Highlights from the testimony on Tuesday of Bill Cosby’s chief accuser, Andrea Constand, at his suburban Philadelphia sexual-assault trial. Constand, a former Temple University basketball administrator, says Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her in 2004, but Cosby says their encounter was consensual.
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ON HOW COSBY’S PILLS AFFECTED HER:
“I began to slur my words, and I also told Mr. Cosby that I had trouble seeing him, that I could see two of him, and my mouth was very cottony … I said, ’I see two of you,’ and I’m slurring my words. Mr. Cosby stood up, and I stood up because he said, ’You probably need to relax,’ and when I stood up my legs were not strong, and I began to panic a little bit. Mr. Cosby grabbed, helped me by my arm and assisted me to a couch.”
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ON WHAT SHE SAYS COSBY DID:
“I was laying on my left side, and he placed some kind of pillow under my neck, and I don’t really remember passing out. I have no recollection until some point later, I was jolted awake, and I felt Mr. Cosby’s hand groping my breasts under my shirt, and I also felt his hand inside my vagina moving in and out, and I felt him take my hand and place it on his penis and move it back and forth.”
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ON NOT BEING ABLE TO FIGHT COSBY OFF:
“In my head I was trying to get my hands to move or my legs to move, but I was frozen, and those messages didn’t get there and I was very limited. I wasn’t able to fight in any way . I wanted it to stop.”
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ON WHY SHE WAITED A YEAR, CONTACTED LAWYERS BEFORE GOING TO POLICE:
“I felt that if I had gone to police, Mr. Cosby would retaliate and try to hurt me, that he would try to hurt me and my family in some way.”
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ON A PREVIOUS COSBY ADVANCE:
“At some point he sat very close to me and commented on my pants. And he also touched the side of my waist and then took his hand and attempted to unbutton my button, and I felt his hand at the top of my zipper, and when I felt that I leaned forward and he took his hand away.”
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ON OBJECTING TO COSBY’S PRIOR BEHAVIOR:
“I said, ’I’m not here for that. I don’t want that.’”
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ON WHY SHE TALKED TO HIM AFTER THAT:
“I trusted him. I wasn’t scared of someone making an advance at me or a pass at me. I trusted him and and wasn’t scared of him in any way.”
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ON HER UNDERSTANDING OF HER RELATIONSHIP WITH COSBY:
“He was a Temple friend. Somebody I trusted. A mentor. And somewhat of an older figure to me.”
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ON WHY SHE THOUGHT COSBY BEFRIENDED HER:
“I think because I was new, I was a Canadian person in a new city, with a new job. I think it was just him maybe extending the invitation to meet new people in the community, I suppose. But I really don’t know.”
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For more on Cosby, including trial updates, historical photos, videos and an audio series exploring the case, visit: https://www.apnews.com/tag/CosbyonTrial
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