In a ruling in Pennsylvania yesterday, Bill Cosby was ordered to stand trial for sexual assault stemming from a 2004 incident in which he is accused of drugging and attacking former Temple University employee Andrea Constand at his home. Cosby’s lawyers have tried for months to get the case dismissed but their efforts were unsuccessful. He has waived his right to an arraignment, meaning that this case will proceed more quickly to trial. Cosby was present at court while Constand remained in Canada, where she lives. Of course Cosby’s lawyers tried to use that to their advantage. He faces up to ten years in prison.
Cosby, 78, was present for the preliminary hearing in Montgomery County as the prosecution and his defense argued over statements that he and Andrea Constand, who accused him of the assault, made to authorities more than a decade ago. He’s been charged with three counts of aggravated indecent assault in the only criminal case against him. More than 50 women have accused him of some form of sexual misconduct.
The statements detailed an encounter between Cosby and Constand in his suburban mansion. The two agreed that Cosby gave Constand some pills, but they differed on whether the sexual contact that followed was consensual.
“Based on the evidence, I am going to hold you on charges,” Judge Elizabeth McHugh said before tentatively scheduling his formal arraignment for July 20. Cosby waived his right to the arraignment Tuesday, setting the case to go to trial after that date.
Constand told police in 2005 that she was “paralyzed” from the drugs and unable to talk as Cosby groped her, according to her statement that was read aloud in court. Before she took the three pills, Cosby told her they would “take the edge off,” according to her statement.
At some point, after Cosby helped her to a sofa, she said she passed out and awoke hours later to find her bra askew.
Constand was neither in court nor called to testify, despite objections from Cosby’s defense attorney, Brian McMonagle, who claimed that reading her statement amounted to “hearsay.”
In Cosby’s statement, which was also read aloud by a police officer, the entertainer said Constand was a “willing participant“ as he touched her breasts and put his hand in her pants. He claimed the pills he gave her were Benadryl.
Cosby had invited Constand to his home to discuss her career. At the time, she worked for Temple University’s women’s basketball team.
She first alleged that Cosby had taken advantage of her to police in her native Canada about a year after the incident…
A previous Montgomery County district attorney, Bruce Castor, chose not to pursue a criminal case against Cosby at the time. Constand then sued Cosby and they settled in 2006.
Kevin Steele, the newly elected DA, filed charges in December 2015 after Cosby’s deposition from the lawsuit became public.
[From Reuters via The Huffington Post]
Yesterday the news came out that Cosby had admitted in a civil deposition to having young models sent to him on set as recently as 2000. At that time he would have been working on the show Cosby in New York. He was 63 years old and one of the young women he admitted having sex with was just 17 according to People. (Page Six has her as 18 or 19, and they also have disturbing details about the way he drugged and assaulted these women, which he freely admitted to.)
There are now 58 women who have accused Cosby of sexual misconduct, many of whom have strikingly similar stories of being drugged against their will and raped. The Washington Post has an infographic of his victims, the majority of which have gone on the record to describe how they were violated. It’s staggering that these are the only criminal charges he’s faced. I hope that these charges stick and that he spends the rest of his life in prison. His victims deserve a small amount of justice.
This is Cosby going into the hearing:
This is Cosby coming out:
Good!!
You took the word right out of my mouth.
…and about time.
About bloody time. And I feel sick. Again.
Standing up and clapping furiously here!! It’s about f%!*ing time this creeping perv has to face what he’s done. Personally, I also think his disgusting, enabling wife should be made to face accessory charges!
I’m sad and angry that he turned out to be such a disgusting excuse for a human being. I hope he is found guilty and goes to jail.
I can’t even look at pictures of him anymore.
He ruined The Cosby show and pudding for me. What is wrong with this man? How can he be so two-faced his entire life? What’s the matter with his wife? I feel badly for his kids who have to listen to or read about their father drugging girls for sex.
Me too. It’s hard to see someone you have respected turn out to be a scuz bucket.
@gnat, I believe we, as the public, feel betrayed by him. I hope he does actual time if convicted
Not likely he will be convicted, but his behavior was an open secret, as Patton Oswalt said. The studio knew what was happening backstage on their sets, with Cosby having lines of young women waiting outside his dressing room to “audition.” Don’t know how many knew what they were in for, but the people who sent them out did. They, as well as Hefner, should be charged as well for facilitating some of these crimes of any of them happened on set of in the Playboy mansion.
