“Down them. Put ‘em down. Put them in your mouth.”
“Taste the wine. Just taste the wine.”
Those are the last words Andrea Constand said she remembers before Bill Cosby allegedly assaulted her in 2004. The chilling monologue was revealed in a criminal complaint filed Wednesday in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania against the 78-year-old comedian.
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In 2005, both Cosby and Constand were interviewed by police but the district attorney at the time said their statements amounted to he said/she said and that wasn’t enough to charge him with any crime. (Cosby is now formally charged with aggravated indecent assault, a first-degree felony.)
Cosby said he was attracted to Constand from the first time he saw her (when she was working as operations manager for the Temple University women’s basketball team), according to a deposition in Constand’s 2005 civil suit against Cosby.
In several depositions, Cosby denied assaulting anyone while at the same time admitting to using his fame, mentorship and often Quaaludes to pursue women who rejected his advances. Cosby at various points suggested he was able to read nonverbal indicators of consent and boasted of his own sexual prowess in picking up much younger women.
“In his pursuit of the victim, Cosby promoted his role as mentor and someone who could offer her life and career guidance,” police said in the affadavit. When the Dr. Huxtable routine to seduce Constand failed, Cosby resorted to using drugs and alcohol.
“Cosby knew that his two prior sexual advances were blocked by the much younger, athletic victim,” police said. “He knew that further attempts at sexual conduct would likewise be unsuccessful unless he was able to prevent her from resisting.”
The night Cosby allegedly assaulted Constand, she told police that he called her and said they were going to discuss her future career plans. She arrived at his home around 8:45 p.m. At some point, Cosby said “he wanted her to relax” and gave her three blue pills, which he told her were “herbal.”
Cosby insisted that she drink wine afterward and within 30 minutes, Constand said she experienced blurred vision and difficulty speaking. She told police she’d “lost all strength in her legs” and felt nauseous.
“Despite her impaired physical and mental condition, the victim was aware that Cosby was fondling her breasts, put his hands into her pants and penetrated her vagina with his fingers,” an affidavit says. “Cosby also took the victim’s right hand and placed it onto his erect penis.”
Police later asked Cosby if he ever had “sexual intercourse with the victim” and responded:
“Never asleep or awake.”
Constand said she woke up around 4 a.m. the next morning with her bra undone and her sweater bunched up. Wearing a robe, he handed her a blueberry muffin as she walked out the door.
Constand’s mother called Cosby about a year later, when he told her that the pills he gave Constand were from a prescription bottle and he didn’t know what they were because he couldn’t make out the prescription. Cosby told police, however, the pills were Benadryl, an over-the-counter drug.
This “deliberate effort to conceal the nature of the pills” and Cosby’s offer to pay for Constand’s therapy, graduate school tuition, and other expenses “demonstrate his consciousness of guilt,” police said.
Though most of the evidence presented Wednesday was obtained in 2005, District Attorney Kevin Steele said new evidence in the form of Cosby’s unsealed court deposition, was enough to reopen the investigation and charge the comedian.
Steele was running out of time: the statute of limitations runs out on Jan. 16.
