Another accuser testifies at Bill Cosby's sexual assault trial
Bill Cosby/Shutterstock
Corrected: Hoping to establish a pattern of illegal behavior by Bill Cosby, prosecutors in Pennsylvania on Monday called to the stand another woman who claimed the actor and comedian drugged and sexually assaulted her.
The woman, an assistant at the William Morris agency in the 1990s, said the assault occurred in 1996 at a Los Angeles hotel, report the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, The Associated Press, Philly.com and NBC News. She is the only woman allowed to testify about alleged prior acts by Cosby in his trial for allegedly drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand, a former Temple University employee.
The William Morris assistant said she went to the hotel because Cosby had offered to give her career advice. She said Cosby told her to take a white pill to relax and checked to make sure she had swallowed it. She passed out, then awoke on the bed to find her dress was pulled up. Cosby poured lotion in her hand and forced her to perform a sexual act, she said.
The woman said that, after the assault, Cosby called her boss and demanded she be fired. She went home on medical leave and didn’t go back to work, she testified. Instead, she filed a worker’s compensation claim.
On cross examination, Cosby lawyer Brian McMonagle asked the woman whether lawyer Gloria Allred had coached her about what to say. McMonagle also said lawyer’s notes for a deposition for the worker’s comp claim indicated she gave a different story.
Cosby is charged with three counts of aggravated indecent assault. In opening statements, Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Kristen Feden said Cosby used his power and fame to incapacitate young women for his sexual pleasure.
Story corrected on June 7 to remove information about phone calls to Cosby. The information referred to calls made by Cosby accuser Andrea Constand, not by the woman who testified on Monday.
