I hadn’t been following the Bill Cosby retrial in Pennsylvania at all. His first trial ended in a mistrial, and props to the DA for re-trying the case before a new jury, because Bill Cosby has been found guilty on all three charges. Cosby was only facing prosecution for the rape of Andrea Constand, not the dozens of other women who came forward in 2014 and 2015 to tell their pre-MeToo stories of being drugged, raped, abused, assaulted and mistreated by Cosby.
Comedian and TV icon Bill Cosby has been convicted on three counts of aggravated indecent assault at his sexual-assault retrial here Thursday, on the second day of deliberations. It was not the outcome Cosby or his high-powered defense team wanted but it was an answer to the question that has haunted America since October 2014: Is “America’s Dad” really a serial sexual predator who drugged and molested Andrea Constand at his nearby home in January 2004?
Last June, another jury at Cosby’s first trial deadlocked on that question after days of deliberations, forcing Judge Steven O’Neill to declare a mistrial.
For the retrial, the jury of seven men and five women voted unanimously that the answer was yes. Cosby, charged with three counts of aggravated indecent assault, could get 10 years in prison on each count. He denied the charges, asserting that his sexual encounter with Constand was consensual and that he only gave her an over-the-counter allergy medication. At 80 and in failing health, any prison term is likely a death sentence.
Advocates for rape victims and lawyers who represent many of the five-dozen women who have accused Cosby of being a serial rapist immediately started celebrating outside the courthouse here. They mounted regular protests during both trials, including a topless protest on the opening day of the retrial, hoping to influence the media and the public. But the jury, which was sequestered at a local hotel, saw and heard none of this. They were instructed not to let outside influences, such as the Me Too movement to call out sexual harassment and assault, creep into the jury room.
“The pressure to be politically correct coming from the Me Too movement should not but unfortunately could influence the jury,” says California trial attorney Lara Yeretsian, who followed the case.
Cosby could appeal the conviction, arguing that the jury was biased, “but it’s not easy to show the jury was tainted,” Yeretsian says. “You have to get inside their minds to determine bias or hope they make statements to others to that effect.”
That USA Today story is very detailed, with some interesting analysis. Cosby’s lawyers could ask for a retrial, but they would have to make the case that the jury was somehow biased, which… legal experts are saying was not the case. Some tweets:
Cosby just called the DA an asshole in court. I don't think he's taking this well.
— Zach Haberman (@ZHaberman) April 26, 2018
Incredible scenes as women run weeping from the courtroom immediately after Cosby is found GUITLY, and tearfully embrace one another. pic.twitter.com/5GWThXycx9
— David Mack (@davidmackau) April 26, 2018
From 3 years ago: Cosby accusers told their stories in @nymag https://t.co/dmydrva8qP
— Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) April 26, 2018
Photos courtesy of WENN.
I nearly jumped out of my chair when I heard this. FINALLY justice is served! I hope all his victims can now find some solace and he can wipe that smirk off his face. The way his lawyers treated the witnesses who were victims was appalling.
I was so relieved. I truly thought he was going to be found innocent and I am just so happy that justice is served.
Yes! Yes! Yes!
I’m almost more happy that legal team failed. Seriously, what the hell happened to rape shield laws? Are they just not enforced?
well my, my, my, it’s about time, Mr. Huxtable.
I’m sure he’d say that’s DOCTOR Huxtable to you, plebeian!! 😜
This is truly a great day for Justice!
BYE FELICIA!
Perfect
Ditto.
So relieved. I was worried he would skate.
Sorry double post!
I had a good feeling for conviction this time, with the additional women testifying for the prosecution. But considering his age and “infirmity “ (that comes and goes in front of a court room , I doubt he’ll get jail time , sadly.
It almost feels like him having to sit in the courtroom and hear the word “Guilty” again and again is justice enough. ALMOST.
Yes me too! I used to love this show so much, so at first it made me sad, but now … whatever, let him rot!
Times up!
Word!
There’s hope. For all of us and punishment for all of them
Amen Milla. At least Harvey and Kevin better face jail time, and I would be thrilled if Matt Lauer and Steve Wynn did too.
I sincerely hope that Matt Lauer’s, Charlie Rose’s, and Louis C.K.’s victims all sue them to hell and back. I would also like DAs in the relevant cities to charge them with criminal offenses. #metoo and #timesup have been great but these perpetrators need to lose more than just their jobs, they need to pay damages to their victims and be convicted of their crimes.
