The Pennsylvania Supreme Court hasn’t ruled on whether Bill Cosby can leave prison or get a new trial on sex-crime charges, but the Keystone State’s Parole Board has made its opinion very clear.
“Following an interview with you and a review of your file, and having considered all matters required pursuant to the parole board, in the exercise of its discretion, has determined at this time that: you are denied parole/reparole,” the Board told the designated sexually violent predator in a letter earlier this month (read it here).
The state board cites several reasons for its decision to keep the 83-year-old legally blind actor once known as “America’s Dad” behind bars. In no small part, the negative recommendation by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections didn’t help Cosby’s cause, nor did the fact that he has refused to participate in, let alone complete, a required...
“Following an interview with you and a review of your file, and having considered all matters required pursuant to the parole board, in the exercise of its discretion, has determined at this time that: you are denied parole/reparole,” the Board told the designated sexually violent predator in a letter earlier this month (read it here).
The state board cites several reasons for its decision to keep the 83-year-old legally blind actor once known as “America’s Dad” behind bars. In no small part, the negative recommendation by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections didn’t help Cosby’s cause, nor did the fact that he has refused to participate in, let alone complete, a required...
- 5/27/2021
- by Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
After almost two years in state prison for the 2004 rape of Andrea Constand, Bill Cosby will get to argue part of his case before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in an appeal granted Tuesday.
Having failed on almost a dozen occasions to have the matter reopened or re-litigated, this limited review does present the officially designated sexually violent predator once known as America’s Dad with the best opportunity to be free since he was sentenced in September 2018 to up to a decade behind bars. While no date has been set due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the appeal could also put the Montgomery County D.A.’s office and Cosby trial(s) Judge Steven O’Neill under the legal microscope.
Specifically, the appeal will look at two potentially mitigating aspects of the case, which had initially resulted in a mistrial due to a hung jury. Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court will...
Having failed on almost a dozen occasions to have the matter reopened or re-litigated, this limited review does present the officially designated sexually violent predator once known as America’s Dad with the best opportunity to be free since he was sentenced in September 2018 to up to a decade behind bars. While no date has been set due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the appeal could also put the Montgomery County D.A.’s office and Cosby trial(s) Judge Steven O’Neill under the legal microscope.
Specifically, the appeal will look at two potentially mitigating aspects of the case, which had initially resulted in a mistrial due to a hung jury. Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court will...
- 6/23/2020
- by Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
A Pennsylvania court rejected Bill Cosby’s appeal of his 2018 conviction for sexual assault, The New York Times reports. Cosby is serving a three-to-10 year sentence at a maximum-security prison outside of Philadelphia after he was found guilty on three counts of indecent aggravated assault against Andrea Constand, which occurred in 2004.
The three-judge panel on the Pennsylvania Superior Court voted unanimously against Cosby, whose lawyers filed their appeal in June, arguing Cosby had been denied a fair trial and improperly convicted. Specifically, Cosby’s attorneys argued against a decision to...
The three-judge panel on the Pennsylvania Superior Court voted unanimously against Cosby, whose lawyers filed their appeal in June, arguing Cosby had been denied a fair trial and improperly convicted. Specifically, Cosby’s attorneys argued against a decision to...
- 12/10/2019
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Kevin Spacey and Steven Seagal won’t face sex crimes charges from the Los Angeles County District Attorney due to statute of limitations on the decades old accusations but over in Pennsylvania at the upcoming sentencing hearing for Bill Cosby, the past looks to become part of the present.
On the same day that the much-accused actor’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was vandalized again, Cosby faces a move from the Montgomery County D.A. to have a chorus of accusers damningly come to court to detail their experiences with the man and crimes he may have committed to them.
“The Commonwealth intends to present numerous witnesses who will testify that defendant sexually abused them, says a motion submitted on Tuesday by the office of Kevin Steele before the sentencing hearing set to start on September 24 and run for up to two days. “As discussed below, they...
On the same day that the much-accused actor’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was vandalized again, Cosby faces a move from the Montgomery County D.A. to have a chorus of accusers damningly come to court to detail their experiences with the man and crimes he may have committed to them.
“The Commonwealth intends to present numerous witnesses who will testify that defendant sexually abused them, says a motion submitted on Tuesday by the office of Kevin Steele before the sentencing hearing set to start on September 24 and run for up to two days. “As discussed below, they...
- 9/5/2018
- by Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
Well, if you are still interested in watching old episodes of “The Cosby Show” — as well as “The Bill Cosby Show” and “Cosby” — we know where you can find them. One week after Bill Cosby was found guilty on three counts of aggravated indecent assault, these sitcoms are still available for streaming on Amazon Prime, here, here and here.
The shows were still accessible on the site as recently as 1:20 p.m. Et Thursday.
Representatives for Amazon did not respond to TheWrap’s multiple requests for comment on the programs’ statuses with the streaming service, and whether or not they would be pulled.
Also Read: Camille Cosby Blasts Her Husband's Guilt Verdict as 'Mob Justice'
As TheWrap previously reported, Bounce TV yanked “The Cosby Show” from its rotation last week on April 26, the day the judgment was made against the comedy icon in court. The cabler had aired the program as recently as 9 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. that same day. It was next scheduled to air the following day in the same time slots, though “The Hughley’s” will now run there instead each weekday.
“Effective immediately, Bounce is pulling ‘The Cosby Show’ from our schedule,” a rep for the network told TheWrap exclusively last Thursday.
Bounce initially picked up reruns of the ’80s and ’90s sitcom in late 2016, citing “popular demand” at the time. The online response to the cable channel’s decision back then was mixed, at best.
TV Land and Bet cable network Centric pulled reruns of the show in 2015, after a deposition surfaced in which Cosby said he obtained Quaalude tranquilizers to give to women with whom he wanted to have sex. On the streaming side, Hulu decided not to renew their contract with the show’s production company, Carsey Werner, back in November 2016.
Also Read: Bill Cosby Found Guilty: Here's Where His Civil Cases Stand
A jury found Cosby guilty last week in his retrial over accusations made by former Temple University employee Andrea Constand. The judge allowed Cosby to be released on bail on Thursday, which CNN reports was in the amount of $1 million. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
Cosby, 80, was re-tried in a Pennsylvania court on three counts of aggravated indecent assault, stemming from Constand’s accusation that the comedian drugged and molested her in 2004 at his home outside of Philadelphia. The jury found him guilty in a unanimous vote on all three counts, after going into deliberations last Wednesday. The trial was in its 14th day when the verdict was handed down.
After the verdict was read, prosecutors argued that Cosby should be held without bail, calling him a flight risk because, they said, he owns a private plane. To this, Cosby exclaimed “he doesn’t have a plane, you a-hole.”
