Bill Cosby found guilty of sexual assault
April 26, 2018 11:10 AM   Subscribe

NYT: Bill Cosby Found Guilty of Sexual Assault After Years of Accusations
On the second day of its deliberations at the Montgomery County Courthouse in this town northwest of Philadelphia, the jury returned to convict Mr. Cosby of three counts of aggravated indecent assault against Andrea Constand, at the time a Temple University employee he had mentored.
One down. So Many More To Go.
posted by hanov3r (109 comments total) 49 users marked this as a favorite
 


Thank god, at last.
posted by corb at 11:14 AM on April 26, 2018 [23 favorites]


@larrywilmore: I still haven't forgotten about you motherfucker!
posted by scaryblackdeath at 11:15 AM on April 26, 2018 [40 favorites]


Only two days of deliberation, too.

I mean, I want to ask how the FUCK this took so long if the jury was able to come to that swift a conclusion, but I already know the answer to that.
posted by hanov3r at 11:17 AM on April 26, 2018 [9 favorites]


Holy shit!

I... kinda didn't believe this was going to happen.
posted by atoxyl at 11:18 AM on April 26, 2018 [23 favorites]


I... kinda didn't believe this was going to happen.

The optimist in me is hoping that this is a herald of justice being served with other offenders.

The cynic in me is afraid that part of why Cosby was found guilty had to do with the color of his skin as much as it did the actions he performed...
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:20 AM on April 26, 2018 [41 favorites]


I... kinda didn't believe this was going to happen.

Same here. I thought that his "she's a gold digger" defense was going to win the day.

Instead, justice did.
posted by NoxAeternum at 11:21 AM on April 26, 2018 [8 favorites]


Literal chills from watching that video David Mack tweeted. . .
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 11:21 AM on April 26, 2018 [2 favorites]


Yeah. Given how successfully powerful rapists have employed the tactic of defaming their victims to get away with their crimes, I wasn't at all confident that Cosby would go down.
posted by howfar at 11:22 AM on April 26, 2018 [4 favorites]


Only two days of deliberation, too.

Is two days really that short of a deliberation time? I've served on a couple juries, and the one time deliberation took longer than a few hours resulted in a hung jury/mistrial.

posted by Atom Eyes at 11:23 AM on April 26, 2018 [2 favorites]


Was he taken into custody or was bail extended until sentencing?
posted by HiddenInput at 11:24 AM on April 26, 2018 [2 favorites]


[Cosby's lawyer] spent much of her closing argument urging the jury to discount the accounts of the five supporting witnesses. One was a failed starlet who slept around, she suggested, another a publicity seeker. “Questioning an accuser is not shaming a victim,” she told the jury.

How the fuck do you sleep at night.
posted by uncleozzy at 11:25 AM on April 26, 2018 [40 favorites]


Bail, but he can't leave the state.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 11:25 AM on April 26, 2018 [2 favorites]


Good.

Hope it becomes a trend.
posted by Artw at 11:26 AM on April 26, 2018 [4 favorites]


I'm shaking, I'm so happy he was found guilty. Finally.
posted by Dressed to Kill at 11:27 AM on April 26, 2018 [1 favorite]


It sounds like he lashed out when the prosecution moved to have him taken into custody immediately - they said he had a private plane/was a potential flight risk, and he disagreed with their assessment. . .
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 11:28 AM on April 26, 2018 [1 favorite]


"BREAKING: Bill Cosby lashes out at prosecutor in expletive-laden tirade in courtroom after conviction in sexual assault retrial."

Bill, you can't say filthin'-flarn-filthin'-flarn-flarn-filthin'-flarn to people!
posted by Atom Eyes at 11:31 AM on April 26, 2018 [24 favorites]


part of why Cosby was found guilty had to do with the color of his skin as much as it did the actions he performed...

Bill Cosby was found guilty because he's a rapist. The fact that a white rapist might have gotten off in similar circumstances doesn't make convicting this rapist a consequence of his race.
posted by howfar at 11:31 AM on April 26, 2018 [70 favorites]


Any time a rapist is convicted, it fans the tiny flame of my hope that other rapists will likewise be brought to justice. I'm going to drink a bright blue frozen margarita at the ballpark tonight, and raise my glass to everybody whose attackers, abusers, molesters, and rapists will never go to jail. Mine won't. It will be worth celebrating when a high-profile white rapist is convicted. Until that time, the taste of this victory will never be sweet. At least not to me.
posted by S'Tella Fabula at 11:36 AM on April 26, 2018 [25 favorites]


[Cosby's lawyer] spent much of her closing argument urging the jury to discount the accounts of the five supporting witnesses. One was a failed starlet who slept around, she suggested, another a publicity seeker. “Questioning an accuser is not shaming a victim,” she told the jury.

