to take a large white pill.

Miller says Johnson told a similar story at her deposition, including tearful details of how she woke up on a bed with her dress pulled down and her breast exposed.

Miller’s timeline of the events differs from Johnson. He said she testified in 1996 about going to Cosby’s home after the alleged assault, but Johnson testified Monday that encounter happened beforehand.

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11 a.m.

The mother of a Bill Cosby accuser is telling jurors about the day her daughter told her Cosby had drugged her at a hotel bungalow.

Pattrice Sewell says her daughter called her distraught in 1996, fearing Cosby was trying to get her fired from her job working for Cosby’s agent.

She says her daughter, Kelly Johnson, later disclosed that she had woken up next to Cosby in bed with her clothes askew.

Johnson testified Monday at Cosby’s sexual assault trial in suburban Philadelphia.

She said she saw a jumble of prescription drug bottles in Cosby’s bathroom. It’s not clear if prosecutors have retrieved Cosby’s prescription drug records from the time.

Cosby is charged with drugging and molesting a different woman in 2004 at his Pennsylvania home.

Prosecutors hope Johnson’s testimony will signal to jurors that Cosby had done it before. The defence has attacked Johnson’s credibility given discrepancies in her accounts of the encounter.

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8:45 a.m.

Bill Cosby the entertainer took over as he made his way into court for the second day of his sexual assault trial.

As the 79-year-old actor walked past cameras and reporters to the suburban Philadelphia courthouse, a woman with a camera shouted to Cosby, asking him to wish her a happy birthday.

Cosby turned toward the voice and said, “Happy Birthday.” After a moment, he asked: “How old?”

Monica Lyons, of Philadelphia, answered, “49.”

Cosby responded with a jig-like move, looking vaudevillian for a moment as he jutted his cane out as if in a stage show.

Lyons was ecstatic about the birthday greeting.

Cosby is on trial on charges he drugged and sexually assaulted a woman more than a decade ago.

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8:35 a.m.

Bill Cosby has arrived at a suburban Philadelphia courthouse for the second day of his sexual assault trial.

The 79-year-old Cosby is on trial on charges he drugged and sexually assaulted a woman more than a decade ago.

Cosby arrived at the Montgomery County courthouse Tuesday with his spokesman, Andrew Wyatt.

A judge is expected to decide Tuesday if the mother of one of his accusers can testify.

Kelly Johnson told jurors Monday that she told her mother after Cosby abused her in 1996 when she worked for his agent.

She said she feared speaking out at the time because Cosby was “the biggest celebrity in the world.”

Cosby’s lawyers questioned her credibility.

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12:20 a.m.

Bill Cosby’s lawyers are proving quick to go on the attack as his sexual assault trial gets underway in suburban Philadelphia.

A judge Tuesday will decide if the mother of one of his accusers can testify.

Kelly Johnson told jurors Monday that she told her mother after Cosby abused her in 1996 when she worked for his agent.

She said she feared speaking out at the time because Cosby was “the biggest celebrity in the world.”

Cosby’s lawyers questioned her credibility.

Prosecutors called Johnson to try to show Cosby had a prior history of drugging and molesting women. Cosby is charged with assaulting a Canadian woman, who also is expected to testify.

The AP does not typically identify people who say they are sexual assault victims unless they grant permission, which Johnson has done.

The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

The Latest: Cosby’s lawyers cite accuser’s inconsistencies

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