FROM ‘AMERICA’S DAD’ TO CONVICTED SEX OFFENDER Timeline shows Bill Cosby’s journey to conviction
Yesterday, Bill Cosby was convicted yesterday of drugging and molesting former Temple University women’s basketball official Andrea Constand in 2004 at his home near Philadelphia.
The 80-year-old comedian could spend the rest of his life in prison.
Here’s a timeline of events:
January 2005 — Constand told her mother something happened with Cosby the year before. They go to police, who suggest they record him on a phone call.
On the call, Cosby said he engaged in “digital penetration” but refuses to say what pills he gave her. The case is referred to Pennsylvania authorities.
February 2005 — Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor announces he will not charge Cosby as he considers the case weak.
March 2005 — Constand sues Cosby for sexual battery and defamation.
November 2006 — Cosby settles the case for nearly $3.4 million after giving four days of deposition testimony about his affairs with young women over a span of 50 years.
October 2014 — Comedian Hannibal Burress calls Cosby a rapist in a stand-up act caught on video and shared online. More women accuse Cosby of assaulting them.
December 2014 — The Associated Press (AP) petitions to have documents in Constand’s 2005 lawsuit unsealed. Cosby fights the request.
July 2015 — Judge Eduardo Robreno grants the AP’s motion, saying the case is a matter as to which “the AP — and by extension the public — has a significant interest.”
August 2015 — Montgomery County authorities reopen the 2005 criminal case, aware the 12-year statute of limitations for aggravated sexual assault had not yet run out.
December 30, 2015 — Cosby is arrested, enters a not-guilty plea and is released on $1 million bail.
June 17, 2017 — After more than 52 hours of deliberations over six days at his first trial, jurors report they are deadlocked, prompting the judge to declare a mistrial. Prosecutors immediately announce they’ll put him on a trial a second time.
August 2017 – Cosby hires new lawyers, including Tom Mesereau, the high-profile attorney who won an acquittal in Michael Jackson’s child molestation case.
March 2018 — Judge Steven O’Neill agrees to let five additional accusers testify at the retrial, giving prosecutors a chance to portray Cosby as a serial predator who drugged and molested women. The defence argues that “ancient allegations” would confuse, distract and prejudice the jury.
April 3 — The judge gives Cosby’s legal defence a huge lift by saying they can call a witness, Marguerite Jackson, who says Constand talked about framing a celebrity before she lodged sexual abuse allegations against Cosby in 2005. The judge also helps the defence case by ruling jurors can hear how much Cosby ultimately paid Constand in the 2006 civil settlement. April 9 — Cosby’s retrial begins.
April 26 — Cosby is convicted on three charges of aggravated indecent assault. His lawyer says the “fight is not over” and he plans to appeal.