Good for the jury for realizing that even if true, neither "failed starlet who slept around" nor "publicity seeker" actually introduces reasonable doubt as to what Cosby did to them.

May it become a trend.
posted by Gelatin at 11:37 AM on April 26, 2018 [25 favorites]


Bill Cosby was found guilty because he's a rapist. The fact that a white rapist might have gotten off in similar circumstances doesn't make convicting this rapist a consequence of his race.

I didn't speak my point clearly, I apologize: My cynicism isn't about "his race is what got him convicted", it's more like "Harvey Weinstein's race is going to be the reason that Bill Cosby is the only one of these schmucks who gets convicted".
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:37 AM on April 26, 2018 [33 favorites]


The case was the first high-profile trial of the #MeToo era. Candidates were required during jury selection to provide assurances that the accusations against scores of other famous men would not affect their judgment of Mr. Cosby. Mr. Cosby’s lawyers referred to the changed atmosphere in American society, warning it and the introduction of accounts from multiple other accusers risked denying Mr. Cosby a fair trial by distracting jurors’ attention. “Mob rule is not due process,” Kathleen Bliss, one of Mr. Cosby’s lawyers told the jury.

But of course in all the years we have seen rapist after rapist be acquitted because of institutionalized misogyny, that was totally the justice system working just fine, right? When the "changed atmosphere" just means not automatically dismissing the testimony of women who say they've been raped...I think I am fine with that.

I'm so glad to hear of this conviction. It's been a long time (too long) coming.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 11:38 AM on April 26, 2018 [26 favorites]


Fuck yes. So glad to see this. Gah.
posted by lazaruslong at 11:39 AM on April 26, 2018 [1 favorite]


I see a lot more Jello in his future.
posted by CynicalKnight at 11:40 AM on April 26, 2018 [8 favorites]


I'm confused - he was found guilty on three counts of "Indecent aggravated felony assaults":

1) Penetration without consent
2) Penetration while plaintiff was unconscious
3) Penetration while plaintiff was intoxicated

Where the hell is the word "rape"? Where is the rape conviction?

This man raped UNTOLD numbers of women, and this smacks of "you victims and survivors should expect to take what you can get and be glad of it because he was never going to be convicted of rape."

Am I missing something? I'm happy to rescind my comments if I'm missing something and he was found guilty of rape.
posted by tzikeh at 11:41 AM on April 26, 2018 [1 favorite]


I have a funny feeling he's gonna die before he ever spends a day in prison. I hope not. He needs to feel those doors slam closed.
posted by bondcliff at 11:42 AM on April 26, 2018 [9 favorites]


"Harvey Weinstein's race is going to be the reason that Bill Cosby is the only one of these schmucks who gets convicted".

I wouldn't make presumptions about Weinstein's race either. There is a massive meme going around right now posting him the top of a pyramid of Jews accused of sexual assault, casting them as degenerates preying on white womanhood, which is long an antisemitic trope.

In the past few years, I have seen Jews and black people alike made the public face of larger social ills, which has long been the function of both groups.
posted by maxsparber at 11:43 AM on April 26, 2018 [41 favorites]


Sexual Assault laws in PA

It looks like there there were a couple of possible first degree felonies, including rape, prosecutors might have used, but opted for second degree ones instead.
posted by bonehead at 11:47 AM on April 26, 2018


I see a lot more Jello in his future.

Jail-o.
posted by mazola at 11:49 AM on April 26, 2018 [16 favorites]


bonehead: It looks like there there were a couple of possible first degree felonies, including rape, prosecutors might have used, but opted for second degree ones instead.

Then fuck our misogynistic "justice system," and fuck rape culture.

GodDAMN it.
posted by tzikeh at 11:51 AM on April 26, 2018 [6 favorites]


Is two days really that short of a deliberation time? I've served on a couple juries, and the one time deliberation took longer than a few hours resulted in a hung jury/mistrial.

