PENNSYLVANIA
The Guardian
Ed Pilkington
Bill Cosby’s main accuser at his retrial for sexual assault took the stand on Friday and said she was seeking justice in a 13-year legal battle with the TV celebrity.
Andrea Constand, 45, appeared in a courtroom in Cosby’s home county in Pennsylvania for the second time in 10 months, the first trial last June having ended in a hung jury. The Canadian massage therapist has been alleging publicly since she first went to police in 2005 that the comic drugged and molested her at his mansion in the Philadelphia suburbs.
Constand was asked by a prosecutor, Kristen Feden, to state why she was present at the trial. Sitting just 15ft from the star of The Cosby Show, she replied: “For justice.”
How Constand’s testimony will play with the seven men and five women of the jury will hold the key to Cosby’s fate. He faces three counts of aggravated indecent assault, all relating to the alleged 2004 encounter with Constand and each bearing a sentence of up to 10 years in prison. If found guilty, the 80-year-old TV star could spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Constand recalled the events of January 2004 when she was invited to Cosby’s home having become his friend when she was managing the women’s basketball team at Temple University, where he was a trustee. The TV star offered her three blue pills, she said, which he called “your friends. They’ll help take the edge off.”
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.