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 NORRISTOWN, Pa.—“That’s his version, sir.” 
 
 
 
 My breath stopped when Cheltenham Township Police Sgt. Richard Schaffer said those words. I might have even gasped. Then I rushed to furiously type them down because typing them made it real, a record that I had actually seen what happened—a sworn member of law enforcement defending a woman’s account of the night she says she was sexually assaulted. And this was not something Schaffer did passively, or only with a bare minimum of “yes, sir”s. At times, he got downright sassy with defense lawyer Brian McMonagle, even drawing laughs from the gallery. 
 
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 It was Schaffer who, back in 2005, was part of the team investigating the report from Andrea Constand that she had been drugged and sexually assaulted by Bill Cosby. He was called to testify by prosecutors and went over his investigation with them, including reading word for word the transcript of the police interview done then with Cosby with his lawyers in New York City. It was the cool, measured testimony that police are expected to deliver. And then, as trials work, he was cross-examined by the defense. 
 
 There were multiple times when, if he wanted, Schaffer could have just said “yes, sir” to McMonagle. But he didn’t. Like when McMonagle asked him to confirm that Constand had made a change to her statement to police. His response was reminding McMonagle that people are allowed to make changes to their statements, punctuated by, “They are allowed to, sir.” 
 
 Or when McMonagle went over the part of the police interview where Cosby gave his account. He went over each line, afterward asking if it was correct. Again, Schaffer didn’t deliver the expected, “Yes, sir.” 
 
 “He was a gentleman, sir,” he said, eliciting a few chuckles from press row. 
 
 McMonagle read back another section. 
 
 “Again, he was a real gentleman, sir.” 
 
 Seeming to realize what was up, the lawyer pointed out, “He doesn’t say that here, does he?” 
 
 “No,” Schaffer responded. “That was me, sir.” 
 
 The gentleman jabs were over, but Schaffer didn’t quit just yet. At the end of another passage, Schaffer responded with, “You read it perfectly, sir.” 
 
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 It was after this cross-examination, during more questions from assistant district attorney Stewart Ryan, that Schaffer was asked again about Cosby’s account, and whether it was what Cosby had told police. Once again, all Schaffer had to do was say, “Yes, sir.” 
 
 “That’s his version sir.” 
 
 McMonagle, though, was not done. He got a second chance to question Schaffer and he was out to get something, a callback to his opening statements—the idea that this was just a “he said, she said” case. First, he brought up a time that Constand said she had gone to Cosby’s place and sat by the fire. He described it as a “romantic” fireside dinner. 
 
 Schaffer shot back, “I think you’re characterizing her words.” 
 
 So McMonagle had to go back and read from the Cosby interview with police, word for word. It did include the fireside and drinking brandy, but it didn’t include the word “romantic.” Schaffer now told McMonagle, “You read it correctly.” 
 
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 But McMonagle wasn’t done. He also wanted to backtrack to the time that Constand said Cosby had tried to reach inside her pants. McMonagle said that Constand had described it as Cosby touching her private parts. Schaffer said, no, he didn’t think she had said that. The two went back and forth over who said what, with Schaffer at one point talking over McMonagle and the defense lawyer shooting back “I’m not done!” It ended when the prosecutors objected, and the judge sustained it. 
 
 They moved on to another line of questions, but the battle continued. McMonagle kept asking questions that, if he had just said yes, would have had Schaffer saying Constand took the pills that night of her own free will. Schaffer wouldn’t budge. He asked if the pill taking was voluntary. Schaffer’s response was that it was “under the guise that she was taking herbal pills.” 
 
 “Under the guise?” McMongale asked. 
 
 “That’s what she said,” Schaffer replied. 
 
 Now McMonagle had what he wanted. He asked another question about if that was what Constand believed, and Schaffer answered that he was “going by what both people are telling me and trying to marry it up.” 
 
 McMonagle’s responded, “He said, she said, correct?” 
 
 Schaffer, “Yes.” 
 
