After the Cosby sexual assault trial
This editorial appeared in USA Today:
The mistrial declared Saturday in Bill Cosby’s sexual assault trial underscores once again how hard it is to prove a sexual assault allegation, particularly against a powerful man like the iconic comic.
After so many allegations across so many decades, it’s astounding that Cosby has been able to walk away unpunished by the criminal justice system, if not unscathed. Among the reasons:
• The allegations against Cosby come from women who were acquaintances or dates. Rape is easier for juries to believe when assaults are committed by a stranger who jumps out of some bushes with a gun or knife, not with “three blue pills,” as Constand testified Cosby gave her one night in 2004. Despite the weight of the evidence supporting her account, inconsistencies in her original reports to police made it difficult for the jury to agree unanimously on guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
• Cosby wore not only the protective shroud of megastardom, but also an image as America’s dad, the wise and lovable Dr. Cliff Huxtable of Cosby Show fame. Most of his alleged victims were young and unknown — an aspiring actress of 19, a secretary at a talent agency, a 21-year-old working for a film producer — no match in a he-said, she-said battle with Cosby. Perhaps the idea of the TV father figure and sexual misdeeds just didn’t pass a credibility test. Then again, Dr. Huxtable was a role, not a real person.
Whether Cosby also was enabled by show business insiders who knew of his reputation is unclear.
In the courtroom in Norristown, Pa., the jurors saw the witnesses up close and heard every word of testimony. They deliberated more than 50 hours and still could not reach a verdict. Their efforts merit respect. But prosecutors announced they will conduct a new trial, and already the sheer volume of similar-sounding accusations has cost Cosby dearly in the court of public opinion.
More important for future victims is to remove the cultural and legal obstacles — from celebrity worship to court secrecy — that still make it too difficult for women to get justice after they’ve been sexually assaulted.