(6 Jun 2017) Bill Cosby went on trial Monday on charges he drugged and sexually assaulted a woman more than a decade ago, with prosecutors immediately introducing evidence the 79-year-old TV star once known as America's Dad had done it before to someone else.
The prosecution's opening witness was not the person Cosby is charged with abusing, but another woman, who broke down in tears as she testified that the comedian violated her in the mid-1990s at a hotel bungalow in Los Angeles.
Cosby is on trial on charges he assaulted Andrea Constand, a former employee of Temple University's basketball program, at his suburban Philadelphia mansion in 2004.
The trial's first witness was Kelly Johnson of Atlanta, who worked for one of Cosby's agents at the William Morris Agency.
She described an encounter she said took place in 1996 at the Hotel Bel-Air when she was in her mid-30s.
She came forward in 2015 at a news conference with celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred.
"When all is said and done, I think my client came out very well. I mean, she was able to, numerous times, look right at the jury and talk with the jury about what she alleges that she suffered at the hands of Mr. Cosby," Allred said today outside the courthouse.
Johnson testified that Cosby pressured her to take a large white pill that knocked her out, and when she woke up he put lotion on her hand and forced her to touch his genitals.
Cosby's lawyer argued that Johnson was seeking a payout from the TV star.
McMonagle said Johnson mixed up the years and other details of her encounters with Cosby, and he grilled her about why she never said anything when she left William Morris.
The AP does not typically identify people who say they are sexual assault victims unless they grant permission, which Constand and Johnson have done.
Prosecutors are trying to show Cosby's treatment of Constand fit a pattern of predatory behavior.
They had wanted to call as many as 13 women who say Cosby sexually assaulted them, out of more than 60 accusers in all. But Judge Steven O'Neill, in a victory for Cosby, said the jury could hear only from Constand and Johnson.
Johnson testified that Cosby pressured her to take a large white pill that knocked her out, and when she woke up he put lotion on her hand and forced her to touch his genitals.
Cosby's lawyer argued that Johnson was seeking a payout from the TV star.
McMonagle said Johnson mixed up the years and other details of her encounters with Cosby, and he grilled her about why she never said anything when she left William Morris.

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