 McMonagle asked one more question, basically reminding jurors that the prior district attorney had closed the case with no charges, and he was done. He had what he wanted. But it wasn’t for lack of fight from Schaffer. I have no accurate measure of how often or how rarely a member of law enforcement vigorously defends a woman’s point of view on the stand; I can only say that, in my experience, it hasn’t happened much. In a world where it’s still routine to hear that a untold numbers of rape kits have never been tested, that police departments will downgrade sexual assault cases, and that police officers are convicted of raping the people they are sworn to protect, it felt so important to, for once, see an officer do his best to avoid a defense lawyers attempts to sleaze a woman and avoid—as best he could—the “that’s just her version” account. 
 
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 No, instead, he pointed out that what Cosby said was just his version. It’s not a fact, just something a man said. Imagine that. ||||| Bill Cosby’s criminal trial has yet to complete its first week in a Pennsylvania courtroom, but the comedian has already taken a heavy financial hit from a flood of allegations of sexual assault over the past few years. 
 
 Cosby, 79, is best known for playing the head of the Huxtable family in the The Cosby Show. The family sitcom, which ran from 1984 to 1992, was at one time such a huge success that it commanded $4 million an episode when sold into syndication, with reruns generating over $1.5 billion in the last two decades. Cosby became a household name and friendly face touting Jell-O Pops, and other products, that were the epitome of all things pure and family-friendly. Via his commercials, Jello-O sales skyrocketed to nearly $100 million the first year. He also served as the spokesman for other major brands including Coca-Cola and Kraft Foods. 
 
 Cosby continues to deny allegations from dozens of women that he drugged and then sexually assaulted them. 
 
 Accuser Andrea Constand testified in court this week about a 2004 incident at Cosby’s Philadelphia-area home during which she says she accepted three blue pills that Cosby said would help her to relax. She alleges he raped her; he claims it was consensual. She’s among 50-plus women that have accused Cosby of sexually assaulting them, with claims dating back to the 1960s. This occurrence is the only one recent enough to support criminal charges. 
 
 To say this has cost him an exorbitant amount of money is an understatement. Cosby has already lost millions from earnings from his once-lucrative career. Until these allegations surfaced, Cosby continued to make millions through syndication for reruns of The Cosby Show, specials, various TV deals he was working on, appearances and touring. 
 
 The syndication dollars quickly came to an end by the end of 2014. The Cosby Show, which was airing on BET and TV Land, both owned by Viacom, was quickly dropped by both networks. During that time, a planned Netflix special, Bill Cosby 77, was indefinitely postponed just days before its air date and there was the cessation of an NBC family sitcom that was in development with Cosby as both producer and star. The network made a seven-figure deal with Cosby without even seeing a script. It was reported at the time that Cosby’s deal with NBC for the proposed show included a penalty fee awarding him more than $1 million should nothing materialize. Though he presumably received that money, his relationship with the network was ruined and NBC Chairman Bob Greenblatt said at the time that the network would never pursue another deal with Cosby ever again. 
 
 His lucrative touring career also came to a halt the following year. His 2015 “Far From Finished” stand-up comedy tour ended in May of that year with many of his shows being cancelled or protested. The shows that did take place did so with smaller audiences and low ticket sales. Ticketmaster, Pollstar and Cosby’s personal website no longer list tour dates or tickets for sale. A far cry from when Pollstar Editor-in-Chief Gary Bongiovanni told CNN that for the calendar year of 2014, Cosby's tour performed up to expectations with the comedian selling $10.8 million in ticket sales to over 100 shows; approximately 2,200 tickets per venue at roughly $57 a ticket. 
 
 Streaming platforms have followed suit. “It really seems that the largest video streaming services have wanted to distance themselves from the disgraced comedian,” said Ville Salminen, owner of streaming news site Cordcutting.com and Netflix tracking site Allflicks. "There are no Cosby shows or movies on Netflix in the U.S. currently," he said, adding that Hulu also dropped The Cosby Show, which left the sitcom without a regular linear or subscription-based video-on-demand home. Based on Google Trends data, Salminen believes people would be interested in streaming Cosby-related content if given the chance. “From that chart showing searches for the keyword 'Bill Cosby Netflix' for the past 12 months, we can see that the number of searches is peaking currently.” ||||| Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. 
 