I really hope this sinks in for him somehow. Before this all broke. Maybe 2 weeks before. I was at a show of his. He nodded off. Repeated jokes. Got confused. It was a mess. He was a shell. I’m thinking he is just so far gone mentally to know much.
YES!
I’m glad, of course. It’s all so awful that he abused his power for so long. But I can’t help but say that I feel very very sad that this person, who in many ways was more like a parent to me than anyone, was all a lie. I’m heartbroken for the women, but also for those of us that loved him so much.
I agree – We all grew up w/ BC, so it makes me sad, too. But more than anything, I’m so happy these women have received the confirmation, validation and JUSTICE they deserve.
I still catch myself singing the Cosby and Picture Pages theme songs. Such a dichotomy. For those of us from homogenous white places, he introduced black families to us as healthy and normative. And he was doing this behind the scenes.
Anywho, bye, Dirtbag!
Oh completely. But I feel like I already mourned the Cosby I thought I knew when the revelations first came about.
This is real closure for his victims and I am so very happy for them.
Dee, I know! I remember watching I Spy when I was really young, and, of course, Fat Albert. Sickening to think that someone you appreciated so much is so stinking evil.
Good. Finally.
YESSSS. Oh, finally, finally, finally.
I always hoped for conviction, but especially after that shaming and mud slinging from the defense this week, it feels especially satisfying. I hope he goes to jail and his nastiness follows anyone who defended him as well. May that evil never come off you.
A reminder that a character in a sitcom is not the person in real life. My heart goes out to the victims, always.
Seeing some of the women exit that courtroom, overwhelmed with the verdict but, with what I am sure were tears for the glory of justice, was heartbreaking. Thank goodness the scales were right and balanced today, even if he tries to appeal.
Yes, I just teared up watching that. It is such an emotional thing to see people get long-denied justice. I had a similar feeling yesterday when I saw news about the golden state killer being arrested. What a day for all those victims.
@ Mariposa,
Me, too. I guess we butterflies just have overactive mirror neurons! 😉
I hope they televise his smug ass as he is being processed for jail.
Good.
Good in the way of Grumpy- Cat- face good.
Good riddance.
I was floored when these allegations were made, but I’m glad he’s been taken down. I’m sure this will give hope and encouragement to all victims of sexual assault o come forward and press charges.
I still don’t get why Bryan singer and his group havent been exposed.
Good.
i honestly teared up when i saw the news. so incredibly happy
me too!!!
+2
+3
Oh my…
My brain is struggling to take it in. While I wholeheartedly believe any person who does what he did should serve time, my childhood feels a little bit darker than it did before. Cosby was one of the very few happy things about my childhood and I can’t look at it the same way I did before.
At least our legal system worked for a change.
I totally agree. He brought me happiness, through periods of real trauma and pain. I feel so conflicted knowing he brought pain and trauma to others. It’s all so fucking unnecessary.
Same. I so badly wanted to belong to the Huxtable family as a kid. What he did was a betrayal to millions of people who hoped for better in life, and knew what it was thanks to his show. He was destroying women the entire time. As they say, don’t meet your heros, you will only be (bitterly) disappointed.
@aerohead21 and @Dee Well I’m happy he got what he deserved but you don’t have to feel guilty or dismiss the happy memories that the show gave you. In the end there were hundred of good, hard, working people working on that show and making it successful and liked by a lot of people.
At least that’s how I process my memories and try to find the good in them: That was bad BUT that and that was good so….not that bad
If if somehow makes you feel better, know that he was talking about slipping quaaludes to women in his stand up routines long before TCS.
ABOUT TIME!
All the people who love to shout “Innocent until proven guilty, though!” when a man is accused: *crickets*.
🤘🏼👏🏼👏🏼
I’m one of the innocent until proven guilty people, and not just with Cosby, but I honestly believe in this system. I had a big problem with the mob conviction part of a lot of these cases. There just had to be a more equitable way, and I’m not sure exactly what the victims got out of guilty just through the media either. Now they get to see their abuser sentenced, much more justice. This is the way it should be. Hopefully we can get to the speedy trial part. Still progress is progress.