–TheRealPinky
ITA every one of them was an enabler and are just as culpable as he was. I don’t know if there is an ‘accessory’ finding in law to make it a chargeable offence to help someone commit sexual assault – I need a legal eagle to help on that one – but I do know there should be…
Not sure about the law in Pennsylvania, but I have seen cases brought both in NY state court & in fed’l court under the theory of an ongoing criminal enterprise. Think conspiracy. So although it was a long time ago, with an ongoing enterprise the statute of limitations doesn’t start running until after the very last act (which gives the prosecutor a lot more time).
I hope that makes sense!
@ GingerNYC – yes it does thank you for the info!
I agree that everyone who knew should face some sort of charges.
I think so much of this goes on in Hollywood, and all of the weirdos there facilitate it, or think it is normal. People always ask why anyone works for Woody Allen anymore. I think the answer is, if they didn’t work with everyone who was a weirdo, there wouldn’t be many people to work for.
I think you’re probably right and that the reality of how much sexual abuse there is contributes to all the skirting, side stepping and head burying responses people give about working with Allen. Many of them would probably truthfully answer that they haven’t been questioned about their choices to work with just as bad or worse perverts…scary.
The Woody Allen case is very different. Only one accuser (I would have expected others by now, as happened with Cosby and Sandusky), and her testimony is heavily contaminated by Mia Farrow’s odd behavior throughout. Her ambitious brother is the one who kept bringing it up, and he does not have direct knowledge of it.
Many people who work with Woody probably have serious doubts that the accusation is true, and for good reasons. I find the claim weak myself, regardless of how neurotic and clueless about relationships Woody certainly is. There are too many problems with the timing and circumstances and Mia’s contradictions. Something happened to that girl, but it could have been manipulation (intentional or unintentional) by Mia that created her memory – the girl was so emotionally attached to her mother, she was saying things that no seven year old would say. I also seriously wonder if the event did happen but not at that time and not with Woody. What if she was actually molested by her maternal uncle, who is now in prison for child molesting? Her mother would not be happy to hear that, but was already understandably spitting nails at Woody. Children do sometimes shift the blame for such reasons to someone who is safe. Mia has rage issues and was selectively physically abusive toward her children, which adds another element to the need to keep mommy happy if the little girl was aware of those episodes.
@Jwoolman Well, I am certain Dylan is telling the truth. I know one or two things other people–probably even Farrow herself–do not know. Plus, Allen was obsessed with Dylan, was in therapy over it, slept in her bed, had her sucking his fingers, garbage like that. He’s a creep, he’s obsessed with younger women even now, he hit on Mariel Hemingway when she was a teen (www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2015/03/woody-allen-mariel-hemingway-manhattan), he sullied his girlfriend’s daughter (his de facto common law stepdaughter). Basically, the people who don’t believe Dylan are those who simply don’t want to for their own selfish purposes. There is no other excuse.
–TheRealPinky
Really? Why do you think so? That is not the impression I have gotten thus far.
Why do I think he won’t be convicted? Because it was so long ago, there is no physical evidence, they had consensual relations a few times before, she willingly took the pills, which apparently he told her would help her relax, etc. (which one could argue they did–as in, he could say he didn’t know they would knock her out entirely as they only made him “sleepy”). The outside noise, as in all the info about the other women, will likely not be admissible because it would be prejudicial. It would be a he said-she said situation and there is some plausible deniability.
Plus, his team is likely going to find a way to make that prior deposition inadmissible. The prosecutor broke an existing agreement that Cosby would give this deposition in exchange for not being prosecuted in this case, so his attorneys will have plenty of ammo for an appeal.
It’s the prosecutor putting on a show on a kind of loser case so he can seem heroic and win re-election.
I say none of this to imply that he SHOULD get off (no pun intended), just that it’s likely he will get off (still no pun intended).
–TheRealPinky
Who prescribed the drugs?
Good question!
Gynecologist Leroy Amar who eventually had his medical license taken away and then died.
If you have an unethical doctor as a buddy, it is very easy to get the good stuff prescribed. I’ve witnessed it first hand.
You don’t even need to be buddies with the unethical doctor, all you need is to be famous and/or have a boatload of cash.
