The Latest on the sexual assault trial of Bill Cosby (all times local) :
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) – The Latest on the sexual assault trial of Bill Cosby (all times local) :
2 p.m.
Bill Cosby’s chief accuser and his wife sat feet apart as lawyers delivered closing arguments in his trial on charges he sexually assaulted her at his suburban Philadelphia home in January 2004.
Andrea Constand watched from the front row of the packed courtroom gallery on Monday as Cosby’s lawyers spent nearly two hours seizing on inconsistencies in her story in a final push for acquittal. Camille Cosby also sat in the front row, with a few other people and the aisle between them.
Cosby lawyer Brian McMonagle told jurors Constand’s story evolved and details changed over three interviews she gave to police after coming forward about a year after she says he assaulted her.
Prosecutors are poised to give their closing argument Monday afternoon. Camille Cosby isn’t in the courtroom for that.
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12: 45 p.m.
Bill Cosby’s defense lawyer says the comedian and the primary accuser at his sex assault trial were lovers who had a consensual sexual encounter.
Cosby is charged with sexually assaulting a woman at his suburban Philadelphia home in January 2004.
His lawyers said in closing arguments Monday that Cosby is being prosecuted now because of a media firestorm after excerpts from his lurid deposition became public. The defense says when the case began it was about money, but now it’s a about a man’s liberty.
Cosby’s primary accuser, Andrea Constand, received an unknown amount of money from a civil case she filed.
The defense offered its closing argument after presenting a single witness: a detective who reminded jurors that police wondered why Constand had visited with Cosby at a casino.
Prosecutors will give their closing argument Monday afternoon.
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This item has been updated to delete an incorrect reference to Constand visiting with Cosby after the encounter.
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10: 30 a.m.
The defense has rested after a single brief witness in Bill Cosby’s sexual assault trial.
The defense case consisted of a six-minute appearance by a detective, seemingly designed to remind jurors that Andrea Constand had visited with Cosby at an out-of-state casino and that police knew he had vision problems even then.
Jurors soon will hear closing arguments and could perhaps start deliberating Monday afternoon.
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10: 15 a.m.
Bill Cosby says he will not testify in his own defense at his sexual assault trial.
The 79-year-old comedian told a judge Monday that he made the decision after talking it over with his lawyers.
The defense says it’s calling just one witness: the detective who led the 2005 investigation into allegations Cosby drugged and violated Andrea Constand at his suburban Philadelphia home.
Detective Richard Schaffer was one of 12 witnesses who testified during the five-day prosecution case.
Cosby says his attorneys won’t call any character witnesses.
Judge Steven O’Neill shot down the defense’s bid to call a second witness, a woman who worked with Constand at Cosby’s alma mater, Temple University.
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8: 45 a.m.
Bill Cosby’s wife, Camille, has arrived at court with him on the sixth day of his sexual assault trial.
It’s the first day a family member has accompanied him to court. The couple also has four daughters.
The defense opens it case Monday. Cosby had said before the trial he would not testify. But a spokesman said last week it still was a possibility.
Last week, accuser Andrea Constand testified that Cosby drugged and molested her in 2004 at his gated estate near Philadelphia.
Jurors also heard Cosby’s version in the form of his police statement and his lurid deposition in her 2005 lawsuit.
The trial will move to closing arguments if no defense witnesses are called.
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Midnight
Actor Bill Cosby could charm jurors at his sexual assault trial if he testifies this week, but experts say the risk would be considerable.
The defense is scheduled to begin presenting its case on Monday in suburban Philadelphia.
Cosby’s spokesman says the 79-year-old actor may testify, but his lawyers remain mum.
Last week, accuser Andrea Constand testified that Cosby drugged and molested her in 2004 at his gated estate near Philadelphia.
Jurors also heard Cosby’s version in the form of his police statement and his lurid deposition in her 2005 lawsuit.
The trial will move to closing arguments on Monday if no defense witnesses are called.
The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they grant permission, which Constand has done.
Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Tuesday becomes the second of seven people who were in the Oval Office Feb. 14 to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Fired FBI director James Comey’s version of a critical Feb. 14 encounter with President Donald Trump gets it first test on Tuesday when Attorney General Jeff Sessions will testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Sessions won’ t be able to tell senators what went on in the meeting – the president had ordered him out of the Oval Office, along with other officials, before speaking privately with Comey, according to Comey’s testimony.
But Sessions will be able to corroborate, or not, details of Comey’s version of events before and after the encounter, during which, Comey says, Trump all but directed him to back off an investigation into retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who until hours earlier had been Trump’s national security adviser.
Trump has denied Comey’s version of events. Barring the emergence of evidence such as a surreptitious recording of the conversation – Trump tweeted that Comey had better hope there are no tapes – deciding which of the two men’s accounts is factual may depend on which details most accurately reflect others’ recollections.
Of special interest will be Comey’s assertion that he told Sessions after the meeting that he never again wanted to be left alone with the president. Also certain to be of interest is Comey’s claim that Sessions “lingered” by Comey’s side when the president ordered the room cleared and what Sessions thought when the president then directed him to leave.
Tuesday’s testimony is likely also to touch on allegations that Sessions himself met more often than he has acknowledged with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Sessions, an early Trump supporter, recused himself in March from oversight of the FBI’s probe into possible cooperation between the Trump campaign and the Russians when his meetings with Kislyak became known.
Reports from the White House indicate that recusal has been a sore spot between President Donald Trump and Sessions. Recent news reports have said Sessions offered to resign just weeks ago, saying he needed to be given “the freedom” to do his job.
The hearing comes less than a week after Comey’s explosive testimony.
The Feb. 14 meeting is critical to allegations from Trump’s detractors that the president obstructed justice when he told Comey, according to Comey’s version, “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.”
Trump supporters have insisted that the president did nothing wrong, since there is nothing wrong with expressing “hope.” During his own testimony last week, Comey said that he understood Trump’s request “to be a directive.”
“I don’ t think it’s for me to say whether the conversation I had with the president was an effort to obstruct, ” Comey testified. “I took it as a very disturbing thing, very concerning.”
Sessions is the first of six high-level officials Comey said were asked to leave the room. Sessions is especially important to the case because as the attorney general, he was Comey’s boss, and because Comey testified “the attorney general lingered by my chair, but the president thanked him and said he wanted to speak only with me.”
Comey also testified that later, he implored “the attorney general to prevent any future direct communication between the president and me. I told the AG that what had just happened – him being asked to leave while the FBI director, who reports to the AG, remained behind – was inappropriate and should never happen. He did not reply.”
Members of both the Senate and House intelligence committees have insisted since that hearing that it is important they verify Comey’s testimony.
Sessions’ testimony is scheduled to begin at 2: 30 p.m. Tuesday. Typically, Senate Intelligence hearings on this topic have lasted about three hours. The announcement of his testimony was made without comment from committee officials, who decline to say whether Sessions would be sworn to tell the truth.
A third participant in that meeting, White House senior adviser and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner volunteered in March to testify before the intelligence committee. That offer appears to stand, though the timing remains “to be determined.” In March, the committee announcement on the offer noted it would take place “after the committee determines that it has received any documents or information necessary to ensure that the meeting is productive for all sides.”
According to Comey’s testimony: “The last person to leave was Jared Kushner, who also stood by my chair and exchanged pleasantries with me. The president then excused him, saying he wanted to speak with me.”
According to Comey’s testimony, the others in the room, all of whom were asked to leave before the Flynn conversation, included Vice President Mike Pence; Gina Haspel, the deputy director of the CIA; Nicholas J. Rasmussen, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, and retired Marine Gen. John F. Kelly, now the secretary of Homeland Security.
Comey described the Oval Office meeting, before his one-on-one with Trump, as “a scheduled counterterrorism briefing.”
Comey said Trump “sat behind the desk and a group of us sat in a semi-circle of about six chairs facing him on the other side of the desk.” He said there were “quite a few others in the room, sitting behind us on couches and chairs.”
After Trump had cleared the room, Comey said Chief of Staff “Reince Priebus leaned in through the door by the grandfather clock and I could see a group of people waiting behind him.”
He testified that he soon left through that same door, walking by a group of people that included Priebus and Pence.
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