Cosby guilty on all 3 counts of aggravated indecent assault
NORRISTOWN, Pa. – Comedian and TV icon Bill Cosby was convicted on three counts of aggravated indecent assault at his sexual-assault retrial Thursday.
The conviction was not the outcome Cosby and his defense team wanted, but it was an answer to the question that has haunted America since October 2014: Is “America’s Dad” really a serial sexual predator who drugged and molested Andrea Constand at his nearby home in January 2004?
The verdict came on the second day of deliberations, and after it was delivered, Judge Steven O’Neill thanked jurors for their service and then warned them about interactions with the media.
After the jury left the room, O’Neill said the $1million bail Cosby posted was sufficient for him to remain free until sentencing. That set off a heated argument with Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele, who wanted Cosby’s bail revoked as a flight risk.
The judge questioned this, citing Cosby’s age, health and the fact that he showed up for every court proceeding over two years. “I am not going to simply lock him up because of this,” O’Neill said. A sentencing date was not set.
Last June, another jury at Cosby’s first trial deadlocked after days of deliberations, forcing O’Neill to declare a mistrial.
For the retrial, the jury of seven men and five women voted unanimously that Cosby was guilty. Cosby, charged with three counts of aggravated indecent assault, could get 10 years in prison on each count. He denied the charges, asserting that his sexual encounter with Constand was consensual and saying he only gave her an over-thecounter allergy medication.
At 80 and in failing health, any prison term is likely a life sentence.
Cosby did not address the media and left the courthouse an hour after the verdict was delivered. His lead defense attorney, Tom Mersereau, did say whether there would be an appeal.
At a news conference a few hours later, Steele said: “Today, we’re finally in a place to say that justice was done . ... We now know who the real Bill Cosby is.”
He praised Constand for her “courage and resilience” in the face of attacks on her and her family, calling her “inspiring to all of us.”
Advocates for rape victims and lawyers who represent many of the fivedozen women who have accused Cosby of being a serial rapist immediately started celebrating, saying it was a win for sexual-assault victims everywhere.
Advocates mounted regular protests during the trials, hoping to influence the media and the public.
But the jury, which was sequestered at a hotel, saw and heard none of it. They were instructed not to let outside influences, such as the Me Too movement to call out sexual harassment and assault, creep into the jury room.
Stuart Slotnick, a New York criminal defense lawyer who’s been following the case for more than two years, said he believes there are strong grounds for appeal, based on O’Neill’s still-unexplained change of mind to allow five other accusers of Cosby to testify at the retrial.
“As we know from the first trial, the end of deliberations does not mean it’s over,” Slotnick said. “Was it overly prejudicial to allow five accusers to testify about uncharged crimes, thereby affecting the jury’s verdict unfairly? Clearly, one complainant and one additional accuser were not enough to procure a conviction at the first trial, and by allowing five additional women to testify, the judge really put his thumb on the scale.”