 NORRISTOWN, Pa. — Bill Cosby's sexual assault trial is in its fourth day, but his wife of more than 50 years has yet to make an appearance. 
 
 Instead, a parade of the comedian's showbiz friends have showed up to show support, though it hasn't been an A-list gallery. 
 
 Here's who made the trip to the Montgomery County Courthouse: 
 
 Day 1: Keshia Knight Pulliam, the actress who played Cosby's youngest daughter, Rudy Huxtable, on "The Cosby Show," escorted him into the courtroom for the start of the two-week trial. She said she was just being a good friend and did not take the charges lightly. 
 
 "This is where you hear the facts. This is where the truth happens," she said. "Right now, it's the jury's decision and it's the jury's job to decide guilt and innocence." 
 
 Day 2: A cluster of older men, some of whom played ball with him at Temple University in the 1960s, sat together on a spectator bench and chatted with Cosby at breaks. They declined interviews. 
 
 Day 3: Actress Sheila Frazier, best known for her star turn in the 1970s movie "Super Fly," arrived with her husband John Atchison, a celebrity hair stylist. Frazier co-starred with Cosby in the 1978 comedy, "California Suite." 
 
 "What am I here to do is support Mr. Cosby," Frazier said after court. Atchison added that they were "not here to say somebody is innocent or guilty." 
 
 Actor and comedian Bill Cosby leaves with Sheila Frazier, John Atchison and publicist Andrew Wyatt after the third day of Cosby's sexual assault trial. Brendan McDermid / Reuters 
 
 Also there was Mary Frances Berry, a legal historian and the former chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, who said Cosby deserved due process. "The man that I know, he's good," she said. 
 
 Berry said it was not a surprise that Cosby, who claims racism may have fueled the scandal, was not getting more public support from the black community — citing a 2004 speech in which he scolded young and poor African-Americans, critiquing their speech, clothing and parenting. 
 
 "People in the civil rights movement are still annoyed with Bill for some of the comments Bill made baout the responsibiity of the community as opposed to enforcement," Berry said. "I happen to disagree about that, too, but for me, it's beside the point." 
 
 Day 4: Comic actors Joe Torry and comedian Lewis Dix accompanied Cosby into court on Thursday. 
 
 Actor and comedian Bill Cosby arrives at court with Joe Torry, Lewis Dix and spokesman Andrew Wyatt. Brendan McDermid / Reuters 
 
 Cosby's spokesman has said the defense could also count on Phylicia Rashad, who played his wife on "The Cosby Show," to show up if needed. 
 
 Camille Cosby, 73, was also expected to be in the courtroom at some point. It was not clear if the defense decided she should not be there while two Cosby's accusers were on the stand, describing how he allegedly drugged and then molested them. 
 
 "I can think of no good strategic reason why Cosby's family would not be present in the courtroom throughout the trial," said Dennis McAndrews, a law instructor and former prosecutor who has been attending the trial. 
 
 "I also do not think that the jurors in this case will be swayed by the presence of individuals other than his family. In my experience, jurors are usually conscientious about setting aside outside influences such as celebrities who are present in the defendant's corner." 
 
 He said that I suspect that Cosby will be unable to present positive character or reputation evidence, since such evidence would open the door for the prosecution to present negative character or reputation evidence which now exists because of the other women who have accused him of misconduct." 
 
 Wes Oliver, director of the criminal justice program at Duquesne University, said it's "questionable" whether spousal support would make a difference to the jury. And he noted that some jurors probably wouldn't recognize the other members of the Cosby support brigade. 
 
 "These things seem to be more about the trial in the public than the trial in the courtroom," Oliver said. ||||| These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites. ||||| Bill Cosby Courted Disaster By Forcing Gay Issue in Sexual Assault Trial 
 
 Bill Cosby Courted Disaster By Forcing Gay Issue with Andrea Constand in Sexual Assault Trial 
 
 Bill Cosby arrived to the courthouse Friday with comedian Joe Torry by his side, oblivious to the fact he dodged a fatal bullet courtesy of his own lawyers. 
 
