NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) — The Latest on Bill Cosby’s sexual assault retrial (all times local):
4:05 p.m.
Bill Cosby’s lawyers have lost another bid to cut his sex assault retrial short.
Judge Steven O’Neill rejected a defense motion that he acquit Cosby and send jurors home. The defense asked the judge to clear the 80-year-old comedian after prosecutors rested their case Thursday afternoon.
Cosby’s lawyers say prosecutors haven’t proved charges he drugged and molested a woman at his suburban Philadelphia mansion more than a dozen years ago. Cosby has said his sexual encounter with the woman was consensual.
The defense also says there’s no evidence to prove the alleged assault happened within the 12-year statute of limitations.
Prosecutors say the accuser and Cosby have both said the encounter was in 2004. Prosecutors point out Cosby was arrested in 2015, just before the deadline to charge him.
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12:10 p.m.
A prosecution drug expert is telling jurors that Bill Cosby’s chief accuser could have been made woozy by either the cold and allergy medicine Benadryl or by quaaludes.
Dr. Timothy Rohrig, a forensic toxicologist, testified at Cosby’s sexual assault retrial on Thursday.
Andrea Constand says Cosby gave her three unidentified blue pills that knocked her out and then sexually assaulted her at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004. Cosby says he gave her Benadryl to help her relax and that she consented to a sexual encounter.
He has previously acknowledged giving quaaludes, a now-banned sedative, to women before sex back in the 1970s.
Rohrig says Benadryl’s main ingredient can cause sedation, muscle weakness and clumsiness. He says quaaludes also have a tendency to make people sleepy.
The Associated Press doesn’t typically identify people who say they’re victims of sexual assault unless they grant permission, which Constand has done.
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9:45 a.m.
The judge in Bill Cosby’s sexual assault retrial is rejecting the defense’s fifth bid for a mistrial.
Cosby’s lawyers argued on Thursday that prosecutors were out of line for implying they were wrong to help star defense witness Marguerite Jackson write a statement outlining how she says Cosby’s chief accuser mused about framing a celebrity.
Prosecutor Stewart Ryan irked Cosby’s lawyers during Jackson’s cross-examination by repeatedly saying they “created” her affidavit.
The judge says there is “simply no grounds for a mistrial” and that Cosby’s lawyers are raising the issue too late.
Judge Steven O’Neill is also slamming the comedian’s lawyers for dragging out the trial by having just one witness ready to testify Thursday.
Cosby is charged with drugging and molesting a woman in 2004. He says it was consensual.
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8:35 a.m.
Bill Cosby has arrived for the ninth day of his sexual assault retrial.
The 80-year-old comedian arrived at a suburban Philadelphia courthouse Thursday morning where the jury is expected to hear from a pair of drug experts.
The prosecution’s expert, Dr. Timothy Rohrig, testified at Cosby’s last trial that wooziness and other effects chief accuser Andrea Constand described could have been caused by quaaludes or over-the-counter Benadryl.
The Associated Press doesn’t typically identify people who say they’re victims of sexual assault unless they grant permission, which Constand has done.
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12:40 a.m.
Bill Cosby’s lawyers have turned to their star witness in the comedian’s sexual assault retrial.
Temple University academic adviser Marguerite Jackson testified on Wednesday that chief accuser Andrea Constand spoke about fabricating sexual assault allegations against a high-profile person so she could “get that money” from a lawsuit.
Jackson took the witness stand the same day jurors heard Cosby’s explosive deposition testimony about giving quaaludes to women before sex.
The jury is expected to hear from a pair of drug experts on Thursday.
The prosecution’s expert, Dr. Timothy Rohrig, testified at Cosby’s last trial that wooziness and other effects Constand described could have been caused by quaaludes or over-the-counter Benadryl.
The Associated Press doesn’t typically identify people who say they’re victims of sexual assault unless they grant permission, which Constand has done.
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