In this instance it says Benadryl was used, which is OTC.
my daugher was drugged by her boss, the owner of a restaurant chain in Ontario, with Benadryl in her drink, when he tok her out to dinner. Fortunately she woke up & started screaming bloody murder before he actually raped her, but he’d already removed half her clothing. This is still a sexual assault. She regarded him as a mentor. He took her to dinner at a hotel on the excuse that there was an industry event there. The event was inconsequential.
The Crown Attorney declined to prosecute on the grounds that Benadryl is not considered a date-rape drug in Canada. So, the guy went free & of course we know he’s gone on his merry way, thinking he won’t get punished, ever.
SMDH.
It’s so ridiculous. Anytime you put any kind of drug in someone without them knowing, the intent is there. They need to fix that. It’s things like this that make me so sad for my country.
That being said – I literally passed out on the couch after taking a benedryl yesterday for hives. That stuff packs a weird punch.
Erinn, it knocks my azz out as well, which is why I almost NEVER take it anymore. even just half a pill, and ONE pill is the recommended dosage.
mostly I take a 24-hour Target-brand zyrtec right before I go to bed so even if it makes me sleepy, I’m on my way to sleep anyway.
if you get hives, try the topical benedryl gel…has an immediate effect and, while you do “ingest” it through your skin, it doesn’t seem to have the same knock-out effect when applied topically, at least to me.
WTF
Ouu thanks for the tip, doofus. I’ll have to grab me some of that. For the most part I try to take it before bed if I need it – and usually I’ll take non-drowsey stuff. But I find that benedryl works great for hives, so if it’s regular watery eye stuff I just take some Aerius or whatever. I’ll definitely be looking for a topical one though, since I’m not entirely sure what is causing the occasional hives.
F that sh*t! And the prosecutor. Attempted rape doesn’t require any kind of spiked drug. If a women is unconscious, and this guy is taking advantage of her, it’s attempted rape, drug or no drug.
–TheRealPinky
I am so sorry your daughter had to go through that. And you as well. More changes need to be made in every legal system to catch up to what these predators are doing.
@Azurea – That’s horrible!
@Erinn – Please don’t use topical Benadryl! I was told by my doctor that using topical Benadryl can cause you to become allergic to internal Benadryl. And if you become allergic to internal Benadryl, you’ll be in real trouble if ever you have to go to the ER for a real allergic reaction because it’s the first thing they give to people.
I was there because I had such a bad case of poison ivy/poison oak that it was in my lungs. He had to give me a cortisone shot to stop it. I was asking what I could use on the places and brought up a wonderful product that I had seen called Tecnu – and that I was going to try it and the topical Benadryl that came with it. He told me under no circumstances was I to use the topical Benadryl.
Tecnu is a lifesaver for stopping poison ivy/oak/sumac though.
If you get hives, please talk to your doctor about prescribing you an Epi Pen if you haven’t already. A lady at work was saved several times by having one; she’s literally deathly allergic to the chemicals they use to clean the carpets at night.
Jag, I’ve used both (but not at the same time, THAT is where the trouble can start, according to my allergy doc) and still do and I’ve never had an issue.
best thing for ANYONE to do is talk to your doc FIRST.
I find it ironic how in the deposition he says he would buy Quaaludes and give them to the girls, but that he never took any because they made him sleepy. Right there that is an admission to drugging them to unconsciousness so he could rape them. Most of these women didn’t even know what he was giving them anyway.
He is evil, and it is amazing how long he was able to do this, decades, and at the same time be the face of good old Dr. Huxtable and/or the face of a lecturer to black youth telling them how to act.
Sickening, isn’t it?
That is what the prosecution will argue, but he will say he didn’t know how it would impact her–that he thought it just made you relax. He never said it knocked him unconscious, so he’s got some wiggle room there and deniability. In an odd way, that statement kind of helps him. Again, not sticking up for him, just pointing stuff out.
–TheRealPinky
Won’t other women, who have been drugged by him, come forward to help refute the claim that he didn’t know what would happen? Plus, he should be charged for giving his prescription medication to people it hasn’t been prescribed to.
Yessss!
I’m confused about the statute of limitations unless PA doesn’t have it. I thought charges couldn’t be brought after a certain number of years, only murder is always open. Any Cosby’s behavior is disgusting. He’s making Tiger Woods look good.
I was reading about this last night, and one of the articles, which one I can’t remember, said something about them filing just under the wire before the statute of limitations ran out.
I think this particular case fulls under the statute. If I remember correctly it’s the only one that falls within the time frame.