Also Read: Some Bill Cosby Accusers Say They Want 'Death' for Convicted Star (Report)
Following, Cosby’s removal from the Television Academy’s website Wednesday, his wife Camille Cosby blasted last week’s sexual assault conviction of her husband, calling it “mob justice.”
In a three-page letter issued Thursday, Cosby’s wife also called for a criminal investigation into what she called an “unethical” prosecution by Kevin Steele, the district attorney in Pennsylvania’s Montgomery County who led the retrial of the case following hung jury on the same charges last summer.
Read original story ‘The Cosby Show’ Reruns Still Available on Amazon Prime One Week After Guilty Verdict At TheWrap...
The shows were still accessible on the site as recently as 1:20 p.m. Et Thursday.
Representatives for Amazon did not respond to TheWrap’s multiple requests for comment on the programs’ statuses with the streaming service, and whether or not they would be pulled.
Also Read: Camille Cosby Blasts Her Husband's Guilt Verdict as 'Mob Justice'
As TheWrap previously reported, Bounce TV yanked “The Cosby Show” from its rotation last week on April 26, the day the judgment was made against the comedy icon in court. The cabler had aired the program as recently as 9 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. that same day. It was next scheduled to air the following day in the same time slots, though “The Hughley’s” will now run there instead each weekday.
“Effective immediately, Bounce is pulling ‘The Cosby Show’ from our schedule,” a rep for the network told TheWrap exclusively last Thursday.
Bounce initially picked up reruns of the ’80s and ’90s sitcom in late 2016, citing “popular demand” at the time. The online response to the cable channel’s decision back then was mixed, at best.
TV Land and Bet cable network Centric pulled reruns of the show in 2015, after a deposition surfaced in which Cosby said he obtained Quaalude tranquilizers to give to women with whom he wanted to have sex. On the streaming side, Hulu decided not to renew their contract with the show’s production company, Carsey Werner, back in November 2016.
Also Read: Bill Cosby Found Guilty: Here's Where His Civil Cases Stand
A jury found Cosby guilty last week in his retrial over accusations made by former Temple University employee Andrea Constand. The judge allowed Cosby to be released on bail on Thursday, which CNN reports was in the amount of $1 million. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
Cosby, 80, was re-tried in a Pennsylvania court on three counts of aggravated indecent assault, stemming from Constand’s accusation that the comedian drugged and molested her in 2004 at his home outside of Philadelphia. The jury found him guilty in a unanimous vote on all three counts, after going into deliberations last Wednesday. The trial was in its 14th day when the verdict was handed down.
After the verdict was read, prosecutors argued that Cosby should be held without bail, calling him a flight risk because, they said, he owns a private plane. To this, Cosby exclaimed “he doesn’t have a plane, you a-hole.”
Also Read: Some Bill Cosby Accusers Say They Want 'Death' for Convicted Star (Report)
Following, Cosby’s removal from the Television Academy’s website Wednesday, his wife Camille Cosby blasted last week’s sexual assault conviction of her husband, calling it “mob justice.”
In a three-page letter issued Thursday, Cosby’s wife also called for a criminal investigation into what she called an “unethical” prosecution by Kevin Steele, the district attorney in Pennsylvania’s Montgomery County who led the retrial of the case following hung jury on the same charges last summer.
Read original story ‘The Cosby Show’ Reruns Still Available on Amazon Prime One Week After Guilty Verdict At TheWrap...
- 5/3/2018
- by Jennifer Maas
- The Wrap
Camille Cosby blasted last week’s sexual assault conviction of her husband, disgraced TV star Bill Cosby, calling it “mob justice.”
In a three-page letter issued Thursday, Cosby’s wife also called for a criminal investigation into what she called an “unethical” prosecution by Kevin Steele, the district attorney in Pennsylvania’s Montgomery County who led the retrial of the case following hung jury on the same charges last summer.
“This is a homogeneous group of exploitive and corrupt people, whose primary purpose is to advance themselves professionally and economically at the expense of Mr. Cosby’s life,” she wrote. “If they can do this to Mr. Cosby, they can do so to anyone.”
In her 1,000-plus-word statement, Camille Cosby compared her husband’s conviction to signature moments of injustice in the civil rights movement such as the 1955 lynching of Mississippi teenager Emmett Till — and the acquittal of his killers.
Also Read: Bill Cosby Removed From Television Academy Website
“The overall media, with their frenzied, relentless demonization of him and unquestioning acceptance of accusers’ allegations without any attendant proof, have superseded the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, which guarantee due process and equal protection, and thereby eliminated the possibility of a fair trial and unbiased jury. Bill Cosby was labelled as guilty because the media and accusers said so,” wrote Camille Cosby, who has been married to the star since 1964.
Last week, a Pennsylvania jury found Cosby guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault in his retrial over former Temple University employee Andrea Constand’s accusations that the comedian had drugged her and then sexually violated her in a 2004 encounter.
Since the verdict, the 80-year-old star has remained confined to his suburban Philadelphia until his sentencing. He could face up to 10 years in prison for each count of aggravated indecent assault.
Also Read: Bill Cosby Juror Says Comic's Own Words Led to Guilty Verdict
Here’s Camille Cosby’s complete statement:
“We the people” are the first three words of our nation’s Constitution, but who were those people in 1787? Dr. Howard Zinn, the renowned, honest historian, states in his best selling book, A People’s History of the United States: “The majority of the 55 men who framed the Constitution were men of wealth in land, slaves, manufacturing or shipping.” Clearly, most people were not included in that original draft of the Constitution; no women, Native Americans, poor white men; and, absolutely, no enslaved Africans. What have the masses of people done who are treated as outcasts by “we the people”? They, through the purity of the unceasing human spirit, forced 27 amendments to the Constitution that have guaranteed fundamental rights to all people…finally doing what the framers should have done in 1787. Now enters an American citizen, Bill Cosby.
The overall media, with their frenzied, relentless demonization of him and unquestioning acceptance of accusers’ allegations without any attendant proof, have superseded the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, which guarantee due process and equal protection, and thereby eliminated the possibility of a fair trial and unbiased jury. Bill Cosby was labelled as guilty because the media and accusers said so… period. And the media ensured the dissemination of that propaganda by establishing barricades preventing the dissemination of the truth in violation of the protections of the First Amendment. Are the media now the people’s judges and juries? Since when are all accusers truthful? History disproves that…for example, Emmett Till’s accuser immediately comes to mind. In 1955, she testified before a jury of white men in a Mississippi courtroom that a 14-year-old African American boy had sexually assaulted her, only to later admit several decades later in 2008 that her testimony was false. A more recent example is the case of Darryl Hunt, an African American who in 1984 was wrongfully convicted for the rape and murder of a white woman, only to have DNA evidence establish in 1994 that he did not commit the crime. Nonetheless he was held in prison until 2004, serving almost twenty years behind bars, until the true rapist confessed to the crimes.
