GW basketball player Attila Cosby said in testimony Wednesday he might have misled police and lawyers to believe he did not own a gun last year because there was none in his possession.
In direct examination Cosby said he bought two guns, in 1999 and 2000, but gave them away to his mother and girlfriend’s sister before a May 2000 incident involving an alleged prostitute. Cosby, who is accused of forcing oral sex at gunpoint among other charges, previously told police and testified during his first trial that he did not own a gun.
Testimony was cut short by other hearings before D.C. Superior Court Judge Neal E. Kravitz earlier in the day.
Cosby said he denied owning a gun because he misunderstood what police and lawyers meant when they asked whether he owned one.
“I didn’t have them,” Cosby said. “Since they were not in my possession, I said no.”
Cosby testified that he bought a Glock handgun while attending the University of New Mexico in 1999. When he returned to D.C. after transferring, Cosby said he gave the gun to his mother, who he said then gave it to one of her friends.
Cosby also said he bought a handgun manufactured by Sturm, Ruger and Co. in March 2000 while living with his godmother Geneva Couser. Cosby said his girlfriend, Lisa Couser, told him to get rid of the gun before her mother Geneva found out.
Cosby said he gave the gun to his girlfriend’s sister Cindy Hilton.
Cosby testified that when he bought his Sturm, Ruger and Co. hangun in Upper Marlboro, Md., the storeowner told him he needed a trigger-style lock and padlock.
Gunlocks police removed from Cosby’s Guthridge Hall room the day after Cosby took the complainant to his residence hall room fit a Sturm, Ruger and Co. handgun. The locks were in Cosby’s room because he did not lock his gun one day and left the locks in his bag, which he carried to GW, Cosby testified. When he found the locks, Cosby said he put them on a table.
In other testimony, Cosby said he gave the complainant a roll of quarters because she kept demanding money. The complainant alleges he stole the roll of quarters from her.
Defense attorney Billy Martin completed his direct examination of Cosby Wednesday afternoon.
Prosecuting Attorney Ben Friedman began his cross-examination, probing Cosby’s stint as a player at University of Pittsburgh. Cosby testified Thursday that he left Pittsburgh when a coach left the university to take a job at New Mexico. In his cross-examination, Friedman charged that Cosby left after he assaulted coach Oliver Antigua and was asked to leave.
Cosby responded that he was suspended for punching coach Antigua, but he said he left because he did not agree with the disciplinary action and an opportunity opened in New Mexico.
Cosby sat out a semester at New Mexico, before transferring to GW.
Testimony continues Thursday.
