Pyongyang ready for talks over NK nukes
UNITED STATES: Bill Cosby’s sexual assault retrial is guaranteed to be anything but a rerun.
With opening statements set for today in the first big celebrity trial of the #MeToo era, 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, 80, 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 in a cliffhanger, 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 wise and understanding Dr Cliff Huxtable on The Cosby Show drugged and molested 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 10 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, 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 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,’’ 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 Constand’s allegations.
This time, 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. The judge allowed just one other accuser to take the stand last time.
‘‘This one will be harder for the defence,’’ Levenson said. This time, Constand ‘‘is not alone, and there is strength in numbers’’.
In another difference, the judge this time is letting Cosby’s legal team call as a witness a former coworker of Constand’s at Temple University who said Constand spoke of setting up a ‘‘high-profile person’’ so she could sue and enjoy a big payday. Constand’s lawyer has said the co-worker is lying.
The judge also decided the jury can hear the answer to one of the biggest questions hanging over the case: How much did Cosby pay Constand to settle her lawsuit against him more than a decade ago? The two sides agreed at the first trial not to mention the case.
Cosby lawyer Tom Mesereau, who won an acquittal in Michael Jackson’s 2005 child molestation case, said the jury will learn ‘‘just how greedy’’ Constand was.
In a twist, the judge hinted he might not allow jurors to hear Cosby’s lurid deposition testimony about giving quaaludes to women before sex. He said he would rule on it during the trial.
Cosby testified in 2005 and 2006 as part of Constand’s lawsuit. He did not take the stand at the first trial and is unlikely to this time.
Over the past few years, about 60 women have come forward with allegations against Cosby dating to the 1960s. Netflix shelved his comedy special, NBC scrapped plans for a new sitcom, and reruns of The Cosby Show were pulled.
Cosby has performed only once since ending a tour amid hecklers and protests in May 2015. He joked at a surprise Philadelphia jazz club appearance in January that he ‘‘used to be a comedian’’.
Even if Cosby is acquitted, he will never win back his reputation, crisis communications expert David La Torre said.
‘‘In some cases, being tried in the court of public opinion is far more damaging than the court of law,’’ La Torre said. ‘‘That’s certainly the case here.’’ –AP NORTH KOREA/US: North Korea’s government has communicated with the United States to say that leader Kim Jong Un is ready to discuss his nuclear weapons programme with President Donald Trump, officials said yesterday, increasing the likelihood that the unprecedented summit will actually occur.
The confirmation from Pyongyang directly, rather than from third countries like South Korea, has created more confidence within Trump’s administration about the wisdom of holding such a meeting, as US officials make secretive preparations. The Trump administration has long said that if the North Koreans weren’t ready to discuss giving up their nuclear programme, there was no reason for the two countries to hold negotiations.
Trump took his own administration and other countries by surprise last month when he accepted an unusual offer from Kim to hold a meeting. The North had conveyed the invitation to a visiting delegation from South Korea, which in turn travelled to Washington and relayed the message to Trump.
The president said yes to the meeting on the spot, even though the US had not yet heard directly from North Korea about Kim’s intentions.
The US later heard from other countries including China, where Kim paid a rare visit, that the North was serious about the offer.
Still, North Korea’s government has not said anything publicly at all about a meeting with Trump, and the lack of known contact between Pyongyang and Washington about the meeting has fuelled further speculation about the seriousness of Kim’s offer.
A Trump administration official yesterday said that the US had ‘‘confirmed that Kim Jong Un is willing to discuss the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula?.’’ A second official said that confirmation had come through direct contact between American and North Korean officials.
Neither of the officials would say when or how the contact took place, nor in what location. The officials weren’t authorised to comment by name and demanded anonymity.
Previously, former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had said there were at least two or three channels through which US and North Korean officials communicate from time to time.
The Trump administration has not said where the meeting will place or whether a location has been determined, nor has an exact date been set.
Initially, the White House said it expected the meeting to take place by the end of May.
It’s unclear whether a date that early could be achieved or whether it might be delayed. -AP