These are just two of many tragic instances of our justice system utterly and routinely failing to protect African Americans falsely accused in so-called courts of law and the entirely unfair court of public opinion. In the case of Bill Cosby, unproven accusations evolved into lynch mobs, who publicly and privately coerced cancellations of Bill Cosby’s scheduled performances; syndications of “The Cosby Show”; rescissions of honorary degrees and a vindictive attempt to close an exhibition of our collection of African American art in the Smithsonian Museum of African Art. Although the Smithsonian’s hierarchy did not capitulate, a disclaimer was posted on the exterior of that Museum. And all of that occurred before the trial even started.
The worst injustices, however, have been carried out in the Pennsylvania Montgomery County Courthouse. Three criminal charges, promised during an unethical campaign for the district attorney’s office, were filed against my husband…all based on what I believe to be a falsified account by the newly elected district attorney’s key witness. I firmly believe her recent testimony during trial was perjured; as was shown at trial, it was unsupported by any evidence and riddled with innumerable, dishonest contradictions. Moreover, Bill Cosby’s defense team introduced the testimony of a witness who confirmed that the district attorney’s witness admitted that she had not been sexually assaulted, but that she could say she was and get money … which is exactly what she did.
I am publicly asking for a criminal investigation of that district attorney and his cohorts. This is a homogeneous group of exploitive and corrupt people, whose primary purpose is to advance themselves professionally and economically at the expense of Mr. Cosby’s life. If they can do this to Mr. Cosby, they can do so to anyone. How much longer will we, the majority of the people, tolerate judicial, executive, legislative, media and corporate abuses of power? We, the majority of the people, must make America what it has declared itself to be….a democracy…not to be destroyed by vicious, lying, self-absorbed paradigms of evilness. Once again, an innocent person has been found guilty based on an unthinking, unquestioning, unconstitutional frenzy propagated by the media and allowed to play out in a supposed court of law.
This is mob justice, not real justice. This tragedy must be undone not just for Bill Cosby, but for the country. I wish to thank the witnesses who courageously came forward at trial to testify as to the truth, as well as those witnesses who would have done so but for the judge preventing them from testifying. Someday the truth will prevail, it always does.
Read original story Camille Cosby Blasts Her Husband’s Guilt Verdict as ‘Mob Justice’ At TheWrap...
In a three-page letter issued Thursday, Cosby’s wife also called for a criminal investigation into what she called an “unethical” prosecution by Kevin Steele, the district attorney in Pennsylvania’s Montgomery County who led the retrial of the case following hung jury on the same charges last summer.
“This is a homogeneous group of exploitive and corrupt people, whose primary purpose is to advance themselves professionally and economically at the expense of Mr. Cosby’s life,” she wrote. “If they can do this to Mr. Cosby, they can do so to anyone.”
In her 1,000-plus-word statement, Camille Cosby compared her husband’s conviction to signature moments of injustice in the civil rights movement such as the 1955 lynching of Mississippi teenager Emmett Till — and the acquittal of his killers.
Also Read: Bill Cosby Removed From Television Academy Website
“The overall media, with their frenzied, relentless demonization of him and unquestioning acceptance of accusers’ allegations without any attendant proof, have superseded the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, which guarantee due process and equal protection, and thereby eliminated the possibility of a fair trial and unbiased jury. Bill Cosby was labelled as guilty because the media and accusers said so,” wrote Camille Cosby, who has been married to the star since 1964.
Last week, a Pennsylvania jury found Cosby guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault in his retrial over former Temple University employee Andrea Constand’s accusations that the comedian had drugged her and then sexually violated her in a 2004 encounter.
Since the verdict, the 80-year-old star has remained confined to his suburban Philadelphia until his sentencing. He could face up to 10 years in prison for each count of aggravated indecent assault.
Also Read: Bill Cosby Juror Says Comic's Own Words Led to Guilty Verdict
Here’s Camille Cosby’s complete statement:
“We the people” are the first three words of our nation’s Constitution, but who were those people in 1787? Dr. Howard Zinn, the renowned, honest historian, states in his best selling book, A People’s History of the United States: “The majority of the 55 men who framed the Constitution were men of wealth in land, slaves, manufacturing or shipping.” Clearly, most people were not included in that original draft of the Constitution; no women, Native Americans, poor white men; and, absolutely, no enslaved Africans. What have the masses of people done who are treated as outcasts by “we the people”? They, through the purity of the unceasing human spirit, forced 27 amendments to the Constitution that have guaranteed fundamental rights to all people…finally doing what the framers should have done in 1787. Now enters an American citizen, Bill Cosby.
The overall media, with their frenzied, relentless demonization of him and unquestioning acceptance of accusers’ allegations without any attendant proof, have superseded the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, which guarantee due process and equal protection, and thereby eliminated the possibility of a fair trial and unbiased jury. Bill Cosby was labelled as guilty because the media and accusers said so… period. And the media ensured the dissemination of that propaganda by establishing barricades preventing the dissemination of the truth in violation of the protections of the First Amendment. Are the media now the people’s judges and juries? Since when are all accusers truthful? History disproves that…for example, Emmett Till’s accuser immediately comes to mind. In 1955, she testified before a jury of white men in a Mississippi courtroom that a 14-year-old African American boy had sexually assaulted her, only to later admit several decades later in 2008 that her testimony was false. A more recent example is the case of Darryl Hunt, an African American who in 1984 was wrongfully convicted for the rape and murder of a white woman, only to have DNA evidence establish in 1994 that he did not commit the crime. Nonetheless he was held in prison until 2004, serving almost twenty years behind bars, until the true rapist confessed to the crimes.
These are just two of many tragic instances of our justice system utterly and routinely failing to protect African Americans falsely accused in so-called courts of law and the entirely unfair court of public opinion. In the case of Bill Cosby, unproven accusations evolved into lynch mobs, who publicly and privately coerced cancellations of Bill Cosby’s scheduled performances; syndications of “The Cosby Show”; rescissions of honorary degrees and a vindictive attempt to close an exhibition of our collection of African American art in the Smithsonian Museum of African Art. Although the Smithsonian’s hierarchy did not capitulate, a disclaimer was posted on the exterior of that Museum. And all of that occurred before the trial even started.
The worst injustices, however, have been carried out in the Pennsylvania Montgomery County Courthouse. Three criminal charges, promised during an unethical campaign for the district attorney’s office, were filed against my husband…all based on what I believe to be a falsified account by the newly elected district attorney’s key witness. I firmly believe her recent testimony during trial was perjured; as was shown at trial, it was unsupported by any evidence and riddled with innumerable, dishonest contradictions. Moreover, Bill Cosby’s defense team introduced the testimony of a witness who confirmed that the district attorney’s witness admitted that she had not been sexually assaulted, but that she could say she was and get money … which is exactly what she did.