The statute of limitations was 12 years. Cosby was literally charged weeks before it ran out.
Meant to submit this earlier but was distracted… Tiger Woods engaged in consensual sex with multiple (conscious) women. There would have been nothing wrong with that if he hadn’t been married.
Tiger Woods didn’t drug anybody. He cheated on his wife with other women in clearly consensual relationships. No comparison to what Cosby was doing.
I think the thing I hate the most about this situation is how easy it was for him to do what he did. Glad he may finally be punished, but it’s ridiculous it’s taken so long.
These types of crimes against women are just not taken seriously.
Finally.
He thinks he is going to get off and I hope he goes to jail for all the things he did. It’s such a pity most have ran out because of the statute of limitations. I can see a number of lawsuits in his future no matter how the court case goes.
Public humiliation will enrage this entitled predator and that delights me no end. It’s time Hollywood had a good old fashioned spring cleaning. Enough of these revolting pigs controlling everyone with their dicks.
Yep. Public humiliation is the only likely punishment he’ll face, but it’s something and hopefully it will send a message to all the other predators in Hollywood who think they’re untouchable. Times are changing.
“Public humiliation will enrage this entitled predator and that delights me no end.”
yes, THIS. the arrogance he has displayed when asked about it in interviews…”no, we don’t talk about that” and tried to bully reporters who DID ask…he can’t STAND that people are actually challenging him and questioning him, and the fact that he has to face legal proceedings for this is, I’m sure, pissing him off to no end. to which I echo Lindy up top with “GOOD!!!”
I hope you suffer the way you made all those women suffer, you PR*CK. your legacy will now be that of a disgusting predator, not “America’s Dad”.
It’s definitely a different era – once a story gets out there, it can’t be swept under the rug anymore. Something gets shared online and it’s impossible to contain.
I too am happy he has to face all this. He thought he could get away with it all forever, but it’s all come crashing down around him. He does belong in jail, but at the very least I hope his very public downfall is some justice for his victims.
it is a start in validating his victims.
will he go to jail? doesn’t seem likely but it is important that he be prosecuted, that at least something was done publicly, that lets these creeps know that these awful behaviors could actually catch up to them one day, no matter how loved, powerful, privileged, and “untouchable” they are.
such a nasty piece of work this guy, so judgmental, so condescending, telling people how to live “right” while drugging and raping.
I really hope he’s convicted because if he isn’t, the Cosby apologists will be just like the OJ apologists with declaring his innocence.
That modelling agency should be held accountable for their role of sexual assault. But unfortunately that will never happen.
it is my understanding many “modelling” agencies provide this “service” to celebrities. I think we tend to be very naive in our fly-over states, just how vile the movie and music industries are because we dont’ see it, can’t imagine it, and dont’ hear about it much. But I’ve read many times that “models” on the coasts often prostitute to make ends meet and get ahead, whether it be for one-night, contracts that cover a time frame, parties, yacht trips/parties, etc. Alot more celebrities use these services than we realize. Alot more models do this on the side than we realize. Providing these services is much more their bread and butter than their modelling actually is. Think about how many young women want to be models and the few that actually are – or have enough gigs to make a living, let alone a lifestyle they crave.
Very true.
While better than nothing, our rape laws are a reflectiion of the same culture that also gives rapists a pass for the most part. There’s no reason for there to be a statute of limitations on rape, imo, nor should rapists like Cosby be permitted to reach a financial settlement with a plaintiff, to keep them quiet.
I wholeheartedly agree!
By limiting the amount of time a victim of sexual assault has to level charges, while at the same time permitting their rapists who have means to do so, an avenue to keep them quiet, is adding egregious insult to an already unimaginable injury.
About F*cking time, I hope he doesn’t pull a Paterno and die on us before he gets to be inside prison like he deserves (yeah I said it both counts *shrugs* human garbage)
I’m in full agreement. Predators like Paterno and Cosby don’t deserve to die peacefully. I know the odds are against this but I hope he slowly rots away in jail.
You know you’re hated when someone wishes you live so you can suffer more. But, yeah… totally agree.
Does anyone feel like Hollywood is on the precipice of a takedown? Especially with Elijah Wood plus the pedophile stuff…I hope Bill Cosby is just the first
from your lips to *insert whatever deity one worships* ears.
No. Making money is the only thing that matters.
