NORRISTOWN, Pa. — Lawyers for Bill Cosby took a shot at one of his accusers today, saying she couldn’t have been drugged with Quaaludes in 2004.
Cosby is in court in Montgomery County today for pre-trial hearings related to the only criminal charges that have been filed against him. The case is related to a 2004 incident involving Andrea Constand, who says Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her in his home.
“There is no possible way Ms. Constand took Quaaludes,” Cosby’s defense attorney Angela Agrusa said. “They have been outlawed for decades.”
Constand told authorities in 2005 that she was at Cosby’s Cheltenham, Pa. home when she complained of a headache. He gave her small pills he said were herbal, but she told police they rendered her unable to defend herself against his advances.
Also at issue is whether or not a 2005 deposition will be allowed into evidence. In that deposition — part of a civil suit filed by Constand — Cosby admitted to giving women Quaaludes and then having sex with them. In Constand’s case, Cosby has told authorities he gave her Benadryl and then the two engaged in consensual sexual activity.
Last year, prosecutors in Montgomery County filed aggravated indecent assault charges against Cosby in connection with the Constand case. His criminal trial has been set for June. This week in court, his attorneys are arguing that the charges against him should be dismissed because he’s been unfairly prejudiced against by prosecutors who waited a decade to file charges.
In that time, they say, Cosby has gone blind and is unable to see the women accusing him of sexual assault. Prosecutors are attempting to bring in 13 women to testify that Cosby sexually assaulted them, but Judge Steven T. O’Neill hasn’t yet ruled on whether or not he’ll allow their testimony during trial.
Cosby attorneys are contending that he’s been tried in the court of public opinion without being able to defend himself.
“Everything from being vilified in court to being charged as guilty in the media,” Agrusa argued, “he has not had the opportunity to defend himself.”
Proceedings are on a lunch break and will continue at 1:30 this afternoon.