I am publicly asking for a criminal investigation of that district attorney and his cohorts. This is a homogeneous group of exploitive and corrupt people, whose primary purpose is to advance themselves professionally and economically at the expense of Mr. Cosby’s life. If they can do this to Mr. Cosby, they can do so to anyone. How much longer will we, the majority of the people, tolerate judicial, executive, legislative, media and corporate abuses of power? We, the majority of the people, must make America what it has declared itself to be….a democracy…not to be destroyed by vicious, lying, self-absorbed paradigms of evilness. Once again, an innocent person has been found guilty based on an unthinking, unquestioning, unconstitutional frenzy propagated by the media and allowed to play out in a supposed court of law.
This is mob justice, not real justice. This tragedy must be undone not just for Bill Cosby, but for the country. I wish to thank the witnesses who courageously came forward at trial to testify as to the truth, as well as those witnesses who would have done so but for the judge preventing them from testifying. Someday the truth will prevail, it always does.
Read original story Camille Cosby Blasts Her Husband’s Guilt Verdict as ‘Mob Justice’ At TheWrap...
- 5/3/2018
- by Thom Geier
- The Wrap
Camille Cosby has spoken publicly for the first time since her husband Bill Cosby was found guilty of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in a Philadelphia suburb in 2004 – calling it “mob justice”.
Camille Cosby, who has been married to The Cosby Show star since 1964, has gone after the Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele, the media and Cosby’s accusers in a statement that alludes to racial injustice.
“The overall media, with their frenzied, relentless demonization of him and unquestioning acceptance of accusers’ allegations without any attendant proof, have superseded the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, which guarantee due process and equal protection, and thereby eliminated the possibility of a fair trial and unbiased jury. Bill Cosby was labelled as guilty because the media and accusers said so,” she said.
This comes after a jury of seven men and five women returned guilty verdicts last week on three counts of...
Camille Cosby, who has been married to The Cosby Show star since 1964, has gone after the Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele, the media and Cosby’s accusers in a statement that alludes to racial injustice.
“The overall media, with their frenzied, relentless demonization of him and unquestioning acceptance of accusers’ allegations without any attendant proof, have superseded the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, which guarantee due process and equal protection, and thereby eliminated the possibility of a fair trial and unbiased jury. Bill Cosby was labelled as guilty because the media and accusers said so,” she said.
This comes after a jury of seven men and five women returned guilty verdicts last week on three counts of...
- 5/3/2018
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
During the Bill Cosby trial, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele referenced Cliff Huxtable and the TV character everyone thought they knew. Then he told them about the person he considered the real Cosby, the sexual predator who would do anything to keep his crimes hidden from public view.
Finally, after two trials and numerous hearings, Steele could enjoy knowing he had proven that claim.
“I think everybody got to see who he really is,” he said after the verdict, “when each of those…victims testified.”
The aftermath of the Bill Cosby retrial this afternoon outside the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pa, was a mixture of condemnation against Cosby, relief for accusers and hope for what the guilty verdict may do for other women who’ve experienced sexual assault.
Steele, surrounded by fellow attorneys and Constand, teared up at times while talking about the victims and his fellow prosecutors M.
Finally, after two trials and numerous hearings, Steele could enjoy knowing he had proven that claim.
“I think everybody got to see who he really is,” he said after the verdict, “when each of those…victims testified.”
The aftermath of the Bill Cosby retrial this afternoon outside the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pa, was a mixture of condemnation against Cosby, relief for accusers and hope for what the guilty verdict may do for other women who’ve experienced sexual assault.
Steele, surrounded by fellow attorneys and Constand, teared up at times while talking about the victims and his fellow prosecutors M.
- 4/26/2018
- by Mark Dent
- Deadline Film + TV
ABC, CBS and NBC broke into their programming Thursday afternoon to announce that a jury had found America’s TV Dad guilty of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in a Philadelphia suburb in 2004.
CNN, MSNBC and Fox News Channel, meanwhile, took a break from their wall-to-wall coverage of Ronny Jackson’s scuttled Va Secretary bid, the confirmation of CIA chief Mike Pompeo as the country’s 60th — and President Donald Trump’s second — Secretary of State and the tribulations of Trump’s personal lawyer Michel Cohen to cover the historic Cosby news.
The 80-year-old Cosby, one of the most popular actors in TV history, faces up to 10 years in prison on each of three counts of aggravated indecent assault for drugging and then sexually assaulting the former employee of Temple University’s women’s basketball team when she visited his home seeking career advice. Cosby was a trustee at Temple,...
CNN, MSNBC and Fox News Channel, meanwhile, took a break from their wall-to-wall coverage of Ronny Jackson’s scuttled Va Secretary bid, the confirmation of CIA chief Mike Pompeo as the country’s 60th — and President Donald Trump’s second — Secretary of State and the tribulations of Trump’s personal lawyer Michel Cohen to cover the historic Cosby news.
The 80-year-old Cosby, one of the most popular actors in TV history, faces up to 10 years in prison on each of three counts of aggravated indecent assault for drugging and then sexually assaulting the former employee of Temple University’s women’s basketball team when she visited his home seeking career advice. Cosby was a trustee at Temple,...
- 4/26/2018
- by Lisa de Moraes
- Deadline Film + TV
Bill Cosby was found guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault on Thursday after a jury handed down a unanimous verdict based on former Temple University employee Andrea Constand’s accusation that the comedian drugged and molested her at his home outside of Philadelphia in 2004.
Even with the verdict handed down, there remain a number of questions regarding what comes next for the scandal-plagued comedian.
Cosby has been released on bail, though Montgomery County, Pennsylvania district attorney Kevin Steele argued against it.
Also Read: Bounce TV to Pull 'The Cosby Show' From Its Schedule Following New Guilty Verdicts (Exclusive)
CNN, which reported that Cosby’s bail was set at $1 million, said that the prosecution argued that the comedian presented a flight risk, contending that he has a private plane. According to CNN, at that point, Cosby exclaimed, “He doesn’t have a plane, you a–hole.”
Each of the convictions carries a potential maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, CNN said, though he would likely serve them concurrently.
It is not yet known when Cosby will be sentenced.
Also Read: Bill Cosby Retrial: Jury's First Question in Deliberations Is a Doozy
It’s also unclear whether the verdict will be appealed. However, Cosby defense attorney Tom Mesereau strongly implied a likely appeal after the sentence was handed down. Appearing with the comedian outside the courthouse, Mesereau said, “We are very disappointed in the verdict” and declared, “the fight is not over.”
TheWrap has reached out to Mesereau, as well as Cosby spokesman Andrew Wyatt, for comment.
Cosby was found guilty in a 14-day retrial, which saw Constand and five other Cosby accusers, including model Janice Dickinson, testify.