I was on a jury that deliberated for two full days on a firearms case -- guy who wasn't supposed to have firearms was caught on camera threatening someone with a gun and the police found a gun in the trunk of his car that matched the footage and witnesses description. It was cut and dry but plenty of people wanted to be sure we got it right. Two days seems very short for a high-profile case like this.
posted by nathan_teske at 11:52 AM on April 26, 2018 [12 favorites]


Torn between incredible relief and the other frustrations/concerns others have voiced in the thread, especially re: race/anti-semitism.

I guess (as always) these things are tempered but there's nothing bad about taking the time to celebrate before we have to get back to the ol' grind. It's just kind of a bummer sometimes.
posted by nogoodverybad at 11:55 AM on April 26, 2018


Good. Finally.
posted by Sophie1 at 11:56 AM on April 26, 2018 [1 favorite]


"BREAKING: Bill Cosby lashes out at prosecutor in expletive-laden tirade in courtroom after conviction in sexual assault retrial."

Does anyone else remember how Cosby lectured Eddie Murphy about his use of swear words in his comedy?

May Bill Cosby spend the rest of his miserable life behind bars. May he become Cheeto's cellmate.

May the thousands of women he has hurt take some comfort out of the fact that a kind of justice was served at last, and find peace and healing.
posted by orange swan at 11:59 AM on April 26, 2018 [41 favorites]


The cynic in me is afraid that part of why Cosby was found guilty had to do with the color of his skin as much as it did the actions he performed...

And speaking of racial politics, there’s a part of me that thinks he’d still be a free man if it hadn’t been for the pound cake speech.

America, huh?
posted by non canadian guy at 12:01 PM on April 26, 2018


A very good start. I'm greatly encouraged.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:10 PM on April 26, 2018 [2 favorites]


I wonder how the conviction will affect any civil suits now or in the future.
posted by Gelatin at 12:12 PM on April 26, 2018 [2 favorites]


Today, I celebrate. Tomorrow I will worry about all the other issues around this. It feels like there aren’t many wins on powerful men getting away with sexual assualt, so I’m going to savour it for a bit.
posted by nubs at 12:22 PM on April 26, 2018 [8 favorites]


Does anyone else remember how Cosby lectured Eddie Murphy about his use of swear words in his comedy?


And if you haven't, you can here (NSFW audio!)
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 12:23 PM on April 26, 2018 [4 favorites]


It looks like there there were a couple of possible first degree felonies, including rape, prosecutors might have used, but opted for second degree ones instead.
Then fuck our misogynistic "justice system," and fuck rape culture.

I agree that this is a bit disappointing but I would give the prosecutors credit for being competent at their jobs. It’s not uncommon to seek lesser charges if they think that it makes the chance of a win more likely. This victory should help civil suits and it ensures that everyone will remember him as a rapist for the rest of his life, which is what he most wanted to avoid.

I would like to channel the rest of that anger into politics around the country, amending laws to remove time limits, requirements to show intent, etc. which have helped countless rapists avoid conviction and continuing the push to have police and prosecutors take cases more seriously.
posted by adamsc at 12:24 PM on April 26, 2018 [31 favorites]


I agree that this is a bit disappointing but I would give the prosecutors credit for being competent at their jobs. It’s not uncommon to seek lesser charges if they think that it makes the chance of a win more likely.

If memory serves me correctly, one of the criticisms of the O.J. Simpson trial was that the prosecutors did not charge him with other crimes, such as manslaughter, thus giving the jury an option to convict him on one of the lesser chargers even if they acquitted him of murder.
posted by Gelatin at 12:30 PM on April 26, 2018 [12 favorites]


While his crimes were arguably "worse," (ugh I feel awful even trying to weigh the relative demerits) we just saw Larry Nassar (a white, Christian man) tried and sentenced earlier this year.

I think, on the balance, Cosby's conviction is less due to his race, and more due to America finally saying "enough is enough" with regard to victim-blaming, and that an equivalent white man of his stature would also be found guilty.
posted by explosion at 12:30 PM on April 26, 2018 [15 favorites]


The Associated Press @AP: "Bill Cosby's lawyer says 'fight is not over' and plans to appeal after comedian convicted at sexual assault retrial."

Goddamit, it never fucking ends.
posted by Doktor Zed at 12:34 PM on April 26, 2018 [1 favorite]


The Associated Press @AP: "Bill Cosby's lawyer says 'fight is not over' and plans to appeal after comedian convicted at sexual assault retrial."

