Bill Cosby: Judge rules Quaaludes comments are admissible; Spanish fly jokes aren't

The comedian has been accused of drugging and molesting Andrea Constand in 2004.

ByABC News
April 28, 2017, 3:55 PM

— -- A judge ruled on Friday that Bill Cosby's decade-old deposition comments about giving Quaaludes to women are admissible in his upcoming sexual assault trial, though his jokes about the supposed aphrodisiac Spanish fly are not.

Montgomery County court Judge Steven T. O'Neill also granted a motion to exclude evidence regarding the settlement of Cosby's civil suit with accuser Andrea Constand.

Cosby has been charged with three counts of felony aggravated indecent assault stemming from an alleged 2004 incident with accuser Andrea Constand.

He has pleaded not guilty.

Cosby, 79, has been accused of drugging and molesting Constand at his home in 2004, when she was the director of the women's basketball team at the comedian's alma mater, Temple University. Two years, later her civil suit against him was settled confidentially and sealed, but in 2015, The Associated press successfully petitioned a judge to unseal portions of his deposition from that time.

In that testimony, Cosby admitted to giving Quaaludes to women with whom he wanted to have sex. Cosby's attorney, Brian J. McMonagle, argued that the Quaalude use mentioned in the depositions with Andrea Constand were “not an admission” of wrongdoing on the part of Cosby.

“What does this Quaalude use in 1970s have anything to do with Andrea Constand?” questioned McMonagle. “This case has never had anything to do with Andrea Constand. ... This case was brought to vindicate the allegations of others."

The comedian referenced Spanish fly in his 1991 book "Childhood" and in an interview from that time with Larry King.

According to the AP, Cosby wrote in his book that girls were "never in the mood" for Cosby and his friends when they were teens. "They need chemicals," he added.

"All boys from age 11 on up to death -- we will still be searching for Spanish fly," he told King. "The old story was, if you took a little drop on the head of a pen and you put it [in a woman's drink] and the girl would drink it ..."

"And she's yours," King remarked.

"Hello America!" Cosby said in agreement.

The prosecution argued that those quotes prove that Cosby facilitated "a sexual assault by administering a toxin."

"You have an individual who freely admits to administering a toxin to engage in a sex act with a female," they argued. "It was his intent to obtain Quaaludes to deliver them to women to have sex with them.”

Cosby’s lawyer, Brian J. McMonagle, disagreed, arguing that his client's comments were merely "comedy" and not an admission of guilt. Judge O’Neill made it clear he did not find the subject matter funny but agreed: "The content of this isn’t relevant."

The comedian's criminal trial is set for June 5 in Norristown, Pennsylvania, though in February, a judge agreed to a request made by Cosby's attorney to bring in a jury from outside the county. In a decision that won praise from both sides, the judge also ruled that the prosecution can call to the stand one other accuser, rather than the 13 they'd hoped to have testify.

Cosby has denied all accusations made by his accusers.

If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine.

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