 Cosby's attorneys had filed legal docs asking the judge to allow them to introduce evidence accuser Andrea Constand was gay. He bizarrely wanted to show the jury she deceived him ... suggesting he would not have had sex with her if he knew she was gay. 
 
 The prosecution claimed it was "victim shaming" and also violates Pennsylvania law which prohibits the use of evidence involving an alleged victim's sexual past. 
 
 The judge denied the defense motion, and unless we're missing something, the admission could have nailed Cosby's coffin shut. 
 
 Andrea Constand told cops she had a boyfriend when she was 14 and had sexual contact with a man when she was in her late 20's. That said, if she wasn't into guys, the prosecution could have destroyed Cosby's argument she consented to sexual contact with the comedian. 
 
 Day 5 of the trial focuses on Cosby's own words, where he said in deposition he would give women quaaludes to dull their senses when it came to consent. ||||| Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. 
 
 NORRISTOWN, Pa. — Lawyers for Bill Cosby sought to introduce evidence about the sexual orientation of his accuser, Andrea Constand, but the judge overseeing his sexual assault trial wouldn't let them. 
 
 In a filing laced with outrage, prosecutors objected to the defense motion, calling it "victim-shaming" and arguing it would violate Pennsylvania's rape shield law, which says an alleged victim's sexual past is not admissible. 
 
 The defense motion has not been made public, and Cosby's team did not respond to a request for comment. The judge denied the motion on Tuesday, and Constand's sexuality has not been directly addressed during the first four days of the trial. 
 
 Constand, 44, who says Cosby drugged and molested her in 2004, told police in a 2005 interview that she is gay But that she had a boyfriend when she was 14 and sexual contact with a man when she was in her late 20s. The 79-year-old comedian has claimed he didn't know that until police investigating her complaint informed him. 
 
 Related: Andrea Constand's Mother Confronts Bill Cosby at Trial 
 
 Cosby's lawyers, according to the prosecution's filing, had argued that by not revealing to Cosby that she was gay, Constand was guilty of "conceal[ment] and deceit." 
 
 The DA's office called the defense position "extraordinary and inflammatory." 
 
 "Defendant seems to desire that those with a sexual orientation different from his should readily identify themselves — perhaps with a scarlet letter — at their first encounter with another person," the DA's office wrote. 
 
 "Defendant puts a new twist on an old argument: that because Ms. Constand did not reveal this most personal detail about her life she must have been asking for defendant to drug and sexually assault her." 
 
 Constand's civil attorney, Dolores Troiani, told NBC News that while she had not seen the defense motion, she was "appalled" by what she read of it in the prosecution's response. She said she was grateful to the DA's office "for their professionalism and the manner in which they have handled this difficult case and protected the rights of all victims." 
 
 Andrea Constand walks to the courtroom during Bill Cosby's sexual assault trial at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pa., on June 6, 2017. Matt Rourke / AP 
 
 Cosby has pleaded not guilty to three counts of aggravated indecent assault in connection with the 2004 encounter with Constand, who at the time worked for Temple University, where the star was a trustee. 
 
 He has also denied accusations from dozens of other women who have publicly accused him of sexual misconduct. There are no criminal charges connected to those allegations. ||||| CLOSE Jurors at Bill Cosby's sexual assault trial have heard excerpts from the comedian's lurid, decade-old deposition, but explosive sections about him obtaining quaaludes and giving them to women before sex are expected Friday. (June 9) AP 
 
 Bill Cosby arrives with Ccmedian Joe Torry Day 5 of his sexual assault trial in Norristown, Pa., on June 9, 2017. (Photo: Matt Rourke, AP) 
 
 NORRISTOWN, Pa. — Prosecutors in Bill Cosby's trial on sexual assault charges rested their case Friday, after five days of testimony. 
 
 The move came towards the end of a day spent reading to the jury Cosby's own words from a damaging deposition, and after calling an expert witness to describe how victims of sex crimes typically behave in a manner similar to the way accuser Andrea Constand behaved more than 13 years ago. 
 