They always say that. Of course they say that; the conviction is news, and promising an appeal is sure to place an assertion of innocence into the public record, at the very least.

It remains to be seen, of course, whether they actually file said appeal, or whether said appeal is tossed out, or simply fails due to there not being reversible errors at trial. What is sure is that none of those events, whether they happen or not, will garner as much attention as the initial promise to appeal.
posted by Gelatin at 12:38 PM on April 26, 2018 [7 favorites]


Good news! It would seem that this is a great week for justice, beginning with the conviction of Peter Madsen to life in prison for the murder of Kim Wall, the capture of that serial murder cop Joseph DeAngelo, and now this.
posted by bouvin at 12:45 PM on April 26, 2018 [15 favorites]


> Where the hell is the word "rape"? Where is the rape conviction?

The maximum sentence he can now receive is three counts of ten years apiece. A conviction of first degree rape could have meant a maximum of three counts of twenty years apiece.

Cosby is 80 years old. I think the prosecution's strategy was that aiming for a second degree felony rather than first degree will improve the likelihood of a guilty verdict while still ensuring that, if convicted, he is likely to end his days in prison.
posted by ardgedee at 12:46 PM on April 26, 2018 [28 favorites]


I'm sorry he's 80, as that means he likely won't spend more than a few years in prison.
posted by holborne at 12:51 PM on April 26, 2018 [2 favorites]


> I agree that this is a bit disappointing but I would give the prosecutors credit for being competent at their jobs. It’s not uncommon to seek lesser charges if they think that it makes the chance of a win more likely.

This was my thought as well. I can readily (and grimly) imagine that it seemed too risky to expect the jurors to all agree that Cosby's sexual assault of Costand was "really" rape.

I am not questioning that it was rape. What she endured was rape whether he put his penis inside of her or not. But IIRC this is unclear, as she was conscious only long enough to recall the digital and oral portions of the rape program.
posted by desuetude at 12:56 PM on April 26, 2018 [1 favorite]


If he had never made his infamous speech criticizing black families for their parenting, he might not have been convicted today. I hope he's looking forward to being able to personally discuss with incarcerated youth the circumstances behind their imprisonment.
posted by subocoyne at 12:58 PM on April 26, 2018 [13 favorites]


(CW: detailed descriptions of sexual assault) Here are the Pennsylvania statutes defining aggravated indecent assault and other sexual offenses, FYI.
posted by nicebookrack at 1:02 PM on April 26, 2018 [1 favorite]


Thinking about Cosby, how he got convicted---three second degree charges, and how we are supposed to view it as a victory. I think that one of the things that is under reported or under discussed (and this is v v personal for me), is the concessions that occur. One is charged not for what one did, but what we can agree is most likely to get convictions. The narrative that is cleanest, that can be prepared without ambivalence, is the narrative that is presented. The stories we tell are the ones that do not contain narrative complexity, or emotional depth..I am glad that Cosby was convicted, We know that the three charges that stuck after the second trial were ones that could withstand other constructions, more dangerous and more destabilizing narratives. There is still the idea of the good victim here.
posted by PinkMoose at 1:24 PM on April 26, 2018 [3 favorites]


I didn't think it would happen. I'm glad. I hope this gives his victims at least a little peace.
posted by praemunire at 1:25 PM on April 26, 2018 [2 favorites]


Oooh Hannibal Buress is touring. Think I'm gonna check out what the Handsome Rambler has to say when he hits town.
posted by whuppy at 1:32 PM on April 26, 2018 [1 favorite]


I think that one of the things that is under reported or under discussed (and this is v v personal for me), is the concessions that occur.

If someone beats, strangles, and stabs their victim, but there's only conclusive evidence of the beating, and circumstantial evidence of the latter two, it stinks that the prosecutor can't get the "full conviction," but it's better to get the conviction than to over-reach.

"Beyond a reasonable doubt" is a very high bar, and 3 second degree charges is still plenty. The man is convicted, he will be punished, and his legacy as a rapist is still cemented. Fortunately, in the court of public opinion, we don't need "beyond a reasonable doubt," and we can call him a rapist.
posted by explosion at 1:35 PM on April 26, 2018 [14 favorites]


He walked first time around.