Yes!!! Finally!! Andrea Constand is one brave woman. She went to her Canadian authorities. She sued him in civil court. And now she’s taking him to criminal court. I wish there a way to show how much I admire this woman and support what she’s doing. I beleive this will open the door to other law suits, especially if he is criminally convicted.
The laws need to be changed regarding sexual assault. It’s time to eliminate any statute of limitations concering these types of crimes.
She’s been fighting this fight for a long time. I give her a lot of credit for being so strong, and I have to think she was an inspiration for others to come forward.
Absolutely! People like this don’t just stop being vile, surely there are others out there.
I have so much admiration for her. This has probably been hellish for what she’s done with help other victims too. Maybe they’ll get some peace of mind just from the validation.
She’s a strong woman.
“Rather let justice surge like waters,and righteousness like an unfailing stream.”
—————————————————
In an unrelated comment. One of the photos shows Gloria Allred, who is a well known civil rights lawyer, who is representing a number of victims. To me, this is what a real, hardworking lawyer looks like–in contrast to other so called civil rights/ human rights attorneys.
I’d like to know what his wife is thinking, especially since he’s stated he paid off the girls to keep his wife from finding out. Now his admissions are all over the news.
she’s almost as bad. she knew exactly what was going on but enjoyed being “Mrs. Bill Cosby” too much to care.
Why are the pimps (cough, agents) not being investigated and charged? Surely Cosby was not the only client?
I read the deposition and my rage was HUGE. I am livid!
He drugs them and then says this:
“I don’t hear her say anything . . . And so I continue and I go into the area that is somewhere between permission and rejection,” he said.’
THIS IS RAPE!
Good! Pervert.
It’s scary to me how much trust these ladies put into him just because he was a celebrity. These celebrities are still strangers to you & I, despite all the publicity they get. I am not condoning what Cosby did one bit, he should have his man parts cut off in public, but what possessed some of these women to take a pill that he was offering to them? I know you can’t tell if something is mixed in a drink, but I don’t care if Brad Pitt came up to me and offered me an Advil, I would not take it. Just because you see them on TV, that don’t make them trustworthy. Again, not condoning what he did and I hope these ladies find solace and closure in this whole matter. They deserve to be heard, and they deserve compensation for what they have been put through.
I’m pretty sure his victim in this case had been friends with him for a while before he assaulted her. It’s not as if she just accepted a pill from a stranger. Plus, many of the victims were in their teens or early twenties and viewed him as a mentor. It’s understandable that they may have been a bit naive. He purposely preyed on people who he knew were vulnerable.
double post
What a sad and pathetic way to end ones career. If he sees the inside of a jail cell for a long time I’d be surprised.
As long as Roman Polanski has support of half Hollywood, people like him will have it easy to prey on women. Bill Cosby had almost the same amount of support.
FINALLY!!!
I’m just bracing myself for an outcome similar to the one we had here in Canada last month with Jian Ghomeshi (3 of 20 complainants’ cases were brought forward by Crown attorneys – eg, not civil prosecutions) where the actual sexual assaults – involving punching and choking – utterly fell by the wayside as the defence attorney attacked the womens’ post assault behaviour and destroyed them on the stand.
The women were completely blindsided when confronted with the post-assault contact they’d had with Ghomeshi, which, though no surprise whatsoever to the support and counselling community, was surprising to the public and the judge and in fact turned the judge and a large swath of the public against the women. The women thought the case was about the sexual assault and violence they experienced. It wasn’t. They were called liars and publicly shamed and vilified through the process.
It was awful.
I’m sure Andrea Costand is better prepared AND she’s being personally legally represented by counsel (our complainants were not represented and were merely witnesses to their own assault; the Crown represents charges brought by police) but Cosby’s side is already describing post-assault contact and implying consent. Here’s hoping Costand’s team is ready with experts testifying on the sometimes incongruous (seeming) behaviour of victims and the reality of power and fame in crimes of sexual assault.
Our women paid a heavy price for coming forward, but it would mean a lot if their recent experience provided a blueprint for preparation for Costand and her lawyers.
I grew up loving him, esp his stand-up routine from the 70s, and I remember vividly how horrible it was when his son Ennis was killed. Like many posters here, I can’t look at his face or his show anymore. I wonder what he’s thinking of all this. And how his daughters feel. And Lisa Bonet who, I understand, has been poignantly silent. I don’t imagine he’ll do time but it would be nice if somehow we could all recognize this for what it is.