Innocent until proven guilty is a joke. Statistically –
If 1000 women are raped
310 are reported to police
11 are referred to prosecutors
7 will lead to felony convictions
6 rapist will be incarcerated.
So when 5 dozen women come forward, I believe the women that that motherfucker is a rapist who got away with it for decades, like most rapists. I don’t believe in the system because it fails us. Until today, justice was that RAPIST being stripped of his image and endorsements because statistically, there was never going to be true justice for the vast majority of his victims. 1/60 got a conviction. The system doesn’t allow the others their day in court.
tw, have you not heard that it’s better for a hundred guilty to go free than one innocent to be sentenced?
It sucks but you can’t base the legal system on mob rule and people accusing one another being a basis of sentence. It is same with any crime.
With the first mistrial, I was sure he’d manage to get away with it. I’m stunned, in a great way.
Same!
I know this is upsetting for a lot of us who grow up seeing him, but honestly…I prefer to think that we can build a better world. One where predators aren’t protected by society, where their victims find justice in a more meaningful time frame, and the rest of us don’t have to face up to an ugly truth thirty years down the road.
Yes it’s terribly disappointing when public figures you thought you admired (Lance Armstrong, Tiger Woods included) turn out to be total douchebags without a moral conscience. Yes, Cosby is absolutely the worst of all, a total sociopath. (Armstrong is a narcissist by my guess. Woods just an entitled sex addict.) And a part of my brain is still in shock over it all. What makes it all the more pathetic is his stupid wife standing by him. Does she really think he’s innocent? Or is she just one of those “stand by your man no matter what” fools? Either way, she’s an embarrassment to women everywhere. As for him, hope he rots in hell.
Other Renee, thank you so much for pointing that out about Camille. I’m as disgusted with her as I am with him. She’s an insult and an affront to women. Period.
Camille was damned if she did and damned if she didn’t. If she had ditched him, she would have been pilloried for not standing by her man. Since she didn’t, she’s being excoriated for staying with him. I feel most sorry for their children. They didn’t ask to be dragged into this mess.
Carmen really? Who would have been “pillorying” her for leaving him?
Okay let me get this straight a convicted sex abuser, rapist or whatever the correct terminology he is officially by law now is less pathetic than the woman who stood beside him? Seriously? Maybe she had reasons for thinking this way. However, in the seriousness of crimes his tops the cake by a million miles.
Why when a man does something wrong do people look for a woman to share even the tiniest sliver of the blame? The criminal is the convicted felon, Bill Cosby. Unless she is convicted of some how being involved in this, I don’t see how her standing with him is worse than his convicted felonies. Keep in mind by blaming the tangental people you are not too far from blaming the first victim for not reporting the crime.
Many of his victims did report it and nothing was done.
I don’t see that they are saying Camille is worse than Cosby. I’m seeing that they’re calling her out because she knew more than what we knew and she still stood by him. Even reading his deposition from years ago should have been enough to divorce him, but she didn’t.
His wife gets ZERO sympathy from me. I think she’s an accomplice to be perfectly honest. She was married to this man for 50+ years and stood by and said nothing while he did this. I don’t want to hear she didn’t know. She knew…a lot of people knew. She stayed with him because she’s just as awful as he is.
Camille liked her rich life style over the many decades and obviously had no intention of giving it up. As usual, all about the money. She knew but didn’t care.
Good. I hope he does indeed spend the rest of his life in prison.
Maybe the tide is finally starting to turn. Let’s hope 2018 turns into the year where the guilty are finally punished and justice is actually served.
I want to believe this will shut up the “never found guilty in a court of law/if he was guilty he would be in jail” apologists and defenders. Sadly it won’t.
“Let’s hope 2018 turns into the year where the guilty are finally punished and justice is actually served.”
Yes, ma’am!
Between Cosby and the Golden State Killer/East Area Rapist FINALLY getting caught, it’s actually been a satisfying week in delayed justice.
reminder: your heroes and role models can be monsters. so glad some semblance of justice is FINALLY happening. these women are warriors. he deserves to rot away the remainder of his days. onto the next predator, times up!
Yaaaaaas!!!
Andrea Constand is bad ass! This woman not only made it through the trial but the re-trial and didn’t back down when she probably suffered immensely. Women are amazing and strong, and we are done with this shit!