 Another expert witness, Timothy Rohrig, a forensic toxicologist at Wichita State University, also testified, saying that the effects of Quaaludes and of Benadryl could be similar, leaving Constand in a state of near paralysis after she took pills Cosby gave her during their encounter. 
 
 Cosby's defense team will present their case next week. 
 
 Friday's proceeding included testimony from clinical psychologist Veronique Valliere and excerpts from a Cosby deposition that the prosecution hopes will help prove an alleged criminal pattern of using drugs for sex with women he desired. 
 
 Valliere, who has treated both accusers and sex offenders, testified to explain to the jury why victims may not immediately report an alleged assault (Constand waited a year) and why they may maintain contact with the alleged attacker after the crime. Both questions were raised by Cosby's defense lawyers about the behavior of Constand, who says Cosby drugged and molested her at his nearby home in 2004. He says the encounter was consensual. 
 
 Assistant District Attorney Kristen Feden asked Valliere hypothetical questions about how a person may respond if sexually assaulted by someone who is widely respected in a community or is a superior at a workplace. At the time of their encounter, Cosby was a trustee at Temple University where Constand worked as the basketball team manager. 
 
 Valliere testified that victims initially may be confused about a sexual assault, because often such assaults are not physically violent. They may be intimidated by the attacker, she said. They might engage in counter-intuitive behavior by reaching out to the attacker in an attempt to achieve a "sense of clarity." 
 
 The victim “might ask, ‘Is this somebody I depend on? Is this somebody who can retaliate and hurt me, either physically or professionally?' ” she said. 
 
 Feden said Valliere’s testimony is needed to counter defense arguments that Constand made dozens of phone calls to Cosby during the months after their encounter. "That behavior is not equivalent to being a liar or being untruthful,” Feden argued to Judge Steven O’Neill. 
 
 On cross-examination, McMonagle asked Valliere if she was testifying as a "biased" witness in the case. She said she didn't believe so. Then he showed the jury an image of a Facebook post from Valliere’s company, which linked to a newspaper article about the Cosby case. 
 
 “Victory. The case goes on!” Valliere said in a comment on the post. 
 
 Cosby says he gave Constand Benadryl on the night in question; Rohrig testified that anti-histamine could have similar effects to now-banned Quaaludes. Although it is not a hypnotic sedative, adults who take Benadryl should not drive and should avoid alcohol because it can cause blurred vision and poor muscle coordination. 
 
 “It is a central nervous system depressant, it slows the brain down,” he said. In fact, he said, it has been used to drug crime victims so often, it's one of the drugs toxicologists look for during investigations of sexual assaults. 
 
 Although Cosby, 79, has said he will not (and does not have to) take the stand to defend himself against three charges of aggravated indecent assault of Constand, 44, his own words about the encounter were used against him at his trial here. 
 
 It was one reason why Cosby's defense team, led by McMonagle and Angela Agrusa, fought — but failed — to persuade Judge O'Neill to reject the deposition as prosecution evidence. 
 
 Cosby arrived at the courthouse Friday, again accompanied by a friend and supporter, comedian Joe Torry, who was with him on Thursday as well. Cosby needs assistance to walk as he is nearly blind, appears unsteady and walks with a cane. 
 
 Andrew Wyatt, Cosby's spokesman, who's been attending the trial, told reporters on a break Friday that Cosby's wife of more than 50 years, Camille, and other family members will join him in court next week. Wyatt said Cosby told his wife to stay away from the courthouse this week so she didn't have to endure the "media circus." 
 
 Prosecutors called a Montgomery County detective to the stand late Thursday to begin reading excerpts from the 2005 deposition to the jury, a process that continued Friday. In the excerpts, Cosby claimed he had a romantic and a social relationship with Constand, and described several encounters with her in which he tried to initiate sex, including one where he touched her "somewhere between permission and rejection." 
 
