Defense attorneys in GW basketball player Attila Cosby’s misdemeanor sex abuse case Thursday questioned the credibility of Cosby’s accuser by calling attention to conflicting statements from the woman.
During cross-examination Thursday, the complainant said she began bleeding after Cosby touched her with a broomstick. That was after Cosby allegedly forced her to masturbate at gunpoint, she testified.
But the complainant had told police the day after the incident last summer that she had begun bleeding earlier, while touching herself. She told police she went to the bathroom to wash blood off her hands.
The complainant confused the order of events because the incident happened more than a year ago, she testified.
Lawyers on both sides tried to establish the women’s state of mind when Cosby picked her up for New Jersey and P streets and took her back to his residence hall room May 15, 2000. The accuser admitted to smoking $50 to $60 of crack that night, but U.S. attorney Ben Friedman and defense attorney Billy Martin disagreed on whether she was intoxicated.
The witness said she left her house that night because she was “geeked” and wanted to buy drugs, when she was approached by Cosby’s car. She said she had smoked some “good rocks” that night, but her high lasted for only 10 to 20 minutes.
Martin asked the accuser on cross-examination if she ever told Cosby “I’m going to give you the best head you ever had,” and she replied that she had not. She said she only entered the car because Cosby said she would give her drugs to take back with her.
Martin also questioned when the woman started bleeding. Defense attorneys maintain that Cosby asked her to leave his Guthridge Hall room after he realized she was bleeding. When he sent her to the bathroom to clean herself, the defense said, she removed her pants and bloody tissues fell from her pants.
During the defense’s cross-examination, the complainant said she told Emmitt Jones, who she now lives with, the incident last summer was a “$60 sex act that went bad.” The woman said she lied to Jones because had quit drugs and she did not want Jones to know she had started again. She said she stopped smoking crack a year ago and does not attend any meetings for addicts.
In her testimony, the complainant said would never perform a sexual act with somebody of Cosby’s age because she has a son who is 25 years old. Had the crack truly impaired her judgment, the woman said she would have fought Cosby.
She also said she left the building after Cosby threatened her that if she would tell somebody, he would come after her.
The prosecution called two other witnesses, both police officers, to demonstrate the chain of custody of the sex kit that was used to gather evidence.
Prosecutors appeared to be laying foundation to show that Cosby’s godmother, Geneva Couser, a 26-year veteran of Metropolitan Police sex crimes division, had access to confidential police information and may have passed confidential information to Cosby.
Detective Dan Lewis said he saw a picture album in Cosby’s room, which included pictures of Couser and Cosby. He said he told Detective Randy Brooks, who Lewis said called Couser to inform her about the investigation.
Although Couser may have had access to information the investigation, Lewis said, he had no evidence that Couser was informed by someone in the department or that she used her own access to check Cosby’s file.
The court recessed until Monday, when prosecutors said they hope to finish their case.