Cosby defense rests after calling one witness

“He says she didn’t say yes”, county District Attorney Kevin Steele argued Monday. “He gave her no choice in the matter”, Steele argued to the jury of seven men and five women. Judge Steven T. O’Neill said his jury charge will take about 45 minutes. While over 60 women have come out and publicly accused Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting them over the decades and are pursuing civil cases, all of those incident occurred in jurisdictions where the statue for criminal proceedings has expired.

The sexual assault trial is taking place in Norristown, Pennsylvania.

For two hours on Monday, Bill Cosby’s attorney – flipping between stage-whispered intimacy and ear-splitting verbal explosions – ran through a long list of possible culprits he said are responsible for landing his client at the center of one of the most high-profile criminal cases in recent American history.

But Steele said it’s no accident that some of Constand’s memories are faulty. “Once you got hold of your phone records and realized you can not have been passed out … the night you told police – you changed your story?” defense attorney Angela Agrusa asked her. Constand replied that she “never got hold of my phone records” before speaking to police.

In cross-examinations, lawyers for Mr Cosby attempted to poke holes in Ms Constand’s story, highlighting inconsistencies in her statements to police over the years. Thirty minutes later, she said, she began slurring her speech and was rendered unable to stand.

Only one other accuser, Kelly Johnson, who formerly worked for Cosby’s agent, was allowed to testify for the prosecution last week; she said Cosby drugged her and assaulted her in a hotel bungalow in Los Angeles in 1996. At one point he stood at the witness box and rested his head in his hand; another time he crouched down and got very close to Cosby’s face as he made a point. Cosby is facing serious jail time if he’s convicted.

“In a fiery closing statement, defense attorney Brian McMonagle urged jurors to acquit Cosby, saying that Constand had changed her story after speaking with attorneys who specialize in sexual assault cases”, CNN reports. “Another thing today”, McMonagle continued. “What’s she going to say tomorrow?” he said.

The defense called a single witness, the detective who led the 2005 investigation into allegations that Cosby drugged and violated Andrea Constand at his suburban Philadelphia home.

His lawyers said in closing arguments Monday that Cosby is being prosecuted now because of a media firestorm after excerpts from his lurid deposition became public.

“Stop this!” he pleaded repeatedly with jurors.

“That’s a lie. It’s not a fib”, McMonagle said of Constand’s prior statements about having no contact with Cosby after the alleged incident.

“Correct!” Cosby said in a booming voice.

“When you dance outside of marriage you gotta pay the band”, he said. “When you dance outside your marriage, you’ve got to pay the band.”You danced”, he added, looking at Cosby, before turning his attention to Camille, seated in the front row”.

While Cosby opted not to testify, prosecutors were expected to remind jurors about the statements he made in his deposition.

Cosby leaned forward in his chair for most of the defense’s closing, occasionally reacting with small nods.

The Cosby Show star is fighting three charges of aggravated indecent assault relating to a 2004 encounter with Andrea Constand, a former employee at his alma mater, Temple University.

“Hopefully, you will have the last two words in this case, and I pray those words are not guilty”, McMonagle said to the jury.