Cosby verdict ‘longawaited, symbolic’
UNITED STATES: Bill Cosby has been found guilty of drugging and sexually assaulting an acquaintance by a court in Philadelphia, in what has been seen as the first big celebrity trial of the #MeToo era.
Cosby, 80, faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of US$25,000 (NZ$35,400) on each of the three charges of which he was found guilty yesterday.
Andrea Constand, a Canadian basketball coach at Temple University in Philadelphia, accused Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting her at his home in 2004, when she was 30. It was her second attempt to secure a conviction: the first trial began on June 5, 2017, but ended less than two weeks later with the jury ‘‘hopelessly deadlocked’’.
Hearing the verdict, some of the more than 60 women who have accused Cosby shrieked with joy, and were asked to leave the courtroom.
Kevin Steele, prosecuting, asked Judge Steven O’Neill to order that Cosby’s passport be confiscated, leading the judge to ask why the disgraced entertainer was considered a flight risk.
Steele replied Cosby had a private plane, leading the actor to yell out that he does not have a plane.
O’Neill said that because of Cosby’s age and medical condition, ‘‘I am not going to simply lock him up’’. He was released on US$1 million (NZ$1.41m) bail.
Sentencing will take place in 60 to 90 days.
Cosby was an iconic black entertainer whose The Cosby Show ran on TV from 1984 to 1992 and was rated the No 1 show in America for five years.
The actor, who is now legally blind, stood beside Tom Mesereau, his lawyer, famed for defending Michael Jackson against 2005 accusations of child molestation, on the steps of the courthouse as Mesereau vowed to appeal.
‘‘We are very disappointed by the verdict,’’ Mesereau said. ‘‘We don’t think Mr Cosby is guilty of anything.’’
Constand left court without commenting, but outside there were tearful scenes as other accusers hugged each other.
Lili Bernard, a Cuban-American actress who guest-starred on The Cosby Show and accused Cosby of rape in the early 1990s, broke down in tears on the steps of the courthouse. She called Constand ‘‘the Joan of Arc in the war on rape’’.
‘‘I feel like I am dreaming,’’ she said. ‘‘I feel like my faith in humanity is restored. This is a victory not just for Andrea Constand. It’s a victory for all sexual assault survivors, women and men. I thank the jury so much.’’
Gloria Allred, the crusading feminist lawyer who has represented some of Cosby’s accusers, said she was ‘‘the happiest I have been after 42 years’’ of fighting for women.
‘‘Finally, we can say that women are believed,’’ she said. ‘‘Not just online, with the hashtag MeToo, but in a courtroom.’’
Allred read out a statement from Janice Dickinson, the American model who testified in support of Constand, who said: ‘‘I am overwhelmed with joy, relief and gratitude. Joy that finally justice has been served. Relief that this toxic chain of silence has been broken. And we can finally move forward with our heads held high.’’
Kathleen Bliss, Cosby’s lawyer, had said in her closing arguments: ‘‘It sounds as though she slept with every single man on the planet. Is Miss Dickinson really the moral beacon that the women’s movement wants?’’
Allred praised the women who ‘‘took the risk against a rich, famous man . . . They took the risk of being shamed and blamed, as the defence did in their final argument’’.
‘‘The MeToo movement has arrived, and is well and living in Montgomery County and this country and throughout the world.’’
The jury of seven men and five women spent 14 hours deliberating at the end of the retrial, which began on April 9. Prosecutors used Cosby’s past admissions about drugs and sex as well as the testimony of five other women to bolster Constand’s allegations.
Cosby’s lawyers said Constand levelled false accusations against Cosby so she could sue and extract a US$3.4 million civil settlement in 2006. The case was reopened by a new district attorney.
‘‘The Cosby verdict is a long-awaited and symbolic victory for many survivors of sexual violence,’’ said Kristen Houser, the spokesman for the National Sexual Violence Resource Centre. ‘‘The thousands of individual voices within the #MeToo movement have created a powerful chorus that is being heard. We hope there is a renewed sense of purpose for the women who bravely testified in this trial and endured being blamed, shamed and made out to be con artists.’’
Constand’s is the only criminal case to arise from claims made by more than 60 women. All other accusations fall out of the statute of limitations.
– Telegraph Group