Cosby Retrial: Police Officer Pushes Back at Comedian’s Lawyer Over Accuser ‘Inconsistencies’
Sergeant Richard Schaffer of the Cheltenham, Pennsylvania, police department took the stand on Day 7 of Bill Cosby’s retrial on Tuesday and refused to give the comedian’s lawyer Tom Mesereau an inch during his cross-examination.
Mesereau repeatedly attempted to get Schaffer to state that alleged victim Andrea Constand’s account of her experiences with Cosby suffered from “inconsistencies.” At one point, Schaffer told Mesereau point-blank, “That is not a correct characterization” and even took the rap himself for one discrepancy in the report, testifying, “There are some mistakes there, but that is the police statement that’s being said.”
Later, a fed-up Mesereau asked the officer if he himself was present in a hotel room with Constand and Cosby at the Foxwoods Resort Casino and Schaffer didn’t miss a beat, joking, “Things would have gotten weird if that’s what was going on.”
Also Read: Cosby Accuser's Mother Says Comedian Told Her, 'Don't Worry Mom, There Was No Penile Penetration'
Mesereau continued to try and push the officer into stating that Constand had called Cosby 100 to 200 times while Schaffer patiently explained all the missing information needed to “quantify” that data, such as intermittent calls from other numbers and dropped calls. Mesereau insisted “it’s a simple question” at one point, and Schaffer simply responded, “It’s not a simple question.”
Meanwhile,the court also heard transcripts of Bill Cosby’s own past statements to police in the recently reopened investigations, including several lines of questioning regarding the medication he administered to Andrea Constand. Cosby insisted it was was Benadryl, although during a phone call with Constand and her mother Gianna, he didn’t say what it was when asked.
Cosby explained in his deposition to police that he felt Gianna was “attacking” him.
Also Read: Andrea Constand: Cosby Both Claimed Ignorance of Encounter and Said 'I Thought You Had an Orgasm'
“I’m on the phone listening to two people, and I’m thinking her mother is gonna say I’m a dirty old man,” Cosby was quoted as saying.
Cosby is being re-tried on three counts of aggravated indecent assault, stemming from former Temple University employee Andrea Constand’s accusation that the comedian molested her in 2004 at his home outside of Philadelphia.
Cosby’s initial trial in the matter ended in a mistrial in July 2017 after the jury was unable to reach a verdict following five days of deliberations.
Related stories from TheWrap:
Bill Cosby Accuser Says He Introduced Her as His Daughter
Bill Cosby Accuser Breaks Down in Tears at Retrial: 'He Took It All Away From Me'
Bill Cosby Accuser Calls Him a 'Serial Rapist' at Comedian's Retrial
