Bill Cosby Jury Reviews Comic’s Testimony on Day 2 of Deliberations

Star could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted on aggravated sexual assault charges

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The jury in Bill Cosby’s criminal trial in Norristown, Pennsylvania, resumed its deliberations on Tuesday and paused several times to request testimony and clarification from the court.

Early Tuesday, the panel asked of seven men and five women asked to hear portions of the star’s testimony from a 2005 civil deposition about his sexual encounter with former Temple University employee Andrea Constand.

The jury had deliberated for four hours on Monday evening to determine the fate of the 79-year-old star, charged with three felony counts of aggravated sexual assault. He could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

On Tuesday, the jury asked to see the portion of Cosby’s 2005 sworn testimony where he refers to the pills he gave Constand as his “friends.” (The panel had asked to hear a shorter portion of the same testimony on Monday night.)

Montgomery County Judge Steven T. O’Neill also read portions of the deposition in which Cosby said he claimed he had a prior sexual encounter with Constand. “I go to the area that is between permission and rejection,” Cosby said.

Constand testified last week that Cosby drugged and molested her in January 2004 in an encounter that was not consensual. 

Later on Tuesday morning, the jury asked for a definition of “without her consent” — a reference to one of the three felony counts. “I am not permitted to define any further terms,” O’Neill told them. “It is for the jury to determine under that charge what they mean.”

And at around 3:45 p.m.ET, they also asked to hear a transcript of testimony from David Mason of Canada’s Durham Regional Police, who had conducted the first police interview with Constand in January 2005. His testimony described the night she said Cosby gave her three pills and touched her genitals. The officer also testified that Constand had said she was never alone with Cosby prior to the incident.

In his closing arguments, Cosby attorney Brian McMonagle told the jury that the comic and Constand were involved in a consensual romantic relationship. Prosecutors argued using Cosby’s own words, citing his 2005 deposition, where he admitted to giving Constand pills that she said gave her double vision and “rubbery” legs. 

The trial wrapped late Monday after the defense team’s six-minute case and both sides’ closing arguments.

Cosby’s lawyers called a single witness, Cheltenham Township Police Department Sergeant Richard Schaffer, who led the 2005 investigation into allegations Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted Constand at the comic’s suburban Philadelphia home in 2004. Cosby did not testify on his own behalf.

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