 Reading from the deposition Friday, Montgomery County Det. James Reape said Cosby said that he offered to pay for Constand's education, because he feared extortion after Constand and her mother recorded one of their calls with him. He also apologized to them. 
 
 “I’m apologizing because I’m thinking this is a dirty old man with a young girl. I apologized," Cosby said in the deposition, asserting that he told Constand's mother he did not have sex with her but did penetrate her with his fingers. 
 
 Friday's testimony covered sections of the deposition in which Cosby acknowledged he acquired drugs, including Quaaludes, to give to women he sought for sex. He also acknowledged he repeatedly engaged in sexual relationships with young women he met over the years as one of the most popular and powerful men in Hollywood. 
 
 "Quaaludes were the drugs “kids were using to party,” Cosby said in the deposition, and “there were times I wanted to have them just in case.” But he insisted he had given the drug to only one woman, with her consent and knowledge. 
 
 This week the jury heard the testimony of Constand, who stuck to her story that Cosby drugged her to the point of paralysis and then molested her as she lay helpless on his couch. Her mother, Gianna Constand, also testified about what she says Cosby told her in phone calls a year later. And one of the dozens of other Cosby accusers, Kelly Johnson, also testified, accusing Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting her in a Los Angeles hotel bungalow in 1996. 
 
 Cosby's deposition was taken after Constand filed suit against him in 2005, a year after their encounter at his nearby estate and also after then-district attorney Bruce Castor Jr decided there wasn't enough evidence to file criminal charges against Cosby. 
 
 Constand's lawsuit was settled and sealed in 2006, but parts of the deposition (which is hundreds of pages long) were released in the summer of 2015 by a judge. At the time, dozens of women were coming forward to accuse Cosby of drugging and/or raping them in episodes going back to the mid-1960s. 
 
 District Attorney Kevin Steele, who was elected in November 2015 after promising to pursue Cosby, cited the deposition as new evidence for reopening the long-abandoned Constand criminal case and filing charges against Cosby a few weeks before Pennsylvania's statute of limitations was to expire. 
 
 Puente reported from McLean, Va. 
 
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– Andrea Constand, the accuser at the center of Bill Cosby's sexual assault trial, told police during a 2005 interview that she is gay, though she had a boyfriend as a teen and sexual contact with a man in her 20s. It turns out that Cosby's defense team wanted to introduce her sexual orientation as evidence in the trial, but the judge denied that motion this week, NBC News reports. More on that and the developments in the trial: According to the prosecution's filing, Cosby's defense team says that Constand did not tell Cosby she was gay during their 2004 interactions, which amounts to "conceal[ment] and deceit." The DA's office's response to that? "Defendant puts a new twist on an old argument: that because Ms. Constand did not reveal this most personal detail about her life she must have been asking for defendant to drug and sexually assault her." TMZ's take on the issue of Constand's sexual orientation? Cosby should be grateful the judge denied his team's motion. "If she wasn't into guys, the prosecution could have destroyed Cosby's argument she consented to sexual contact with the comedian," and if the issue was brought into the trial as evidence, it "could have nailed Cosby's coffin shut." Thursday's proceedings involved the jury hearing that Cosby admitted to police during a deposition years ago that he fondled Constand after giving her Benadryl, though he insisted she consented to the behavior and showed no ill effects from the medication. Jezebel has an extensive rundown of a police investigator "sassing" the defense attorney who cross-examined him Thursday. There's more coming from the deposition on Friday, day five of the trial, USA Today and the New York Times report in previews of the day's proceedings. Notably, jurors will hear that Cosby admitted to obtaining quaaludes to give to women with whom he wanted to have sex. Already Friday, jurors have heard that in the deposition, Cosby feared he looked like a "dirty old man with a young girl" when Constand's mother called him in 2005, per the Washington Post. He said he apologized, "but my apology was, my God, I’m in trouble with these people because this is an old man and their young daughter," per the Philadelphia Inquirer. NBC notes that Cosby's wife has yet to make an appearance in the courtroom, but it has a list of supporters who have shown up. Forbes takes a look at the millions Cosby has lost over sexual assault accusations from Constand and others.