Quiet Then Noise as Cosby's Trial Barrels Toward Its Close

Comedian's defense lasted just minutes, but closing argument is thunderous
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 12, 2017 10:49 AM CDT
Updated Jun 12, 2017 2:48 PM CDT
Bill Cosby's Defense Lasts Just Minutes
Bill Cosby arrives for his sexual assault trial with his wife Camille Cosby at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pa., Monday, June 12, 2017.   (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Monday's million-dollar question was whether Bill Cosby would testify in his own defense at his sex assault trial, and the answer came shockingly quickly. The Washington Post reports his defense rested after just six minutes. BuzzFeed offers a tighter, 3-minute timeline. It reports Judge Steven O'Neill asked the comedian to verify that he was in agreement with the decision that he would not testify and that character witnesses would not be presented. "Correct," came the reply. (NBC News reports that question occurred before the jury was called into the room.) The defense then called a single witness, Det. Richard Schaffer, who had been among the 12 witnesses who testified for the prosecution over five days last week. He took the stand at 10:20am and was done three minutes later, having answered questions about Cosby's vision and accuser Andrea Constand's original police report.

  • The defense's closing argument wasn't so speedy. The Washington Post reports Brian McMonagle spoke to the jury for two hours, "flipping between stage-whispered intimacy and earsplitting verbal explosions." He called Constand a liar and pushed the jury to view what happened between Cosby and Constand as just one consensual night in a year-long relationship.
  • The Los Angeles Times quotes McMonagle like so: "'Yeah, it was romantic; yeah, he was giving me sweaters; yeah, he was telling me how to wear my hair,' he said, mimicking Constands' voice."
  • In that same vein, Deadline notes McMonagle acknowledged the presence of wife Camille Cosby, making her first appearance of the trial. "When you dance outside your marriage, you got to pay the band. And he danced and she deserved better," McMonagle said as he pointed at Camille. The AP reports she had no reaction over the two hours, but smiled when the closing argument concluded.
  • The Washington Post notes McMonagle apologized for his own "Irish-Italian" temper, and the New York Post elaborates with a longer quote from him: "I pray to God you’ll do your job better than I did mine. If during the course of this trial I have said or done anything that might have offended one of you, hold it against me, not him. Me—not him. I wear my emotions on my sleeve and that’s not good for a lawyer."
  • The prosecution will present its closing argument next, and the AP reports the case could go to the jury today.
  • ABC News has a timeline of what's happened since 2004.
(More Bill Cosby stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X