Also Read: Bill Cosby Retrial: Prosecutor Calls Out Comedian for 'Laughing' During Closing Arguments
Cosby’s initial trial in the matter ended in a mistrial in July 2017 after the jury was unable to reach a verdict following five days of deliberations.
The comedian had previously been sued by Constand, settling the suit for what was revealed at the retrial to be $3.8 million.
Read original story Bill Cosby Found Guilty: What’s Next for the Convicted Comedian? At TheWrap...
Even with the verdict handed down, there remain a number of questions regarding what comes next for the scandal-plagued comedian.
Cosby has been released on bail, though Montgomery County, Pennsylvania district attorney Kevin Steele argued against it.
Also Read: Bounce TV to Pull 'The Cosby Show' From Its Schedule Following New Guilty Verdicts (Exclusive)
CNN, which reported that Cosby’s bail was set at $1 million, said that the prosecution argued that the comedian presented a flight risk, contending that he has a private plane. According to CNN, at that point, Cosby exclaimed, “He doesn’t have a plane, you a–hole.”
Each of the convictions carries a potential maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, CNN said, though he would likely serve them concurrently.
It is not yet known when Cosby will be sentenced.
Also Read: Bill Cosby Retrial: Jury's First Question in Deliberations Is a Doozy
It’s also unclear whether the verdict will be appealed. However, Cosby defense attorney Tom Mesereau strongly implied a likely appeal after the sentence was handed down. Appearing with the comedian outside the courthouse, Mesereau said, “We are very disappointed in the verdict” and declared, “the fight is not over.”
TheWrap has reached out to Mesereau, as well as Cosby spokesman Andrew Wyatt, for comment.
Cosby was found guilty in a 14-day retrial, which saw Constand and five other Cosby accusers, including model Janice Dickinson, testify.
Also Read: Bill Cosby Retrial: Prosecutor Calls Out Comedian for 'Laughing' During Closing Arguments
Cosby’s initial trial in the matter ended in a mistrial in July 2017 after the jury was unable to reach a verdict following five days of deliberations.
The comedian had previously been sued by Constand, settling the suit for what was revealed at the retrial to be $3.8 million.
Read original story Bill Cosby Found Guilty: What’s Next for the Convicted Comedian? At TheWrap...
- 4/26/2018
- by Tim Kenneally and D.A. Weiss
- The Wrap
Updated with more details, Cosby outburst, appeal plan: After years of sexual assault accusations, Bill Cosby will soon be headed to prison.
In a dramatic scene, a Montgomery County jury of seven men and five women returned guilty verdicts today on three counts of aggravated indecent assault for Cosby’s January 2004 sexual assault of Andrea Constand. Constand, a former Temple University employee, lost consciousness after Cosby gave her three blue pills and a sip of wine. She came to with Cosby digitally penetrating and groping her and forcing her hand on his penis.
The jurors spent nearly 15 hours over two days deciding the verdict after being charged Monday morning.
Victims of Cosby sitting in the Norristown, Pa, courtroom shrieked and cried in delight after the first verdict was announced. The comic sat forward on the edge of his chair, showing little emotion. But when Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele began addressing bail,...
In a dramatic scene, a Montgomery County jury of seven men and five women returned guilty verdicts today on three counts of aggravated indecent assault for Cosby’s January 2004 sexual assault of Andrea Constand. Constand, a former Temple University employee, lost consciousness after Cosby gave her three blue pills and a sip of wine. She came to with Cosby digitally penetrating and groping her and forcing her hand on his penis.
The jurors spent nearly 15 hours over two days deciding the verdict after being charged Monday morning.
Victims of Cosby sitting in the Norristown, Pa, courtroom shrieked and cried in delight after the first verdict was announced. The comic sat forward on the edge of his chair, showing little emotion. But when Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele began addressing bail,...
- 4/26/2018
- by Mark Dent
- Deadline Film + TV
TV legend Bill Cosby has been found guilty on all three counts in his sexual assault retrial, with the 80-year-old actor now facing up to 10 years in prison.
The verdict was handed down on Thursday in a Pennsylvania courtroom, after the jury of seven men and five women deliberated for a total of 14 hours across two days. After the verdict, Cosby lashed out at prosecutors, calling district attorney Kevin Steele an “a–hole” and shouting, “I’m sick of him!”
Cosby was charged with three counts of aggravated indecent assault after being accused of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand...
The verdict was handed down on Thursday in a Pennsylvania courtroom, after the jury of seven men and five women deliberated for a total of 14 hours across two days. After the verdict, Cosby lashed out at prosecutors, calling district attorney Kevin Steele an “a–hole” and shouting, “I’m sick of him!”
Cosby was charged with three counts of aggravated indecent assault after being accused of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand...
- 4/26/2018
- TVLine.com
In the wake of Bill Cosby's<a href="https://edit.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/bill-cosby-convicted-sexual-assault-by-jury-1105784" target="_blank"> guilty verdict</a> in the retrial of his sexual assault case, reruns of the comedian's <em>The Cosby Show </em>are being pulled from the air by the Bounce TV network.
"Effective immediately, Bounce is removing <em>The Cosby Show</em> from our schedule," the network said Thursday in a statement.
Cosby on Thursday was found guilty of sexual assault on all three counts by a Pennsylvania jury. After the guilty verdict was read and jurors left the courtroom, Cosby called Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele an "asshole." As Steele argued to ...
"Effective immediately, Bounce is removing <em>The Cosby Show</em> from our schedule," the network said Thursday in a statement.
Cosby on Thursday was found guilty of sexual assault on all three counts by a Pennsylvania jury. After the guilty verdict was read and jurors left the courtroom, Cosby called Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele an "asshole." As Steele argued to ...
- 4/26/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
On a day when only expert witnesses testified in Bill Cosby’s retrial, prosecutor Stewart Ryan thoroughly grilled the defense’s toxicology expert Dr. Harry Milman on Thursday. But Dr. Milman’s knowledge of the forensic side of toxicology seemed only tangential, as he at one point cited a Viagra-using perpetrator as an instance of “drug-induced sexual assault.”
Ryan was able to coax admissions out of Milman such as that he’s currently unlicensed, except for a “driver’s license,” Milman joked, and that he has only written three articles for publication regarding his toxicological studies that weren’t about cancer.
Milman has, however, written two fiction books — oddly enough, about a forensic toxicologist who is called as an expert witness.
Also Read: Bill Cosby Legal Team's Bid for a Mistrial Once Again Denied
In what was probably Ryan’s most merciless cross-examination of the retrial thus far, he continually put Milman at a stammering loss for words regarding his own credentials and explanations of why he testified that Benadryl wasn’t a hypnotic, even though one of his very own citations included a sentence about how new studies are emerging that Benadryl’s active ingredient, diphenhydramine, is in fact being used as a hypnotic.
