While everyone was caught up in Comey fever, the Bill Cosby criminal trial hit continued to unpack testimony and evidence from a 2006 civil suit over the alleged 2004 sexual assault of Andrea Constand. A deposition from that civil suit reveals that Cosby saw his encounter with Constand as consensual and was more concerned about coming across as “a dirty old man” interested in a younger woman than as a predator and rapist.
Montgomery County police officer James Reape read the deposition, in which Cosby described apologizing to Constand’s mother on the phone in 2006. He wasn’t exactly contrite, however, explaining that “my apology was, my God, I’m in trouble with these people because this is an old man and their young daughter.”
Cosby also explained in the deposition that he was instantly attracted to Constand when he met her, inspiring him to invite her to his house and get a sense of whether she reciprocated. He explained that physical contact between them on the night of the assault gave him the indication he had her consent.
“The action is my hand on her mid-rift, which is skin,” Cosby said on the stand during the 2005 civil suit. “I got her skin and it’s just above where you can go down the pants. I go into the area that is somewhere that is between permission and rejection … she did not stop me.”
It was only later that Cosby gave Constand pills that he claims were Benadryl and engaged in sexual activities that he characterized as “petting” but which the defendant described as assault. Constand testified this week that the pills Cosby gave her prevented her from articulating that she didn’t consent or physically removing herself from the situation.
Cosby said simply of the alleged assault, “I am not stopped….she did not stop me.”
(Via Daily Beast)