Cosby trial starts
No matter the outcome, damage is done
More than two years after Bill Cosby was shoved off his showbiz pedestal by an avalanche of accusations of sexual assault, the onceacclaimed comedy icon goes on trial Monday over what happened with one accuser more than 13 years ago.
Expect a trial as tightly focused as Judge Steven O’Neill can make it on what happened at Cosby’s suburban Philadelphia estate in January 2004, when Temple University official Andrea Constand arrived for dinner and advice from her mentor, Cosby, a Temple alum.
Do not expect to see Cosby testifying; he has said he won’t.
Do not expect to watch the trial; there will be no cameras in and no transmissions of any kind from the courtroom.
But it will be covered: More than 100 journalists signed up to watch the proceedings in Norristown, Pa.
No matter the outcome — whether the jury finds him guilty or innocent of three charges of aggravated indecent sexual assault — this much is clear: Cosby is a broken idol, shattered by accusations that he drugged and/or raped women he knew or met when he was becoming one of the most famous, powerful and beloved figures in Hollywood.
Cosby has said he hopes to return to his career. But that’s highly unlikely, says Stuart Slotnick, a criminal defense attorney who has been following the case.
“There is no recovery for Bill Cosby, based upon the massive number of reports of sexual abuse that the public has heard over the past several years,” Slotnick says.
If he’s acquitted, Cosby, 79, nearly blind and in uncertain health, will at least avoid prison. If he’s convicted, he could get years behind bars. That will have to be enough for the five dozen women who have come forward since October 2014 to accuse Cosby: It’s too late for them to pursue him in criminal court because of statutes of limitations.
What else to expect in the trial: THE CASE Cosby is charged with drugging and then molesting Constand, now 44, after she visited him at his estate. He says their encounter was consensual. She reported the encounter to police a year later, but the then-district attorney declined to file charges, citing lack of evidence and the time elapsed. So Constand filed a civil suit; it was settled in 2006 for an undisclosed sum, and sealed.
In December 2015, local District Attorney Kevin Steele cited Cosby’s unsealed deposition as “new evidence” when he filed the charges against Cosby, just weeks before the statute of limitations was to expire. THE ACCUSERS In a he-said-she-said case such as this, Constand will be the key witness. The prosecution sought to call 13 other accusers to testify to Cosby’s alleged “prior bad acts,” but O’Neill has allowed only one — known by the pseudonym “Kacey” — after ruling that her story (similar to Constand’s in some details) can be heard by the jury because its “probative” value outweighs any potential for unfair prejudice. THE PROSECUTION According to former Pennsylvania prosecutor Dennis McAndrews, the prosecution’s case is expected to focus on Constand’s testimony, “Kacey’s” testimony and Cosby’s own words about his behavior with women as taken in his deposition. THE DEFENSE Cosby’s team is headed by Philadelphia lawyer Brian McMonagle and Los Angeles lawyer Angela Agrusa. Their strategy is likely to focus on details in Constand’s story they believe could lead to reasonable doubt. For instance, they say, she told police she went to Cosby’s house and left after he touched her inappropriately the first time. But then she returned after he invited her to dinner. OTHER LAWYERS There are a half-dozen lawyers who represent other accusers who have filed civil suits against Cosby.
Gloria Allred is the main player in this crowd. She will be in the courtroom when her client “Kacey” testifies.
Moreover, she has used the Cosby case in her ongoing effort to persuade legislatures to eliminate or extend statutes of limitations on rape and child molestation cases so that accusers can pursue defendants in criminal court years after alleged assaults.