Citing that Quaaludes, a drug that Cosby admitted to administering to women for sex in the past, had become illegal by 1984, Milman also seemed bewildered when confronted with the fact that prosecutor Kevin Steele’s own office seized “thousands” of illegally manufactured Quaalude pills in a local 2002 case.
Earlier Thursday, Cosby’s defense team’s motion for a mistrial — the team’s fifth such attempt — was denied. Cosby’s team contended that the prosecution’s cross-examination of their witness, Marguerite Jackson, “tainted” the jury by implying that the comedian’s lawyers had “created” her statement.
Also Read: Bill Cosby Retrial: Defense Team's Star Witness Testifies After Being Blocked in First Trial
Judge Steven T. O’Neill struck down the motion as having “simply no grounds for a mistrial” and being raised too late. He also scolded the defense for having just one witness ready for the day — the same day the court would hear testimony from the prosecution’s final witness. Both will be called to testify as expert witnesses.
Cosby is being re-tried on three counts of aggravated indecent assault, stemming from former Temple University employee Andrea Constand’s accusation that the comedian molested her in 2004 at his home outside of Philadelphia.
Cosby’s initial trial in the matter ended in a mistrial in July 2017 after the jury was unable to reach a verdict following five days of deliberations.
Read original story Bill Cosby Retrial: Comedian’s Expert Witness Jokes He’s Unlicensed, Except for His ‘Driver’s License’ At TheWrap...
Ryan was able to coax admissions out of Milman such as that he’s currently unlicensed, except for a “driver’s license,” Milman joked, and that he has only written three articles for publication regarding his toxicological studies that weren’t about cancer.
Milman has, however, written two fiction books — oddly enough, about a forensic toxicologist who is called as an expert witness.
Also Read: Bill Cosby Legal Team's Bid for a Mistrial Once Again Denied
In what was probably Ryan’s most merciless cross-examination of the retrial thus far, he continually put Milman at a stammering loss for words regarding his own credentials and explanations of why he testified that Benadryl wasn’t a hypnotic, even though one of his very own citations included a sentence about how new studies are emerging that Benadryl’s active ingredient, diphenhydramine, is in fact being used as a hypnotic.
Citing that Quaaludes, a drug that Cosby admitted to administering to women for sex in the past, had become illegal by 1984, Milman also seemed bewildered when confronted with the fact that prosecutor Kevin Steele’s own office seized “thousands” of illegally manufactured Quaalude pills in a local 2002 case.
Earlier Thursday, Cosby’s defense team’s motion for a mistrial — the team’s fifth such attempt — was denied. Cosby’s team contended that the prosecution’s cross-examination of their witness, Marguerite Jackson, “tainted” the jury by implying that the comedian’s lawyers had “created” her statement.
Also Read: Bill Cosby Retrial: Defense Team's Star Witness Testifies After Being Blocked in First Trial
Judge Steven T. O’Neill struck down the motion as having “simply no grounds for a mistrial” and being raised too late. He also scolded the defense for having just one witness ready for the day — the same day the court would hear testimony from the prosecution’s final witness. Both will be called to testify as expert witnesses.
Cosby is being re-tried on three counts of aggravated indecent assault, stemming from former Temple University employee Andrea Constand’s accusation that the comedian molested her in 2004 at his home outside of Philadelphia.
Cosby’s initial trial in the matter ended in a mistrial in July 2017 after the jury was unable to reach a verdict following five days of deliberations.
Read original story Bill Cosby Retrial: Comedian’s Expert Witness Jokes He’s Unlicensed, Except for His ‘Driver’s License’ At TheWrap...
- 4/20/2018
- by D.A. Weiss
- The Wrap
The prosecution in Bill Cosby’s sexual assault retrial formally rested its case today as the defense struggled to have its witnesses ready. The case could be sent to the jury by early next week.
After two toxicology experts spent the entire day Thursday on the stand discussing the effects of Benadryl and quaaludes, Judge Steven O’Neill told jurors to expect a half day of testimony Friday and for testimony to conclude after the weekend. Closing statements could come as early as Monday afternoon.
The trial might even end sooner if not for the defense team. This morning at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pa, O’Neill chastised Cosby’s lawyers, who said the only witness they had prepared was their expert.
“Once you saw last week,” O’Neill asked, “how did you not have witnesses ready?”
Cosby attorney Tom Mesereau said they anticipated the case to go...
After two toxicology experts spent the entire day Thursday on the stand discussing the effects of Benadryl and quaaludes, Judge Steven O’Neill told jurors to expect a half day of testimony Friday and for testimony to conclude after the weekend. Closing statements could come as early as Monday afternoon.
The trial might even end sooner if not for the defense team. This morning at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pa, O’Neill chastised Cosby’s lawyers, who said the only witness they had prepared was their expert.
“Once you saw last week,” O’Neill asked, “how did you not have witnesses ready?”
Cosby attorney Tom Mesereau said they anticipated the case to go...
- 4/19/2018
- by Mark Dent
- Deadline Film + TV
Updated with first defense witness called: The prosecution in the Bill Cosby sexual assault trial is “partially resting” its case after eight days of proceedings at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pa. Judge Steven O’Neill told the jurors the Commonwealth was closing its case aside from a toxicology expert witness who will not be available until Thursday.
Cosby attorney Tom Mesereau said he plans to present a defense, and Cosby affirmed knowledge of his attorneys’ strategy to O’Neill. But Cosby’s defense team has another plan, too, with lawyer Kathleen Bliss saying she would motion for an acquittal after the toxicology witness testifies.
The defense called its first witness, Pamela Gray-Young, before lunch. Gray-Young worked with Constand at Temple University while both worked for the women’s basketball team and testified that Constand would’ve roomed with academic advisor Marguerite Jackson during road trips. Constand has said...
Cosby attorney Tom Mesereau said he plans to present a defense, and Cosby affirmed knowledge of his attorneys’ strategy to O’Neill. But Cosby’s defense team has another plan, too, with lawyer Kathleen Bliss saying she would motion for an acquittal after the toxicology witness testifies.
The defense called its first witness, Pamela Gray-Young, before lunch. Gray-Young worked with Constand at Temple University while both worked for the women’s basketball team and testified that Constand would’ve roomed with academic advisor Marguerite Jackson during road trips. Constand has said...
- 4/18/2018
- by Mark Dent
- Deadline Film + TV
In her testimony to prosecutor Kevin Steele on Monday, Bill Cosby accuser Andrea Constand’s mother Gianna Constand testified that the comedian told her directly what he did to her daughter during a phone call that lasted more than two hours.
After Andrea told her mother about Cosby allegedly drugging and sexually assaulting her, Gianna told the court that she insisted that her daughter give her Cosby’s phone number so she could call him.
