Marguerite Jackson. (Facebook)
Marguerite Jackson, a surprise witness the Bill Cosby defense team was blocked from calling, is accusing Andrea Constand of making up sexual assault allegations against an unnamed high-profile person.
However, Constand says she never met the Temple University adviser.
The Cosby defense team, with the jury still deliberating, released a lengthy statement from Jackson (also known as Margo Jackson) in which she essentially claims that accuser Andrea Constand told her she was going to make up allegations against a prominent person for money.
Cosby’s lawyers say that the comedian did not get a fair trial because Jackson was not allowed to testify by the judge. However, two reporters covering the trial say that Constand denies ever meeting Jackson, although both worked at Temple.
Either way, the jury never got to hear Jackson’s account.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Jackson Claims That Andrea Constand Told Her ‘It Had Not Happened’ but She Could Say Otherwise to Get Money
Jackson claimed in the statement that she traveled with the Temple women’s basketball team to Rhode Island but couldn’t remember the specific year.
“During our stay Andrea and I shared a room. I recall the television was on. We were watching the news. There was a news story of a high profile individual who was accused of drugging women and sexually assaulting them. It was a well publicized case.”
She claimed the story drew Constand’s attention. “The news story peaked (sic) Andrea’s interest. She told me that something similar had happened to her. I was shocked. I asked her if she had filed charges. She said she hadn’t. I asked her why and she said, that like the story on the news, the person who had drugged and done something to her sexually was a high profile person.”
Marguerite Jackson. (Facebook)
Jackson alleged: “I responded telling Andrea that it didn’t matter who the person is, she should have reported it. I then asked Andrea if what she was saying really happened. Her response was that it had not happened but she could say it happened and file charges, file a civil suit, get the money, go to school and open a business.”
They never talked about the matter again, alleged Jackson.
2. Constand Denies Ever Meeting Jackson
Accuser Andrea Constand, right, leaves the courtroom after closing arguments in the sexual assault trial of entertainer Bill Cosby at the Montgomery County Courthouse on June 12, 2017 in in Norristown, Pennsylvania. (Getty)
Constand has directly contradicted Jackson and said she has never met her, according to Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Jeremy Roebuck.
Constand says she’s never met Marguerite Jackson
“Constand says she’s never met Marguerite Jackson,” he wrote.
According to The Los Angeles Times, the judge refused to allow Jackson to testify “on hearsay grounds after Constand testified she did not know her.”
On Facebook, Jackson goes by the name “Margo Jackson” and writes that she worked at Temple University- Boyer College of Music & Dance, studied at Temple University, and went to Philadelphia High School for Girls.
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However, Cosby’s lawyer told the throng of media waiting for a jury verdict that Cosby was denied a fair trial.
3. The Cosby Defense Was Blocked From Calling Jackson to the Witness Stand & Ended Up Calling Only a Single Witness
Marguerite Jackson. (Facebook)
The judge did not allow the jury to hear Jackson’s account. The reason: The judge ruled her account was hearsay.
“For unclear reasons, Cosby’s team requested an additional witness, Marguerite Jackson, an adviser at Temple University where Cosby met Constand before allegedly drugging and sexually assaulting her in 2004. The judge denied the request,” Vanity Fair reported before the defense team released Jackson’s statement.
Instead, the defense released the statement to the news media while the jury was still inside deliberating.
“The defense did try to have Constand’s friend Marguerite Jackson called as a witness, but Judge O’Neill shut that effort down as “hearsay” in a session before the jury was brought in this morning,” Deadline reported before Jackson’s statement was released. However, Constand denies ever meeting Jackson, far from being her friend.
4. Both Constand & Jackson Worked for Temple University
Marguerite Jackson. (Facebook)
In her statement, Marguerite Jackson wrote that she had been employed by Temple University for the past 30 years as a student advisor. She said she had supported various departments to include the Fox School of Business, Athletics and Music and Dance.
From 2002 until 2006, she says she was assigned to academic advising for student athletics. Her role as an adviser to the departments was to “ensure the students are on track academically. As a result I worked closely with Andrea Constand, who at that time was the Operations Manager of the women’s basketball team. Andrea and I had regular contact and as a result became friends.”
Marguerite Jackson. (Facebook)
Temple University does list a Marguerite Jackson as a member of its advising staff, and it’s been widely reported before that Constand worked for Temple University at the time of the allegations.
Constand was the director of operations for basketball at Temple University, reports Deadline.
Temple posted a video of Marguerite Jackson talking about its music programs. “Associate Director of Undergraduate Advising Marguerite Jackson speaks on the numerous opportunities available to Temple musicians within the summer programs offered by Boyer School of Music. Students taking advantage of the flexible summer programs describe the benefits of spending their summer at Boyer,” the blurb with the video notes.
5. Constand Gave Emotional Testimony on the Witness Stand Accusing Cosby of Drugging & Assaulting Her
Andrea Constand. (Facebook)
Bill Cosby never ended up testifying in his own defense. However, Constand was the prosecution’s star witness in the case. She emotionally testified that Cosby gave her pills to drug her and then had sexual contact with her.
Cosby admitted giving Constand the pills and having sexual contact with her in a civil deposition, but he’s contended the contact was consensual.