The conservative strategy was more than justified.
posted by jamjam at 1:40 PM on April 26, 2018 [11 favorites]


If he had never made his infamous speech criticizing black families for their parenting, he might not have been convicted today. I hope he's looking forward to being able to personally discuss with incarcerated youth the circumstances behind their imprisonment.

I'm sure somebody's made this observation previously, but isn't it strange that Cosby used to rail against younger black men wearing their pants too low, when he was guilty of far worse pants-related crimes?
posted by Strange Interlude at 1:42 PM on April 26, 2018 [8 favorites]


"Most notorious serial sexual predator in modern history"

Sadly, there are several others in contention for that title.
posted by lovecrafty at 1:44 PM on April 26, 2018 [1 favorite]


Oooh Hannibal Buress is touring. Think I'm gonna check out what the Handsome Rambler has to say when he hits town.

After he brought heat on Cosby I was getting into him until I saw that bit where the "joke" is how horrible and unreasonable a woman he wanted to bring home with him from a bar at 3am was for texting a friend to tell her where she was going.
posted by Pope Guilty at 1:46 PM on April 26, 2018 [2 favorites]


Crimes like these are very difficult to prove in a court of law in general for anyone. I haven't been following the case, but it's pretty extraordinary they got a conviction. My understanding is the evidence was mostly witness testimony. That's basically he said she said with enough other people describing similar behavior that you have zero doubt it happened. Take the win people.
posted by xammerboy at 1:49 PM on April 26, 2018 [2 favorites]


I just got a first hand viewing of why these things are so hard. A very young woman who I work with asked the one next to her if she’s heard the news and the horrifying conversation was about how it all must not be true because the victims had waited too long and why would anyone want to punish such an old man and they must be gold diggers etc. I’m a little ashamed of myself for not jumping in to say that their reactions were one of the exact reasons women don’t come forward and that they probably know people who have been victims etc.
posted by SpaceWarp13 at 1:52 PM on April 26, 2018 [17 favorites]


I've spent about 25 years dealing with, "yes, but was it really rape." So I'm all in favor of statutory law that says, unambiguously, that the specific acts I experienced constituted felony sexual assault. (Even if I have no wish to report a 35-year-old incident to the police.)
posted by GenderNullPointerException at 1:54 PM on April 26, 2018 [12 favorites]


It looks like there there were a couple of possible first degree felonies, including rape, prosecutors might have used, but opted for second degree ones instead.
Then fuck our misogynistic "justice system," and fuck rape culture.
I agree that this is a bit disappointing but I would give the prosecutors credit for being competent at their jobs. It’s not uncommon to seek lesser charges if they think that it makes the chance of a win more likely.


Yes, but they didn't bother to bring a rape charge as the top count and then offer the lesser charges as well so that the jury could choose. He was never charged with rape. For a variety of reasons. All of which suck.

The maximum sentence he can now receive is three counts of ten years apiece. A conviction of first degree rape could have meant a maximum of three counts of twenty years apiece.

Cosby is 80 years old. I think the prosecution's strategy was that aiming for a second degree felony rather than first degree will improve the likelihood of a guilty verdict while still ensuring that, if convicted, he is likely to end his days in prison.


I will bet you every cent I have that he'll never see the inside of a prison. And who gives a shit how old he is. Should the Golden State Killer be offered lesser charges because he's old now?

I'm sorry that I'm pissing on the parade right now, but trying to see this as a move forward is really, really hard. Again, for many reasons (most stated by others in this thread).

Is this it? Of all of the women who came forward, they only found a way to proceed with one single solitary woman's charge? There's no more coming?

While his crimes were arguably "worse," (ugh I feel awful even trying to weigh the relative demerits) we just saw Larry Nassar (a white, Christian man) tried and sentenced earlier this year.

Nobody likes a pedophile. You can't compare multiple rapes of adult women to the ongoing molestation of dozens of little girls (and boy, if I remember correctly). That Nassar is white couldn't have saved him against the images people have of their children being touched. Grown women, however, you know, (insert every single thing people say to discredit the accuser when a woman says she was raped).
posted by tzikeh at 1:54 PM on April 26, 2018 [9 favorites]


we can call him a rapist.

"Most notorious serial sexual predator in modern history
"

Third most. Think Weinstein could give him a battle royale for second place and this guy most likely has a lock on first.