The elder Constand testified that, when they did speak, she demanded to know “what did you give my daughter, and what did you do to her?” She described Cosby as “very, very nervous and very, very manipulative,” and said he told her that he could not read the prescription on the bottle after a five to 10 minute wait, promising to mail her the name of it.
Also Read: Andrea Constand: Cosby Both Claimed Ignorance of Encounter and Said 'I Thought You Had an Orgasm'
According to Gianna Constand’s testimony, Cosby then asked for Andrea to get on the line as well, and proceeded to explain to her mother that he touched her breasts and penetrated her “digitally … in her vagina.”
Gianna Constand testified that Cosby said he took Andrea Constand’s hand and put it to his penis, adding, “Don’t worry, Mom, there was no penile penetration.”
The elder Constand testified that Andrea hung up at that point but that she stayed on the phone speaking to Cosby for much longer, stating that he only apologized towards the end of the call, admitting that he was a “sick man” and that “it took Andrea to stop him. Whatever that meant.”
Also Read: Cosby Accuser Andrea Constand Describes Assault at Retrial, Says She Wants 'Justice'
The mother stated, “When I was talking to him, my anger was so much that I literally popped a capillary, my eyes were full of blood.”
When she was cross-examined by Cosby attorney Kathleen Bliss, Gianna Constand became furious with Bliss’ demeanor and line of questioning at times, exclaiming, “Don’t talk to me like that” at one point and, at another, “Why are you asking me in that voice? Sorry, you were just nice a second ago and now you’re bullying me.”
Gianna Constand began to cry towards the end of her testimony.
Also Read: Bill Cosby Accuser Says He Introduced Her as His Daughter
Cosby is being re-tried on three counts of aggravated indecent assault, stemming from former Temple University employee Andrea Constand’s accusation that the comedian molested her in 2004 at his home outside of Philadelphia.
Cosby’s initial trial in the matter ended in a mistrial in July 2017 after the jury was unable to reach a verdict following five days of deliberations.
Read original story Cosby Accuser’s Mother Says Comedian Told Her, ‘Don’t Worry Mom, There Was No Penile Penetration’ At TheWrap...
After Andrea told her mother about Cosby allegedly drugging and sexually assaulting her, Gianna told the court that she insisted that her daughter give her Cosby’s phone number so she could call him.
The elder Constand testified that, when they did speak, she demanded to know “what did you give my daughter, and what did you do to her?” She described Cosby as “very, very nervous and very, very manipulative,” and said he told her that he could not read the prescription on the bottle after a five to 10 minute wait, promising to mail her the name of it.
Also Read: Andrea Constand: Cosby Both Claimed Ignorance of Encounter and Said 'I Thought You Had an Orgasm'
According to Gianna Constand’s testimony, Cosby then asked for Andrea to get on the line as well, and proceeded to explain to her mother that he touched her breasts and penetrated her “digitally … in her vagina.”
Gianna Constand testified that Cosby said he took Andrea Constand’s hand and put it to his penis, adding, “Don’t worry, Mom, there was no penile penetration.”
The elder Constand testified that Andrea hung up at that point but that she stayed on the phone speaking to Cosby for much longer, stating that he only apologized towards the end of the call, admitting that he was a “sick man” and that “it took Andrea to stop him. Whatever that meant.”
Also Read: Cosby Accuser Andrea Constand Describes Assault at Retrial, Says She Wants 'Justice'
The mother stated, “When I was talking to him, my anger was so much that I literally popped a capillary, my eyes were full of blood.”
When she was cross-examined by Cosby attorney Kathleen Bliss, Gianna Constand became furious with Bliss’ demeanor and line of questioning at times, exclaiming, “Don’t talk to me like that” at one point and, at another, “Why are you asking me in that voice? Sorry, you were just nice a second ago and now you’re bullying me.”
Gianna Constand began to cry towards the end of her testimony.
Also Read: Bill Cosby Accuser Says He Introduced Her as His Daughter
Cosby is being re-tried on three counts of aggravated indecent assault, stemming from former Temple University employee Andrea Constand’s accusation that the comedian molested her in 2004 at his home outside of Philadelphia.
Cosby’s initial trial in the matter ended in a mistrial in July 2017 after the jury was unable to reach a verdict following five days of deliberations.
Read original story Cosby Accuser’s Mother Says Comedian Told Her, ‘Don’t Worry Mom, There Was No Penile Penetration’ At TheWrap...
- 4/17/2018
- by D.A. Weiss
- The Wrap
The mother of Bill Cosby accuser Andrea Constand took the stand at the start of the second week of the comedian’s sexual assault retrial and began talking about the time she confronted him about her daughter many years ago. The rage, she testified, boiled inside her enough to break capillaries in her eyes. “My eyes were like two pools of blood,” Gianna Constand said. “I was that angry to get things out of him.”
Similar flashes of emotion were on display Monday afternoon at the Montgomery County courthouse in Norristown, Pa as she told the story of her interactions with Cosby, who is accused of sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004.
Cosby’s defense used its cross-examination to try to hint that her daughter was having money problems at Temple and using Cosby for his connections, rather than contest the story Gianna Constand told the prosecution of how Cosby confessed...
Similar flashes of emotion were on display Monday afternoon at the Montgomery County courthouse in Norristown, Pa as she told the story of her interactions with Cosby, who is accused of sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004.
Cosby’s defense used its cross-examination to try to hint that her daughter was having money problems at Temple and using Cosby for his connections, rather than contest the story Gianna Constand told the prosecution of how Cosby confessed...
- 4/17/2018
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
Norristown, Pa. – The defense lawyer for Bill Cosby wrapped up his cross-examination Monday of the woman at the center of the sexual assault case against the veteran entertainer after challenging her credibility and questioning whether she had violated the terms of her $3.38 million civil settlement with Cosby.
The believability of the woman, Andrea Constand, is key to the prosecution’s case, and defense attorney Thomas Mesereau sought, through a morning of careful cross-examination, to piece together an unflattering narrative of Constand as someone who reaped the rewards of a big financial settlement and then still set out to make sure he was prosecuted.
He pointed to a provision of that settlement agreement, which stated that she would not initiate any criminal complaint against the entertainer, and pointedly asked her whether she abided by that.
“Yes, I did,” replied Constand.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, prompting prosecutor Kristen Feden...
The believability of the woman, Andrea Constand, is key to the prosecution’s case, and defense attorney Thomas Mesereau sought, through a morning of careful cross-examination, to piece together an unflattering narrative of Constand as someone who reaped the rewards of a big financial settlement and then still set out to make sure he was prosecuted.
He pointed to a provision of that settlement agreement, which stated that she would not initiate any criminal complaint against the entertainer, and pointedly asked her whether she abided by that.
“Yes, I did,” replied Constand.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, prompting prosecutor Kristen Feden...
