Norristown, Pennsylvania - The first witness to
testify in Bill Cosby's sexual assault trial said on Monday that
the comedian had drugged her before sexually abusing her in 1998
- the same method prosecutors say he used in the alleged 2004
attack that he is on trial for.
Cosby, once one of the most beloved entertainers in the
United States, is accused in both instances of inviting a young
woman to visit him for career advice, offering her pills that he
said would help her "relax" and then sexually abusing her once
she was incapacitated by the drug.
The 79-year-old entertainer is charged with sexually
assaulting Andrea Constand, an employee of his alma mater Temple
University, at his home in the Philadelphia suburbs in 2004.
Constand is one of dozens of women who have accused Cosby of
sex assault but hers is the only case recent enough to be
subject to criminal prosecution. The allegations, all of which
Cosby has denied, have essentially ended his long career.
The first witness at his trial, Kelly Johnson, described an
incident that she said took place at Cosby's hotel suite in Los
Angeles in 1996. Her emotional testimony was intended to
persuade jurors that Cosby demonstrated a pattern of behavior
when he allegedly attacked Constand in 2004.
A tearful Johnson, who worked at the time for Cosby's agent,
said she initially hid the pill under her tongue but that Cosby
checked to see if she had swallowed it. She later woke up
disoriented and partially clothed in Cosby's bed with the
comedian behind her, grunting, before he forced her to touch his
genitals, she testified.
"I was trying to say something," she said. "I don’t know if
I was actually speaking."
In a potential preview of what Constand can expect when she
testifies, Cosby's lawyer, Brian McMonagle, fired aggressive
questions laced with sarcasm at Johnson. He claimed she offered
much different details during a 1996 deposition, including that
the assault occurred in 1990, six years earlier than she
testified on Monday.
He also suggested she used drugs in the 1990s, which she
denied, and accused her of having "selective amnesia" after she
could not recall details of her deposition or her medical leave
from her employer following the Cosby incident.
Cosby, once known as "America's dad" for his role as
Heathcliff Huxtable on the 1980s hit TV series "The Cosby Show,"
walked into court on the arm of Keshia Knight Pulliam, who
played his youngest daughter, the pigtailed Rudy Huxtable.
His wife and business manager, Camille Cosby, was not seen
in court on Monday.
Like Johnson, Constand will testify that Cosby told her the
pills he offered would help her "relax" before assaulting her,
Assistant District Attorney Kristen Feden said in her opening
statement on Monday.
In his opening statement, McMonagle said Cosby is the victim
of false accusations. He pointed out that Constand's initial
allegations were investigated in 2005 and found to be
insufficient at that time.
"Today I get a chance, with your help, to right a wrong," he
told jurors.
McMonagle told jurors that Constand's story suffered from
numerous inconsistencies in her accounts to police in 2005.
Constand, who did not report the alleged assault for nearly
a year, said she had not maintained contact with Cosby after the
incident. In fact, McMonagle said, she called him 53 times.