Bill Cosby will go on trial Monday in Pennsylvania on charges he drugged and sexually assaulted a woman 13 years ago in his Philadelphia home.
Cosby, 79, is accused of assaulting Andrea Constand, a Temple University basketball official, in January 2004. The trail comes a year-and-a-half after a Pennsylvania district attorney filed charges days before the statute of limitations was to expire in the case.
>>Bill Cosby charged: 11 key takeaways from Andrea Constand’s complaint
Nearly 60 women have come forward in the past three years to accuse Cosby of drugging and assaulting them, behavior they say dates back to the mid-1960s.
Here are a few things to know about the trial:
- Constand, now 44, reported the molestation a year after it happened. The district attorney at the time declined to file charges.
- Constand filed a civil suit against Cosby after no criminal charges were brought. That suit was settled in 2006 for an undisclosed sum.
- Criminal charges were filed in December 2015, just before the statute of limitations on the sexual assault charge was set to expire.
>>5 things to know about Bill Cosby, his accuser and the charges
- Cosby has said he will not testify at the trial.
- The trial will not be televised, nor will it be livestreamed.
- The jury, predominantly white, is made up of seven men and five women.
- In the deposition for the civil suit, Cosby admitted he gave quaaludes to women he wanted to have sex with.
- Thirteen other accusers were set to testify that Cosby had also assaulted them, but the judge in the trial, Steven O'Neill, ruled only one of those 13 may testify.
- The aggravated indecent assault charge carries a possible 10-year prison term.
- Women began coming forward with accounts of being assaulted by Cosby after comedian Hannibal Buress called Cosby out as a rapist in 2014.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
About the Author