At least Weinstein and Cosby didn't have to die first (with then-unblemished reputations) before justice prevailed (well, hopefully so with the former).
posted by gtrwolf at 1:59 PM on April 26, 2018 [1 favorite]


They still show Cosby Show reruns on network TV. We ought to start writing letters to TV stations about that shit. Cosby may well never see the inside of a prison, but he needs to feel every ounce of the weight of his sins for the rest of his life.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 2:41 PM on April 26, 2018 [4 favorites]


> They still show Cosby Show reruns on network TV. We ought to start writing letters to TV stations about that shit. Cosby may well never see the inside of a prison, but he needs to feel every ounce of the weight of his sins for the rest of his life.

Bounce has pulled reruns of The Cosby Show from its lineup "effective immediately."
posted by guiseroom at 2:45 PM on April 26, 2018 [12 favorites]


If they really want to hurt him, they should run a marathon of back-to-back airings of Leonard Part 6 and Ghost Dad.
posted by Atom Eyes at 2:49 PM on April 26, 2018 [6 favorites]


that sucks for the other actors on The Cosby Show, maybe they could just edit him completely out of it in a Garfield-without-Garfield type experiment?
posted by prize bull octorok at 3:01 PM on April 26, 2018 [17 favorites]




Mother Jugs and Speed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother,_Jugs_%26_Speed

Cosby starred in this bizarre artifact of mid-70s America. Larry Hagman in this film played a bad guy who drugs and attempts to rape an unconscious woman. Harvey Keitel prevents him from getting away with it.

Of course Hagman and Keitel have nothing to do with the Cosby trial and were just actors. But it's an odd "coincidence" that a plot point in a movie Starring Cosby was literally drugging and raping a woman.
posted by jeff-o-matic at 3:08 PM on April 26, 2018 [2 favorites]


I don't understand the Larry Wilmore tweet. Who is it in reference to?
posted by stevil at 3:09 PM on April 26, 2018






Bail, but he can't leave the state.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 2:25 PM on April 26 [2 favorites +] [!]


I think I speak for all of Pennsylvania when I say: we don't want him.
posted by coppermoss at 3:36 PM on April 26, 2018 [3 favorites]


I'm sure looking forward to the intro on Larry Wilmore's podcast next week, I tell you what. (RIP Nightly Show, you were gone too soon)
posted by palomar at 3:37 PM on April 26, 2018 [5 favorites]


Oh, it's Wilmore's long-running comment about Cosby. I think I gets it now.
posted by stevil at 3:55 PM on April 26, 2018 [3 favorites]


"Most notorious serial sexual predator in modern history"

Third most. Think Weinstein could give him a battle royale for second place and this guy most likely has a lock on first.


Ranking sexual predators is problematic because we don't know and will never know the actual victim count. We only know how many victims have come forward/gone on record about the abuse they experienced. Cosby, Weinstein, and Savile could all easily have abused thousands of people each.
posted by orange swan at 3:56 PM on April 26, 2018 [16 favorites]


>I'm sorry he's 80, as that means he likely won't spend more than a few years in prison.

He also got to spend the majority of his life as a successful and wealthy celebrity, with all the power and privilege that comes with it. The bitter part of late justice is knowing they got away with it and more for so long.
posted by GoblinHoney at 4:06 PM on April 26, 2018 [5 favorites]


If anyone else was wondering what this "I haven’t forgotten about you, motherfucker!" thing is:


“The Nightly Show” with Larry Wilmore returned from hiatus with plenty to say about Bill Cosby’s 2005 deposition that reportedly detailed how Cosby drugged women so he could have sex without their consent.

“I haven’t forgotten about you, motherfucker!” Wilmore opened the show, bypassing all other weekend news.

posted by thelonius at 4:34 PM on April 26, 2018 [5 favorites]


> that sucks for the other actors on The Cosby Show, maybe they could just edit him completely out of it in a Garfield-without-Garfield type experiment?

ClickHole did this back in 2014.
posted by guiseroom at 4:37 PM on April 26, 2018 [6 favorites]


Is this it? Of all of the women who came forward, they only found a way to proceed with one single solitary woman's charge? There's no more coming?

Very likely. There are statute of limitations issues on most of them, and even on places where it's not, it's hard to gather evidence other than "she said this happened," which is almost never persuasive enough on its own. Even circumstantial evidence helps - calendars/schedule books showing a meeting, phone logs, her medical records after, even a record that she missed days of work after because she was upset. But all those pieces are hard to track down, and without them, the defense just says, "hey jurors; they have shown you absolutely nothing that says this actually happened the way she says. Obvs she's very upset, and something happened to her, but maybe she had a bad date and dreamed about the Cosby Show that night, and got the details all mixed up in her head."

