Page 4 - ARUBA TODAY

A4 U.S. NEWS
Tuesday 6 June 2017
Bill Cosby goes on trial, his legacy and freedom at stake

Continued from front that Johnson was seeking
a payout from the TV star.
“She couldn’t say no,” McMonagle said Johnson
Feden said. “She can’t mixed up the years and
move, she can’t talk. Com- other details of her en-
pletely paralyzed. Frozen. counters with Cosby, and
Lifeless.” he grilled her about why
Cosby attorney Brian Mc- she never said anything
Monagle countered by at- when she left William Mor-
tacking what he said were ris. She came forward in
inconsistencies in Con- 2015 at a news conference
stand’s story, disputed that with celebrity lawyer Gloria
Constand was incapaci- Allred.”I felt embarrassed
tated and made the case because I had a secret
that she and Cosby had a about the biggest celeb-
romantic relationship. rity in the world at the time
He said Constand initially and it was just me, just my
told police that she and word against his, and I was
Cosby did not speak af- very afraid,” Johnson said.
ter their 2004 encounter, Cosby grinned and
when, in fact, phone re- tapped his wooden cane
cords show the two talked as his lawyer questioned
72 times, with 53 of those Johnson.
calls initiated by Constand. The comedian arrived
Constand, 44, of the To- at the courthouse in the
ronto area, is expected to Bill Cosby arrives for his sexual assault trial with Keshia Knight Pulliam, right, at the Montgomery morning holding his spokes-
take the stand this week County Courthouse in Norristown, Pa., Monday, June 5, 2017. man’s arm for support as
and tell her story in public (David Maialetti/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP) he walked past dozens of
for the first time. cameras.
The trial’s first witness was Prosecutors are trying to Judge Steven O’Neill, in a on her hand and forced Cosby’s wife, Camille, was
Kelly Johnson of Atlanta, show Cosby’s treatment of victory for Cosby, said the her to touch his genitals. not in court. But actress
who worked for one of Constand fit a pattern of jury could hear only from “My dress was pulled up Keshia Knight Pulliam, who
Cosby’s agents at the Wil- predatory behavior. Constand and Johnson. from the bottom, and it played his daughter Rudy
liam Morris Agency. She They had wanted to call Johnson testified that was pulled down from the on “The Cosby Show” in
described an encounter as many as 13 women Cosby pressured her to top, and my breasts were the 1980s and ‘90s, was at
she said took place in 1996 who say Cosby sexually as- take a large white pill that out,” she said, crying. “And his side as he made his way
at the Hotel Bel-Air when saulted them, out of more knocked her out, and when I felt naked.” into the building. She told
she was in her mid-30s. than 60 accusers in all. But she woke up he put lotion Cosby’s lawyer argued reporters she was there to
support her TV dad.
“I want to be the person
that I would like to have if
the tables were turned,”
she said. “Right now it’s the
jury’s job and the jury’s de-
cision to determine guilt or
innocence. It’s not mine or
anyone else’s.”
Cosby built a wholesome
reputation as a father and
family man, on screen and
off, during his extraordi-
nary 50-year career in en-
tertainment. He created
TV characters, most nota-
bly Dr. Cliff Huxtable, with
crossover appeal among
blacks and whites alike.
His TV shows, movies and
comedy tours earned him
an estimated $400 million.
Then a deposition unsealed
in 2015 in a lawsuit brought
by Constand revealed that
Cosby had a long history
of extramarital liaisons with
young women and that he
obtained quaaludes in the
1970s to give to women be-
fore sex. Dozens of women
soon came forward to say
he had drugged and as-
saulted them.q