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The chief accuser in Bill Cosby’s sexual assault trial has taken the stand, telling jurors the star gave her three pills that made her feel “frozen”.
Andrea Constand, a 44-year-old woman who met Cosby while working in the women’s basketball program at Temple University (his alma mater), recounted the night in January 2004 when she says the comedian violated her following a dinner at his home in suburban Philadelphia.
“In my head, I was trying to get my hands to move or my legs to move, but I was frozen,” Constand told the courtroom.
“I wasn’t able to fight in any way. I wanted it to stop.”
Constand said she asked him if the pills were “herbal”.
Andrea Constand took the stand in Bill Cosby’s sexual assault trial, telling jurors the star gave her three pills that made her feel “frozen”.
“He said, ‘put them down [your throat]. They’re your friends; they’ll take the edge off,’” she testified.
She told the jury that after taking the pills, she began to suffer blurred vision, was slurring her words and found her legs could barely support her weight. She says Cosby led her to the couch, after which she lost consciousness and claims she woke up to Cosby sexually assaulting her.
Afterwards, Constand said “I felt really humiliated and I felt really confused.”
During their cross-examination of Constand, Cosby’s legal team suggested there had been some romantic contact between the two prior to the night the incident allegedly took place.
Keshia Knight Pulliam (who starred as Rudy Huxtable on The Cosby Show) supported Bill Cosby at the beginning of his criminal trial.
They also pointed to what they said were inconsistencies between Constand’s accounts of how long she had known him, and if she had been alone with him before. Constand was also pressed on why she stayed in contact with the actor afterwards.
Since the assault allegations first came to light against Cosby almost three years ago, some 60 women have accused him of sexual violation.
However, due to the statute of limitations for prosecution running out in almost every case, Constand’s is the only one which Cosby has been charged for.
Cosby, 79, faces three counts of aggravated indecent assault against Constand and could be sentenced to a decade behind bars if found guilty.
