Topless protester handcuffed as Cosby retrial gets under way
● Woman ran towards comedian on his way into courthouse
A topless protester who appeared on several episodes of The Cosby Show as a child jumped a barricade and got within a few feet of Bill Cosby as the comedian entered a suburban Philadelphia courthouse for the start of his sexual assault retrial.
The woman, whose body was scrawled with the names of more than 50 Cosby accusers as well as the words “Women’s Lives Matter,” ran in front of Cosby toward a bank of TV cameras but was intercepted by sheriff’s deputies and led away in handcuffs.
Cosby seemed startled by the commotion as a half-dozen protesters chanted at him.
The protester, Nicolle Rochelle, 39, of Little Falls, New Jersey, was charged with disorderly conduct and released.
“The main goal was to make Cosby uncomfortable because that is exactly what he has been doing for decades to women and to show him that the body can be aggressive and empowered,” she said.
Rochelle, an actress, said she didn’t have any bad experiences with Cosby when she was on the show, nor did she intend to physically hurt him. She is a member of the European feminist group Femen, which is known for staging topless protests around the world.
The disruption came ahead of opening statements, which were delayed while the judge sorted through allegations raised late on Friday that a juror told a woman during jury selection that he thought Cosby, 80, was guilty. Cosby’s lawyers want the juror removed from the case.
Prosecutors have lined up a parade of accusers to make the case that the man revered as “America’s Dad” lived a double life as one of Hollywood’s biggest predators.
Cosby is fighting back with a new, high-profile lawyer and an aggressive strategy: attacking Andrea Constand as a greedy liar and casting the other women testifying as bandwagon accusers looking for a share of the spotlight.
“You’ve seen previews and coming attractions, but things have changed,” said professor Laurie Levenson of Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.
Cosby’s first trial last spring ended with jurors unable to reach a unanimous verdict after five days of tense deliberations on charges that the man who made millions of viewers laugh as Dr Cliff Huxtable on The Cosby Show drugged and molested Ms Constand at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004.
The comedian, who has said the sexual contact was consensual, faces three counts of aggravated indecent assault, each punishable by up to ten years in prison.
His retrial is taking place in a radically changed and potentially more hostile environment. The#metoo movement caught fire four months after the first trial, raising awareness of sexual misconduct as it toppled Harvey Weinstein, senator Al Franken, TV news anchor Matt Lauer and other powerful men.
Nearly every potential juror questioned for the case this time knew about #Metoo.
Kristen houser of the national Sexual Violence Resource Center said that could help prosecutors overcome the scepticism some jurors had last time about Ms Constand’s year-long wait to report her allegations to the police.
“The #Metoo movement is amplifying what experts have been saying for decades: People are ashamed, they’re confused, they can’t believe somebody they trust would hurt them, and then they worry that others won’t believe them,” Ms Houser said. After limiting the focus of the first trial, Judge Steven O’neill has been willing to let both sides push the retrial well beyond Ms Constand’s allegations.
This time, Mr O’neill is letting prosecutors have five additional accusers testify – including model Janice Dickinson – as they attempt to show Cosby made a habit of drugging and violating women.