美国国家公共电台 NPR Cosby Accuser Andrea Constand Says She Takes The Stand 'For Justice'

 

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

Bill Cosby was back in court this week. He is being tried again for allegedly drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004. The first trial last year ended in a deadlocked³ jury. Six of Cosby's accusers testified against him this week, including Constand.

Laura Benshoff from member station WHYY is at the courthouse outside Philadelphia, and she joins us now. Hey, Laura.

LAURA BENSHOFF, BYLINE⁴: Hi, Mary Louise.

KELLY: So Andrea Constand took the stand today. And I want you to walk her - walk us through her testimony⁵. But before you do, let me give this warning to our listeners. This is going to be a description of an alleged¹ sexual assault.

BENSHOFF: Andrea Constand testified that she was working for Temple University when she met Cosby. He was a trustee there. And they met at a basketball game. He inquired about the locker⁶ room facilities, and she oversaw⁷ the facilities. And she said she'd known him for about a year and a half and had a kind of friendly mentor-like relationship when he invited her to his house outside of Philadelphia in January 2004.

And she was looking for some career advice at the time. She said she was really anxious about quitting her job. And in response, he offered her three blue pills saying, these are your friends. Put them down. They'll help you relax. And she told jurors that those pills made her woozy, made her vision blur⁸. She saw two of Cosby. And that he led her to a couch where she passed out. The next thing she remembers, she told the jury, is that she was jolted⁹ awake because she could feel Cosby's fingers in her vagina. And she was unable to move. Then she passed out again.

And throughout this graphic¹⁰ testimony she never really lost her composure, though at times she did kind of go very still. But the most emotional she got was when she talked about the toll¹¹ of the alleged assault and toll the media coverage¹² of it has taken on her and her family.

KELLY: Laura, the prosecution¹³ also heard from five other women this week, five other women who have also made sexual assault accusations¹⁴ against Cosby. What did the jury hear from them?

BENSHOFF: So in the first trial the jury got to hear from one other woman, and this time they got five. And these women all say they met Cosby in the 1980s. Some were aspiring¹⁵ models or food service workers. And one was someone you might have heard of - Janice Dickinson, the former model and reality TV star. And they all told the jury that Cosby gave them some sort of intoxicant that incapacitated them. And they either remember a sexual assault or they blacked out and later felt evidence of one and/or contact against their will.

And so those - so there are those parallels with Constand's story, and there are other parallels as well. You know, some also describe a mentoring¹⁶ or grooming¹⁷ relationship with Cosby, him reaching out to them and offering some form of career advice. And they all say, no, they could not and did not consent.

And that's really the key for why they were allowed to testify this time for the prosecution because Cosby doesn't face any criminal charges for their claims, right? But their claims are allowed under this kind of narrow evidentiary rule that says, you know, this allows the prosecution to get at something they can't show otherwise. You know, what did Cosby know when he gave Constand those pills, and what was his motive¹⁸?

KELLY: Well, let me ask you about Cosby's defense¹⁹. He's brought in a new legal team for this trial, right? Have they given any sort of hint as to how they're going to challenge Constand's story?

BENSHOFF: Yes. In opening statements his lead attorney, Tom Mesereau, made a pretty forceful framing for this idea that Constand is a, quote, "con² man." He said Cosby confided²⁰ in her that he never got over the murder...

KELLY: OK.

BENSHOFF: ...Of his son Ennis and was lonely. And there is a new piece of evidence that they are going to bring into that. Cosby paid Constand nearly $3.4 million over a decade ago.

KELLY: Lots more evidence to come then. Laura Benshoff from member station WHYY, thank you.

BENSHOFF: Thank you.

1 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

2 con   

n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的

参考例句：

• We must be fair and consider the reason pro and con.我们必须公平考虑赞成和反对的理由。
• The motion is adopted non con.因无人投反对票，协议被通过。

3 deadlocked   

陷入僵局的；僵持不下的

参考例句：

• The plan deadlocked over the funds. 这个计划由于经费问题而搁浅了。
• The meeting deadlocked over the wage issue. 会议因工资问题而停顿下来。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

6 locker   

n.更衣箱，储物柜，冷藏室，上锁的人

参考例句：

• At the swimming pool I put my clothes in a locker.在游泳池我把衣服锁在小柜里。
• He moved into the locker room and began to slip out of his scrub suit.他走进更衣室把手术服脱下来。

7 oversaw   

v.监督，监视( oversee的过去式 )

参考例句：

• He will go down as the president who oversaw two historic transitions. 他将作为见证了巴西两次历史性转变的总统，安然引退。 来自互联网
• Dixon oversaw the project as creative director of Design Research Studio. 狄克逊监督项目的创意总监设计研究工作室。 来自互联网

8 blur   

n.模糊不清的事物；vt.使模糊，使看不清楚

参考例句：

• The houses appeared as a blur in the mist.房子在薄雾中隐隐约约看不清。
• If you move your eyes and your head,the picture will blur.如果你的眼睛或头动了，图像就会变得模糊不清。

9 jolted   

（使）摇动， （使）震惊( jolt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。
• She was jolted out of her reverie as the door opened. 门一开就把她从幻想中惊醒。

10 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

11 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

12 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

13 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

14 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

15 aspiring   

adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求

参考例句：

• Aspiring musicians need hours of practice every day. 想当音乐家就要每天练许多小时。
• He came from an aspiring working-class background. 他出身于有抱负的工人阶级家庭。 来自辞典例句

16 mentoring   

n.mentoring是一种工作关系。mentor通常是处在比mentee更高工作职位上的有影响力的人。他/她有比‘mentee’更丰富的工作经验和知识，并用心支持mentee的职业（发展）。v.（无经验之人的）有经验可信赖的顾问( mentor的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• One of the most effective instruments for coaching and mentoring is the "role rehearsal" . 辅导和教学的最有效的手段之一是“角色排练。” 来自辞典例句
• Bell Canada called their mentoring system a buddy-buddy system. 加拿大贝尔公司称他们的训导系统是伙伴—伙伴系统。 来自互联网

17 grooming   

n. 修饰, 美容，（动物）梳理毛发

参考例句：

• You should always pay attention to personal grooming. 你应随时注意个人仪容。
• We watched two apes grooming each other. 我们看两只猩猩在互相理毛。

18 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

19 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

20 confided   

v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等）

参考例句：

• She confided all her secrets to her best friend. 她向她最要好的朋友倾吐了自己所有的秘密。
• He confided to me that he had spent five years in prison. 他私下向我透露，他蹲过五年监狱。 来自《简明英汉词典》