Bill Cosby Sexual Assault Case Goes to Jury After Star Declines to Testify

Comedian could face 10 years in prison if convicted

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Bill Cosby’s fate is now in the hands of the jury.

On Monday, his defense team called a single witness before attorneys on both sides delivered closing arguments in the case, in which the comedian faces three counts of aggravated sexual assault for a 2004 encounter with former Temple University employee Andrea Constand.

Cosby himself did not testify on his behalf. Instead, his defense consisted of a roughly six-minute appearance by 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.

The 12 jurors, who were selected in Pittsburgh even though the trial took place outside Philadelphia in Norristown, Penn., will determine the fate of the 79-year-old star. He could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

In his closing argument, Cosby attorney Brian McMonagle proclaimed the star’s innocence and tried to poke holes in Constand’s testimony and timeline, calling her a “stone-cold liar” for discrepancies in her various accounts of events over the years.

“It’s funny, she had selective amnesia for everything I asked her,” he said, urging the jury to employ “common sense” in reaching its verdict.

“When you left Pittsburgh, you didn’t leave your common sense,” McMonagle said, asserting that the relationship between Cosby and Constand was romantic and consensual.

“What are we doing here?” he said repeatedly. “Can we stop this?”

The prosecutor, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele, drew from Cosby’s own words in a 2005 deposition in a civil case filed by Constand as well as the testimony of Kelly Johnson, who alleged that Cosby had drugged and molested her in a similar way back in 1990.

“This is two people, totally separate, never met each other, but look at all the similarities in terms of what happened, the sexual assault they both experienced and how in Kelly’s case, she found her dress down and her shirt above her waist, Andrea with her clothes disheveled,” Steele said.

He noted Cosby’s familiarity with the effects of Quaaludes — which he had previously said he had administered to women he wanted to have sex with, according to his 2005 civil deposition — as well as Benadryl, which he claimed he gave to Constand.

Steele reminded the jury that Constand reported that she had double vision and “rubbery” legs after taking the pills Cosby gave her — and woke with her clothing half off. “If you have sexual relations with someone when they’re asleep, unconscious, that’s a crime,” Steele said.

Cosby, who was joined in the courthouse today by his wife, Camille, sat facing forward during the prosecutor’s roughly two-hour closing argument.

Earlier on Monday, Montgomery County Judge Steven O’Neill asked Cosby if he had had a chance to talk to his lawyers and if he made the decision on whether to testify or to call character witnesses.

“Correct,” the star responded.

Though dozens of women have accused him of drugging and sexually assaulting them, only Costand’s accusations have led to criminal charges since the statue of limitations has expired on all of the others. Cosby has denied any wrongdoing, saying he was targeted because of his fame and success and that his sexual encounter with Costand was consensual.

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