I go to trial against my ex in November (he sent 7 people to break into my house and try to kill me, in all seriousness, one of the men arrested was his own attorney) and this gives me SO much hope. The men who think they are untouchable, that they can buy their way out of things, that they will somehow get away with it. Nope. Nope nope nope. 2018 is the year that these predators best start fearing their own actions, because everyone is done condoning them. Let’s keep going ladies, no backing down.
Em, i wish you VICTORY and JUSTICE!!!!
Em, I will be thinking about you and sending you all the positive vibes in the world, till you kick this “mans” butt in court. Take no prisoners!
Much love to you!
Wow, em, that is terrifying! Best of luck to you, I hope justice is swift and strong against him.
What the ever-loving F*CK? I hope you nail his a$$ to the wall in court, em.
be careful and stay safe.
stay safe em, and wishing you justice. YOU DESERVE IT.
Oh, Em, I hope your ex gets destroyed at court and all his accomplices duly punished. They all deserve to rot in jail.
Stay strong, stay safe and do believe that you will get your justice.
Oh Em I’m so sorry this happened to you and I hope you rip him a new a**hole in court !!
We’re all with you in spirit
Can you imagine the relief Janice Dickinson must be feeling now. Finally you can breath freely again.
She is the first person I thought of. I hope this brings her some measure of comfort even though she will never get back all he stole from her.
Janice was amazing. They went after her possibly in the most vicious way – bringing up her paternity issue with her son (there were two possible dads, one of which was Sylvester Stallone) and tons of other things from her past that bore no relevancy to being raped. They even said in closing that she may have slept with every man on Earth – it was vile. She hung in for the whole thing.
This sexual assault survivor hasn’t cried that hard in a very long time. I’m so happy for Andrea Constand and the other accusers I can’t even properly express it. But I’m happier for all survivors: finally, we’re seen and we’re believed.
I’m with you Tess!!!!
For a second, when I saw the pic, I was afraid the news were going to be about Cosby dying.
Now I’m just very happy he’s alive to witness that the world knows he’s guilty.
That is wonderful, isn’t it? He’s sitting there right now thinking about his future behind bars. I hope it’s consuming his every thought, the same way his victims were consumed by theirs. The predator has become the prey. Your turn to cry, Bill.
Did you hear about his outburst in court? He called the DA an a-hole for deeming him a flight risk.
No wife or other family with him when he was found guilty. I wonder if his wife really thinks he’s innocent and ALL victims are sluts and prostitutes.
I’ve always been convinced that she knew. I know a couple other women from her generation who believe that it is just a fact of life that men act on their urges and women just have to deal with that. You should stay out of the men’s way. Otherwise, you’re “just asking for it”—in which case, you don’t air your grievances, just shut up and go away. Making a stink about it is not what nice women do.
Well, in her generation it was pointless to talk about it anyway. Your own life would be destroyed and the guy would skipperdee away with no consequence.
There’s a reason that a wife can’t be forced to testify against her husband. It gets so complicated for so many reasons. If the law wouldn’t force her, maybe we just have to let that part go. We don’t know what really she has been thinking or fearing throughout her life.
There is no reason to think that she was involved in his crimes, and every reason to think that she believed that her husband’s activities were all consensual, so as far as she knew he was just a hypocritical cheater. Women put up with hypocrites and cheaters frequently for all sorts of reasons and have been believing them despite their doubts for eons. People who worked with him and knew or suspected he was unfaithful to his wife certainly thought that. It’s also easy for his wife and the mother of his children to believe whatever he told her about the accusers and their motivations. She had to think of the entire family. Divorce wasn’t so easy for women of her generation. The women were typically blamed for failure of a marriage.
I also feel bad for all the actors whose work on his shows is now tainted.
She does not even live with him in NYC. She has had her own apartment for 30+ years.
There’s no way the judge will sentence Cosby for that long – I say 1 year tops, sadly.
Wow.
This is truly a new day.
You’re next Harvey.
I am shocked but thrilled that he will not get away with this
The flaming, sadistic psychopath got owned. Finally. It’s a miracle. My heart goes out to all the victors. For once, justice rules.
Hoping he will die in prison.
Yay! Is it possible to do the same with Kevin Spacey now?
Refers to himself in 3rd persin while calling the DA an a$$hole. Honestly, that kind of narcissism is how he conned so many people.
Soooo happy!!!!! Didn’t think I would see the day! Lock him up and throw away the key! Such a terrible person.