- 4/16/2018
- by Emilie Lounsberry
- Variety Film + TV
Norristown, Pa. – In the most emotional testimony so far in the sexual assault retrial of Bill Cosby, a California woman sobbed repeatedly on Wednesday as she testified that the entertainer promised to help with her aspiring modeling and acting career – and then gave her a blue pill and proceeded to molest her back in 1984.
“I trusted him,” said Chelan Lasha, crying as she testified on the third day of the retrial. Cosby’s first trial ended when another jury deadlocked on the charges in June.
Lasha lashed out verbally at Cosby during a break, prompting Judge Steven T. O’Neill to admonish her outside the presence of the jury to only answer questions. The judge denied a motion for a mistrial by defense lawyer Kathleen Bliss, who told the judge it sounded like Lasha said, “you knew what you did, Mr. Cosby.”
And all of this occurred in just the first 15 minutes of her testimony,...
“I trusted him,” said Chelan Lasha, crying as she testified on the third day of the retrial. Cosby’s first trial ended when another jury deadlocked on the charges in June.
Lasha lashed out verbally at Cosby during a break, prompting Judge Steven T. O’Neill to admonish her outside the presence of the jury to only answer questions. The judge denied a motion for a mistrial by defense lawyer Kathleen Bliss, who told the judge it sounded like Lasha said, “you knew what you did, Mr. Cosby.”
And all of this occurred in just the first 15 minutes of her testimony,...
- 4/11/2018
- by Emilie Lounsberry
- Variety Film + TV
Norristown, Pa. – After a defense opening that portrayed Bill Cosby as the victim of phony sexual assault accusations, a Colorado music teacher testified Tuesday that Cosby molested her back in 1984 when she was a struggling actress and he had agreed to mentor her.
The woman, Heidi Thomas, took the stand in Cosby’s retrial here in suburban Philadelphia as prosecutors sought to show that Andrea Constand – the woman whose accusation is at the heart of the criminal case against Cosby – was not the only woman assaulted by the entertainer.
Thomas testified that she traveled to Reno to meet Cosby and ended up staying with him at a ranch outside of town. He gave her a script and asked her to play an intoxicated woman, she said, eventually offering her some white wine. She then became woozy, she said, and woke up in bed with a naked Cosby “forcing himself” into her mouth.
The woman, Heidi Thomas, took the stand in Cosby’s retrial here in suburban Philadelphia as prosecutors sought to show that Andrea Constand – the woman whose accusation is at the heart of the criminal case against Cosby – was not the only woman assaulted by the entertainer.
Thomas testified that she traveled to Reno to meet Cosby and ended up staying with him at a ranch outside of town. He gave her a script and asked her to play an intoxicated woman, she said, eventually offering her some white wine. She then became woozy, she said, and woke up in bed with a naked Cosby “forcing himself” into her mouth.
- 4/10/2018
- by Emilie Lounsberry
- Variety Film + TV
Norristown, Pa. – Bill Cosby’s defense lawyer Tuesday morning derided the woman at the center of the sexual assault case against the entertainer as a “so-called victim” and con artist who “milked him” out of more than $3 million – and said it was Cosby who was the real victim of a scam to get money out of him.
“This man deserves some vindication in this case because the case is nonsense,” Los Angeles defense lawyer Tom Mesereau told the jury here in suburban Philadelphia, where Cosby is standing trial on charges that he drugged and molested Andrea Constand back in 2004.
Cosby’s first trial ended in June when another jury deadlocked on all the charges after more than 50 hours of deliberations. The entertainer – once known as “America’s Dad – has pleaded not guilty and contends that their sexual contact was consensual.
Standing at a lecturn and facing the 12 jurors and six alternates,...
“This man deserves some vindication in this case because the case is nonsense,” Los Angeles defense lawyer Tom Mesereau told the jury here in suburban Philadelphia, where Cosby is standing trial on charges that he drugged and molested Andrea Constand back in 2004.
Cosby’s first trial ended in June when another jury deadlocked on all the charges after more than 50 hours of deliberations. The entertainer – once known as “America’s Dad – has pleaded not guilty and contends that their sexual contact was consensual.
Standing at a lecturn and facing the 12 jurors and six alternates,...
- 4/10/2018
- by Emilie Lounsberry
- Variety Film + TV
In his opening statement this morning, Bill Cosby defense attorney Tom Mesereau spoke of a “con artist” betrayal, what happens when Hollywood turns into “a town of broken dreams,” and an older man who’d been trying to help people for years. It was all part of the strategy in Cosby’s sexual assault retrial to convince the jury about who the defense considered the victim in this case: Cosby, and not accuser Andrea Constand.
“She was not attracted to him, but she was madly in love with his fame and money,” Mesereau told the jury on Day 2 of Cosby’s retrial in Norristown, Pa. “He was lonely and troubled, and he made the terrible mistake of confiding in this person what was going on in his life.”
Over the course of his 45-minute opening, Mesereau detailed the buildup and end of Constand and Cosby’s relationship, staying away from...
“She was not attracted to him, but she was madly in love with his fame and money,” Mesereau told the jury on Day 2 of Cosby’s retrial in Norristown, Pa. “He was lonely and troubled, and he made the terrible mistake of confiding in this person what was going on in his life.”
Over the course of his 45-minute opening, Mesereau detailed the buildup and end of Constand and Cosby’s relationship, staying away from...
- 4/10/2018
- by Mark Dent
- Deadline Film + TV
A former colleague of Bill Cosby accuser Andrea Constand who claims Constand once said she could fabricate a claim of sexual assault against a celebrity for money will be allowed to testify in the upcoming trial.
Judge Steven O’Neill filed the decision this morning, on the second day of jury selection in Cosby’s retrial. It is a major victory for the defense, which was not able to call her as a witness last year. Cosby attorney Tom Mesereau has said he even plans on bringing up the fabrication claim in his opening statement.
The defense, which plans on portraying Constand as someone trying to take advantage of Cosby for money, received other good news today when O’Neill ruled that the amount of the 2006 settlement between Cosby and Constand could be admitted as evidence.
The woman now allowed to testify, Marguerite Jackson, was a co-worker of Constand’s at Temple University.
Judge Steven O’Neill filed the decision this morning, on the second day of jury selection in Cosby’s retrial. It is a major victory for the defense, which was not able to call her as a witness last year. Cosby attorney Tom Mesereau has said he even plans on bringing up the fabrication claim in his opening statement.
The defense, which plans on portraying Constand as someone trying to take advantage of Cosby for money, received other good news today when O’Neill ruled that the amount of the 2006 settlement between Cosby and Constand could be admitted as evidence.
The woman now allowed to testify, Marguerite Jackson, was a co-worker of Constand’s at Temple University.
- 4/3/2018
- by Mark Dent
- Deadline Film + TV
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