NORRISTOWN, Pa. (CN) - Resting his entire defense on reasonable doubt, Bill Cosby’s attorney told jurors in closing arguments Monday that the sexual-assault case is no more than media hype.
“We’re not here for Andrea Constand,” defense attorney Brian McMonagle said of the comedian’s accuser in the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas.
“We’re here because of them,” McMonagle said, pointing at the 40 or so reporters sitting in the courtroom, "and they are banging their drum.”
With his client turning 80 years old next month, McMonagle pleaded to the jury for sympathy. “We're talking about all the man's tomorrows,” he said.
Walking over to his client, McMonagle hearkened to the wholesome image Cosby maintained for decades.
“He taught us how to smile and how to love each other, no matter how different we are," McMonagle said.
District Attorney Kevin Steele unraveled that image in the government’s closing, recalling Cosby’s admission in prior sworn testimony that he had a history of giving sedatives to the young women he wanted to bed. "Seven prescriptions, never took them himself,” Steele shouted. "That shows knowledge of the effects something like this will have on someone."
Using a large screen in the courtroom, Steele projected how Cosby characterized the drugs he gave Constand.
“I have three friends for you,” Cosby had said, according to a transcript of his 2005 deposition testimony, which police read to the jury last week. “To make you relax.”
Steele urged the jury to weigh Cosby’s own admissions closely.
“Who says that?" the prosecutor asked. "He put her out."
Steele called it indisputable that Cosby interfered with Constand's ability to consent.
"Drugging someone and putting them in a position so you can get something is not romantic,” the prosecutor added. “It’s criminal.”
Steele also reminded the jury of the evidence that Cosby apologized on the phone when confronted about the assault by Constand’s mother.
"If he didn't do anything wrong, why apologize?" Steele asked.
Quoting yet another of the comedian’s admissions, Steele reminded the jury that Cosby had called himself "a dirty old man.”
"Pure and simple,” Steele said. "This is about as straightforward as you will ever see in a sexual-crimes case.”
McMonagle meanwhile sought sympathy for Camille Cosby, the comedian’s wife, who sat in the front row of the courtroom with one of the couple’s four daughters.