Cosby’s criminal trial: Key questions answered
Law prevents more charges, but judge may let others testify
Soon, Bill Cosby accuser Andrea Constand will get to confront him at a criminal trial about what she says he did to her 12 years ago. When she does, dozens of other women will be behind her in spirit, and a few may take the stand to testify in person, too. Maybe. Cosby, 78, the former TV idol fallen under the weight of five dozen accusations of drugging and/or sexual assault, was ordered Tuesday to answer Constand’s accusations at a trial outside Philadelphia.
He is charged with three counts of aggravated indecent assault against Constand, 43, who says Cosby drugged and molested her. Cosby says their encounter was consensual.
Americans who have been following the confounding Cosby saga since it re-emerged in October 2014 may well be asking: What about the other accusers? HOW DID SOME ACCUSERS REACT TO THE NEWS? “Many of my clients are very happy that Andrea Constand will have her day in court and the people of Pennsylvania will have their day in court and Mr. Cosby will have his day in court,” says Gloria Allred, the attorney who represents about 30 Cosby accusers, some of whom have not gone public.
One of them, Lili Bernard, who says Cosby raped her in 1990, said on MSNBC Tuesday that she was “elated.”
“I’m speaking here in solidarity and in prayer with Andrea Constand and the plethora of us victims of Bill Cosby’s sexual violence, as well as all survivors of sexual assault, both female and male,” she said. “I see Andrea Constand as ... the cornerstone of our fight for justice.” WILL OTHER ACCUSATIONS RESULT IN CHARGES? Not likely. All the other accusations against Cosby — the number of women who have accused him publicly is near 60 — are too old to pursue in criminal courts because of statutes of limitation.
Constand’s case has reached criminal court because Pennsylvania has a 12-year time period to file on sex charges. Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele, who made a campaign promise to pursue Cosby, filed the charges days before the statute of limitation was due to expire.
Thus, Constand, who lives in her native Canada, probably will be law enforcement’s only chance to try to convict Cosby of a crime. WILL OTHER ACCUSERS BE ALLOWED TO TESTIFY? Possibly. Prosecutors who want to introduce testimony about a defendant’s alleged “prior bad acts” — to show a similar pattern of behavior and thus bolster chances of conviction — have to meet a high standard of evidentiary value, says Dennis McAndrews, a former prosecutor who teaches criminal law at Villanova University and practices in suburban Philadelphia.
“It’s very challenging because courts are reluctant,” says McAndrews. “They hold the prosecution to a tight burden to establish that (the testimony) is highly relevant, that the facts of other cases are close to the case (on trial) and that the probative value significantly outweighs the prejudicial” effect.
If the trial judge OKs it, McAndrews expects prosecutors will pick five or six Cosby accusers whose stories are “as factually consistent as possible” with Constand’s story to take the stand to testify against Cosby. “It’s very powerful evidence,” he said. WHAT CAN COSBY’S DEFENSE TEAM DO? Allred says the issue of “prior bad acts” testimony will be key at trial, and at least some of her clients would be willing to testify.
“The only thing I can say with certainty is there is no doubt Mr. Cosby’s defense lawyers will vigorously object,” she says. “They want this to be ‘he-said-she-said’ and not ‘he-said-she-said-shesaid-she-said-she-said’ or however many it’s going to be.”
Indeed, Cosby’s lawyers will try to persuade the judge against allowing other accusers to testify and may appeal if they lose. McAndrews says appellate courts are reluctant to intervene on such appeals until after the trial.