Janice Dickinson Is One Of The Five Women Who Will Testify Against Bill Cosby At His Retrial

Prosecutors have added additional women to the list to testify against comedian Bill Cosby at his retrial which begins on April 2, one of which is former model, Janice Dickinson. In 2014, Dickinson told Entertainment Tonight that Cosby had drugged and raped her in 1982 in Lake Tahoe where the comedian had been performing. The model and part-time actress said Cosby had given her a pill for stomach cramps and some red wine which made her pass out. According to her, the last thing she remembered was Cosby getting on top of her and a lot of pain. Dickinson’s recollection is similar to four other women who will testify at Cosby’s retrial, and it’s the prosecution’s intention to show a pattern of behavior that goes back five decades.

Bill Cosby is on trial for allegedly drugging and molesting former Temple University employee, Andrea Constand, in his Philadelphia home in 2004. Cosby’s June 2017 trial ended in a mistrial when the jury was unable to reach a verdict. Only one additional woman besides Constand, Kelly Johnson, testified against him, and prosecutors have not listed Johnson as a witness for the retrial. Instead, they have chosen women who were allegedly assaulted in 1982, 1984, 1986, and 1989, and though allegations against Cosby span five decades, dating back to 1965, so far, Constand’s is the only case that has gone forward to trial.

Dickinson had originally written about her assault in her 2002 autobiography, No Lifeguard on Duty: The Accidental Life of the World’s First Supermodel; however, Dickinson alleged that Cosby’s lawyers and her publishers pressured her to remove the details. She claimed that the assault had such an impact on her life that she started harming herself. The 63-year-old wants Cosby to acknowledge that he raped her.

“I would like for Cosby to at least acknowledge that he is a pig, that he is a monster, and that he raped me.”

Along with testifying against him in criminal court, the former model has also filed a civil suit against the man who once portrayed one of the all-time greatest fathers on television, Cliff Huxtable on The Cosby Show. That image has been tainted by the 59 women who have accused him of sexual assault. There have also been two instances of child sexual abuse with alleged victims who were 15-years-old.

Cosby’s attorneys claim the women who will testify have “tainted memories” and should not be allowed to testify; however, Judge Steven O’Neill allowed the inclusion of additional witnesses. Janice Dickinson was chosen out of a pool of 19 women. She told CNN she did not come forward before 2014 because she was embarrassed and had compartmentalized the rape because Cosby is a powerful man.