Bill Cosby says he does not expect to testify during his upcoming sexual assault trial and declined to clearly defend himself during an expansive, often rambling interview with Sirius XM radio host Michael Smerconish. Jury selection starts Monday and the trial is expected to last about two weeks.
The interview is posted on Soundcloud and is free of commercial breaks. (Scroll down to listen). Cosby's answers often meander while Smerconish endeavors to restore focus. The rare brief and direct answers Cosby gives are in response to his questions about the trial.
Does he expect to testify?
"No, I do not."
"Are you at liberty to discuss any of the allegations that are pending against you?" Smerconish asks.
"No, I am not," Cosby answers.
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Throughout the interview he alludes to proscriptions his lawyers have imposed on what he can say, but when Smerconish asks if he wants to tell his side of things, Cosby says, simply, "No."
"Once again I go back to lawyers," he said. "When you have to deal with examination, cross examination, (there's) more than two sides to every story. Sometimes it's four or five. I just don't want to sit there and have to figure out what I believe is a truthful answer."
Cosby is accused of drugging and molesting Andrea Constand, then a Temple University employee, in 2004 at his home, the Associated Press reported. He has pleaded not guilty and is free on $1 million bail. He settled Constand's civil suit in 2006 for an undisclosed sum after giving deposition testimony that became public in 2015, the AP reported.
Cosby's daughters submitted audio clips for Smerconish to play, and they're much more succinct.
"What my father and family had to endure these last few years makes me ashamed of our country today," he daughter Errin says in one clip. "I cannot understand how our society has allowed my father to be condemned so unjustly and cruelly in the court of public opinion without evidence or proof and with no verdict or judgment. Like the cruel history of our people the legal system and the protections of the law do not seem to exist for him today."
Daughter Ensa: "I strongly believe my father is innocent of the crimes alleged against him. I believe racism has played a big role in all aspects of this scandal."
Asked if he agrees, Cosby offered this: "I can't say anything but there are certain things that I look at and I apply to the situation and there are so many tentacles, so many different - nefarious is a great word - and I just truly believe that some of it may very be that."
When Smerconish noted that his accusers are both white and black, Cosby answered, "Let me put it to you this way: when you look at the power structure and when you look at individuals, there are some people who can very well be motivated by whether or not they're going to work. Or whether or not they might be able to get back at someone, so if it's in terms of whatever the choice is, I think you can also examine individuals and situations and they will come out differently so it's not all, not every, but I do think that there's some."
Cosby never says anything as direct as "I'm innocent" or "these charges are false" and says he isn't trying to influence those who will decide his legal fate.
"You can’t aim at jurors," he said.
"I know the side that I'm on and the side that I'm hoping for. I still feel that I have an awful lot to offer in terms of my writing, in terms of my performance."
You can listen to the interview here:
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