Bill Cosby Found Guilty on All Three Counts in Sexual Assault Retrial

Bill Cosby has been found guilty on all three counts in his sexual assault retrial, capping off [...]

By Libby Birk

Bill Cosby has been found guilty on all three counts in his sexual assault retrial, capping off the downfall of his career in the midst of the #MeToo era.

The jury announced its verdict Thursday afternoon in a Philadelphia courtroom, on the second day of the jury's deliberations.

As has been widely reported, the 80-year-old Cosby Show star was once again on trial over allegations that he drugged and raped a woman named Andrea Constand.

Cosby was convicted of three counts of aggravated indecent assault against Constand, at the time a Temple University employee he had mentored.

The three counts — penetration with lack of consent, penetration while unconscious, and penetration after administering an intoxicant — are all felonies, each punishable by up to 10 years in state prison, though the sentences could be served concurrently.

The initial case trial was ruled a mistrial after that jury was not able to come to a unanimous, or even majority, decision.

According to Deadline, the retrial jury consists of five women and seven men who were told by the judge that they are "the sole judges of the facts," before also instructing them to discuss the details until they reach a unanimous decision.

Dozens of women have come forward in recent years to say Cosby drugged and assaulted them. Five of the other accusers testified against him at the retrial.

Earlier this week, Cosby's wife Camille appeared in court alongside him for the first time during the retrial. The couple walked arm-in-arm to the courthouse, smiling as they passed journalists, according to reports. While she does not appear to have spoken publicly about the retrial at this time, Camille did release a prepared statement following the initial trial ruling.

"How do I describe the District Attorney? Heinously and exploitively ambitious. How do I describe the judge? Overtly and arrogantly collaborating with the District Attorney," she wrote.

"How do I describe the counsels for the accusers? Totally unethical. How do I describe many, but not all, general media? Blatantly vicious entities that continually disseminated intentional omissions of truths for the primary purpose of greedily selling sensationalism at the expense of a human life," the 80-year-old comedian's spouse added.

Many of Cosby's friends and former co-stars have had strong opinions of varying degrees on the allegations he faces, with his former Cosby Show daughter Lisa Bonet recently saying that she felt he had a "sinister" side.

When asked about whether or not she had knowledge of anything related to the sexual assault and rape allegations against Cosby she confirmed that she was not aware of any.

"There was no knowledge on my part about [Bill Cosby's] specific actions, but... There was just energy. And that type of sinister, shadow energy cannot be concealed," Bonet said. "If I had anything more to reveal then it would have happened a long time ago. That's my nature. The truth will set you free."

2comments
Comments ( 2 )

of