Andrea Constand, the key witness in the retrial of Bill Cosby on indecent assault charges, testified Friday morning that she drank wine and took three blue pills at Cosby's urging in January 2004, then lost consciousness and, sometime later, was "jolted awake" to find the entertainer sexually assaulting her.
"Were you able to verbalize and tell him to stop?" state prosecutor Kristen Feden asked Constand.
"No," she replied. "I wanted it to stop. I couldn't say anything. I was trying to get my hands to move, my legs to move and the message just wasn't getting there. I was weak, I was limp and I couldn't fight him off."
"I was really humiliated. I was in shock. And I was really confused," Constand added.
Constand's testimony came on the ninth day of Cosby's retrial on three charges of aggravated indecent assault. He has pleaded not guilty.
Leading up to Constand's recollection of the alleged assault, the former Temple University employee traced her relationship with Cosby, whom she said she met while handling operations of the school's women's basketball team. Cosby was an active Temple alumnus.
Constand offered brief details of seven social encounters she had with Cosby before the alleged assault, including one in which she said he put his hand on her thigh and another when she said he tried to "unbutton my button on my pants."
"I mentioned that I wasn't here for that, and he respectfully stopped and we never talked about it again," Constand said of the latter incident. "He got the picture."
After that encounter -- but before the early 2004 incident -- "I had no question about my ability to fend off a person that was hitting on me or making a sexual advance on me," Constand testified.
Constand began her testimony Friday as prosecutors this week opened their case: by acknowledging that Cosby paid Constand $3.38 million as part of a civil settlement. She said she has no further legal action pending against Cosby, who, in that case, admitted he got prescription sedatives to give to women with whom he wanted to have sex.
Feden is expected to continue questioning Constand early Friday afternoon, after a short court recess.