Holy shit. I can’t believe it. I mean, I believe he’s a rapist- I can’t believe he was found guilty of being a rapist.
Fuckin Bill Cosby is a CONVICTED rapist. Hot damn.
He got us to love him as little children. That is so insane. I still love this man in a very primal way because of that. (Like how other people love Mr. Rogers.) I still can’t reconcile that person with the monster in the dark creeping around with drugs and raping people. It’s terrifying.
I am so glad and grateful that he’s finally brought to justice. Unbelievable that he was such a vicious sexual predator for decades and so little was known, or I should say how little was done. Says so much for the power of men, of celebrities, the shame and secrecy women endure that are targeted for sex and humiliation, and how little power they have had until recently.
What adds to the horror is that I grew up with this guy as a, THE good guy. From I Spy, his Noah standup routine, Fat Albert, and his whole Dad persona (although I never cared for The Cosby Show) Bill Cosby was at the forefront of doing the right thing. I used to share his Noah/God standup to my fifth graders for crying out loud.
I rarely buy into celebs, but he was one of the few good guys or so I thought. After Sidney Poitier, this was the first black man that was totally embraced by everyone, and look at the excrement it has devolved into. Sad, disgusted, but glad to see that justice is done.
Let’s see what kind of sentence he gets when it comes down to it.
How telling and very American (read racist) that the only person from the #metoo cases who is convicted now is a black man? I bet harvey and Louis will get off scot free.
Weinstein victims will get justice too. The Cosby case has been going on much longer. I don’t think Louis CK is in the same category as these two, unless I’m missing something. Did Louis CK commit rapes?
As a black woman I’m not sure what you’re trying to say. Are you trying to say that he should go free because white men who rape go free? If so, that shouldn’t be the barometer by which we gauge justice. Bill Cosby made a career out of raping women, and he should have to answer for that. He of all people knows how the justice system treats black men, and he was willing to risk being in it’s crosshairs because his desire to commit criminal acts was greater than his desire to be a law abiding citizen. I for one am comfortable with his conviction.
To everyone who feels conflicted about bad people who may have done a good thing or two.
Remember before you spend too much time thinking and doubting and wondering what the right thing to do is: these contradictions are THEIR fault and responsibility, not yours
It is not up to you to solve that conundrum, just accept things are complicated and conflicted and live with them the way YOU want.
So, I won t judge you if you tell me you still watch Polanski’s movies or Cosby’s reruns or Louis CK specials, your choice, your boundaries. I personally choose to avoid giving them any royalties but I have made exceptions (I love Match Point).
It s complicated: they can just evoke good memories that have nothing to do with real life but are important emotional milestones for many of us, they are team works which leads to innocent people to be unfairly treated, if we only valued things made by ethical people, there would not be much left of this world anyway, etc…
So, I am ok both ways because it s not the heart of the problem.
But I will ask what you think of the accusations against them.
And if you tell me they are innocent and unjustly vilified, then a robust conversation is on a one-side way coming to you.
Good. This is what his legacy should be because this is what he spent most of his time doing.
I’m not conflicted in the least. I’m angry. I bet he brings his cane to sentencing…poor thing. I watched him growing up. I remember laughing at his stand-ups and shows. And all the while, he was raping women one after another, over and over and over, month after month, year after year, decade after decade. This devil isn’t getting half of what he deserves. He’s old. He’s finished. Impact has lessened. I was elated with the news, but damn. This should’ve happened a very long time ago. All I can hope for now is that they don’t let him have his depends. It’s not like he’ll need them anymore, the toilet’s right there.
I just started crying my eyes out watching the women exit the courtroom. I’d been avoiding the videos because I knew I’d breakdown. I’m so glad there is some justice being served. I hope HW, LCK, etc are next. All of them need to see their day in court.
There are a lot of people who think he won’t go to jail because he’s too old. They think the judge will put him on house arrest instead. I think the judge is only allowed to consider Andrea Constand and the women who were allowed to testified when he sentences Cosby, but I’m not sure.
I think Cosby will serve time, but it won’t be much. My guess is it won’t be more than 3 years. Our legal system is so broken. A drug addict or someone who steals money or belongings from a wealthy person will go to jail for years, but rapists and child molesters often don’t even get convicted. When they do get convicted, they are usually sentenced to probation or a few months.