27 April 2018 - Bill Cosby Found Guilty of Sexual Assault
Bill Cosby Found Guilty of Sexual Assault in Retrial
Graham Bowley and Jon Hurdle (The New York Times, 26/04/2018)
A jury found Bill Cosby guilty Thursday of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman at his home near here 14 years ago, capping the downfall of one of the world’s best-known entertainers, and offering a measure of satisfaction to the dozens of women who for years have accused him of similar assaults against them.
On the second day of its deliberations at the Montgomery County Courthouse, the jury convicted Mr. Cosby of three counts of aggravated indecent assault against Andrea Constand, at the time a Temple University employee.
Mr. Cosby’s case was the first high-profile sexual assault trial to unfold in the aftermath of the #MeToo movement and many considered the verdict a watershed moment, one that reflected that, going forward, the accounts of female accusers may be afforded greater weight and credibility by jurors.
Bill Cosby Found Guilty in Sexual Assault Case
Hilary Weaver and Erika Harwood (Vanity Fair, 26/04/2018)
Women in the courtroom in Montgomery County ran from the room weeping after Bill Cosby was found guilty, less than one year after a jury ended his initial trial in a mistrial.
After deliberating for fewer than two days, the jury in Bill Cosby’s sexual assault re-trial found him guilty of all charges on Thursday afternoon, per The New York Times. Cosby could face up to 10 years for each of the three counts: penetration with lack of consent, penetration while unconscious, and penetration after administering an intoxicant. The veteran comic was accused of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand at his home in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania, in 2004, when she was 30 and he was 66. Cosby had been a mentor to Constand, an employee at his alma mater, Temple University.
Other Cosby accusers celebrated outside the courthouse, delivering emotional comments and reactions to the verdict.
At long last, Bill Cosby has been brought to justice
Robin Abcarian (Los Angeles Times, 26/04/2018)
For Bill Cosby, the reckoning was a long time coming. Four years ago, a stand-up comedian joked that America's favorite dad was a rapist. Women took notice, and began to step out of the shadows. They risked the abuse and scorn that comes with reporting ancient sexual assaults.
But at some point between Cosby's first assault trial, which ended with a hung jury, and his second, which came after the #MeToo movement caught fire, the culture changed.
Justice finally arrived for Cosby, who inflicted an untold amount of horror on dozens of women over many decades.
Bill Cosby's verdict is a rare moment of justice in a long, uphill battle
Jessica Valenti (The Guardian, 26/04/2018)
After years of rumors, accusations and finally criminal charges, Bill Cosby has been found guilty of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand 14 years ago. The 80-year-old, most famous for playing the beloved television dad Cliff Huxtable, could face 15 to 30 years in prison. His first trial ended in a deadlocked jury last summer.
Cosby, who has been accused of multiple sexual assaults and rapes by nearly 60 women spanning decades, has maintained his innocence – with his lawyers smearing his accusers as liars and promiscuous.
While I hope that this verdict brings his many victims some measure of peace – as much as it can after years of their accusations being ignored – I can’t help but be reminded of one important piece of information: amid all the crowing we have heard over the past year about men’s lives supposedly being ruined by #MeToo, Cosby’s verdict is actually the first time we’re seeing just one of these men being held to criminal account.