Prosecutor calls for 5-10 years
NORRISTOWN » Claiming Bill Cosby’s portrayal of a public moralist was really “a mask used to victimize” women, a prosecutor urged a judge to send the actor to state prison on charges he sexually assaulted a woman at his Cheltenham mansion in 2004.
“This is about a person who put himself in a situation of being a mentor. But it was to drug her and to sexually assault her,” Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele argued on Monday as Cosby’s two-day sentencing hearing got under way. “He doesn’t comprehend it’s wrong to drug somebody and sexually assault them. No acceptance of responsibility for his actions, no remorse.
“He’s certainly not the dad he played on TV,” Steele added. “The bottom line is nobody is above the law.”
Steele asked Judge Steven T. O’Neill to sentence Cosby, 81, to five to 10 years in prison on charges of aggravated indecent assault in connection with sexually assaulting Andrea Constand, a former Temple University athletic department employee, after plying her with “three blue
pills,” at his Cheltenham mansion in January 2004. A jury convicted Cosby of the charges during a trial in April.
But defense lawyer Joseph P. Green Jr. urged the judge to sentence Cosby to a mitigated sentence of intermediate punishment, which can include house arrest. Green said Cosby’s old age and his blindness are mitigating factors to consider.
“What does an 81-yearold man do in prison? How does he fight off the people who are trying to extort him?” Green argued, suggesting Cosby would be a target for others in prison. “Mr. Cosby is not dangerous.”
Green also urged the judge not to let the court of public opinion influence his determination of a sentence.
Cosby, wearing a dark suit, appeared calm and leaned back in a large leather chair at the defense table during the lawyers’ closing arguments to the judge. Cosby’s wife, Camille, did not attend the hearing and no witnesses, not even character witnesses, were called to testify on Cosby’s behalf during the sentencing hearing.
Prosecutors presented so-called “victim impact testimony” from Constand, her parents and her sister.
Constand presented a written statement to the judge but did not reveal the contents in open court. Instead, she told the judge the jury heard her testimony and “Mr. Cosby heard me.”
“Now, all I’m asking for is justice as the court sees fit,” Constand testified.
Constand’s mother, Gianna, choked up with emotion several times as she characterized her family’s victimization by Cosby as “a nightmare.”
“A rollercoaster ride that never came to an end,” Gianna Constand testified, adding Cosby’s crimes against her daughter contributed to “so much pain and sadness in my life.”
“The thought of what happened to my daughter Andrea will be with me forever, like a dark cloud hanging over my head,” added Constand’s father, Andrew.
Before O’Neill formally imposes Cosby’s sentence on Tuesday, he will have to determine if the entertainer once known as “America’s Dad” should be classified as a sexually violent predator.
Those classified as predators, under current law, face more stringent restrictions upon parole, including mandatory treatment or counseling and community notification about their living arrangements.
But regardless the predator determination, Cosby, as a result of his conviction of the felony sex assault charges, faces a lifetime requirement to report his address to state police.
Testifying for prosecutors on Monday, a member of the Pennsylvania Sexual Offenders Assessment Board suggested that due to a mental abnormality or personality disorder Cosby is likely to engage in predatory sexual offenses in the future.
Dr. Kristen Dudley, a psychologist with the state board, said she diagnosed Cosby as having an “other specified paraphilic disorder” pursuing non-consenting women. Dudley said she came to her conclusion after reviewing arrest documents and testimony from Cosby’s trial.
“It is considered to be a lifelong condition,” Dudley testified for Special Assistant District Attorney M. Stewart Ryan. “Mr. Cosby has been engaging in this behavior for over 30 years. I came to the conclusion that Mr. Cosby does meet the criteria to be classified as a sexually violent predator.”
But Green plans to offer opposing testimony from a mental health expert to suggest Cosby does not meet requirements under the law to be classified as a predator. That testimony is expected on Tuesday.
Green challenged Dudley’s suggestion that Cosby is likely to reoffend, arguing she could not have made that determination based on the material she reviewed during her evaluation. Cosby chose not to participate in the evaluation by the board.
“There is no reasonable prospect that an 81-year-old blind man is likely to reoffend,” Green argued.
While Dudley agreed that there were no new allegations against Cosby that she was aware of since 2004, she didn’t rule out that he could reoffend in the future.
“People who are blind are able to meet people. It does not render them unsocial,” Dudley responded during Green’s cross-examination. “It is possible that he has already met someone who could be a future victim.”
Earlier on Monday, the judge denied Green’s request to declare the law regarding sexually violent predator classifications to be unconstitutional. Green argued the law is overly punitive, would extend Cosby’s punishment and violate his due process rights.
Prosecutors, however, argued the current law is constitutional and that the purpose of the law is not to shame defendants but to protect the community.
With its April 26 verdict, the Montgomery County jury found that Cosby sexually assaulted Constand while she was unconscious and without her consent.
It was the second trial for Cosby. Cosby’s first trial in June 2017 ended in a mistrial when a jury selected from Allegheny County couldn’t reach a verdict.
Cosby has remained free on bail, 10 percent of $1 million, while awaiting sentencing.
The trial represented the first time Cosby, who played Dr. Cliff Huxtable on “The Cosby Show” from 1984 to 1992, had been charged with a crime despite allegations from dozens of women who claimed they were assaulted by the entertainer.
During the 14-day retrial, Steele, Ryan and co-prosecutor Kristen Feden alleged Cosby plied Constand with “three blue pills” and proceeded to sexually assault her while she visited his home to discuss her career.
Prosecutors argued Constand did not have the ability to consent to sexual contact.
Constand, 45, of Ontario, Canada, testified that after taking the blue pills she began slurring her words and was unable to fight off Cosby’s sexual advances. The former director of women’s basketball operations at Temple University claimed Cosby guided her to a couch, where she passed out.
Constand testified she was “jolted” awake to find Cosby touching her breasts, digitally penetrating her and forcing her to touch his penis, all without her consent.
Constand didn’t report the incident to police until January 2005, about a year after it occurred. Constand was 30 and Cosby was in his 60s at the time of the assault.
Cosby, who did not testify during his first trial or at the retrial, maintained the contact he had with Constand was consensual.
During the retrial, Cosby’s lawyers portrayed Constand as greedy and “a pathological liar” who had a financial motive to lie about a sexual assault.
For the first time publicly, it was revealed during the retrial that Cosby entered into a $3,380,000 civil settlement with Constand in October 2006.