Enough evidence for a rape trial is often hard to get the morning after; six to ten years later, the paper trail has mostly evaporated.

The win here isn't everything I'd wanted, but I very much hope that this is the case that utterly shatters the defense of "but he's such a sweet guy! He would never!" and that nobody else gets away with anything like this.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 7:24 PM on April 26, 2018 [19 favorites]


I grew up not far from that courthouse. Cosby's roommate at Temple was my high school math teacher. He had a real connection to the area, something kind of special. Goddamn motherfucker.
posted by scalefree at 7:58 PM on April 26, 2018


Wesley Morris, Cliff Huxtable Was Bill Cosby’s Sickest Joke
If a sexual predator wanted to come up with a smoke screen for his ghastly conquests, he couldn’t do better than Cliff Huxtable.

Cliff was affable, patient, wise, and where Mrs. Huxtable (Phylicia Rashad) was concerned, justly deferential. His wit was quick, his sweaters roomy and kaleidoscopic. He could be romantic. Cliff should have been the envy of any father ever to appear on a sitcom. He was vertiginously dadly. Cliff is the reason for the cognitive dissonance we’ve been experiencing for the last three or four years. He seemed inseparable from the man who portrayed him.

Bill Cosby was good at his job. That sums up why the guilty verdict Thursday is depressing — depressing not for its shock but for the work the verdict now requires me to do. The discarding and condemning and reconsidering — of the shows, the albums, the movies. But I don’t need to watch them anymore. It’s too late. I’ve seen them. I’ve absorbed them. I’ve lived them. I’m a black man, so I am them.
posted by zachlipton at 8:30 PM on April 26, 2018 [13 favorites]


i get those who want more justice out of this, but as a prosecutor i can tell you that it's our job to be practical and realistic in the pursuit of justice. if you can send the guy to prison for the rest of his life with a lesser charge, you do it rather than risk losing the case (on a retrial, no less) by charging to the max against a celebrity. and as for the other cases, as others have pointed out, there are statutes of limitations. also, the technical legal language of unlawful penetration, etc, doesnt mean you cant use the word rape in normal conversation. that is still what it was.
i totally get wanting the culture to change, but at least here the justice system did what it was supposed to do.
posted by wibari at 8:31 PM on April 26, 2018 [24 favorites]


EmpressCallipygos: "I didn't speak my point clearly, I apologize: My cynicism isn't about "his race is what got him convicted", it's more like "Harvey Weinstein's race is going to be the reason that Bill Cosby is the only one of these schmucks who gets convicted"."

Man I don't want to start throwing the assorted criminals on the scales but Weinstien's and Cosby's crimes are materially different and Cosby's use of drugs is perceived as worse in many circles. I wouldn't spend too much time contemplating the outcomes bias because of race.

tzikeh: "I will bet you every cent I have that he'll never see the inside of a prison. And who gives a shit how old he is. Should the Golden State Killer be offered lesser charges because he's old now? "

Realistically though it doesn't give justice to additional victims I'm not really interested in continuing to charge guys who are already going to die in prison with additional and/or heavier penalty crimes. It's IMO a waste of resources that could be better spent putting additional rapists in jail.

Mr.Encyclopedia: "They still show Cosby Show reruns on network TV. We ought to start writing letters to TV stations about that shit."

I'm kind of neutral on this. Letting the re runs continue to air helps out all the other people who still receive residuals and the revenue stream can be tapped for judgments from the upcoming civil suits. Also I'd hate to call for black holing a TV show that was an important and pivotal piece of television for a lot of the African-American community.
posted by Mitheral at 8:34 PM on April 26, 2018 [4 favorites]


I'm sorry that I'm pissing on the parade right now, but trying to see this as a move forward is really, really hard.

I don't think you should miss the #metoo for the charges.
posted by Going To Maine at 8:35 PM on April 26, 2018 [2 favorites]


This is wonderful news for Woman (and Men) who have suffered at the hands of freaks like Cosby.

But I know in my heart that son of a bitch will never serve a day of incarceration.
posted by james33 at 4:46 AM on April 27, 2018


Clickhole: A Slippery Slope: Could Bill Cosby’s Conviction Lead To A Mob Mentality Where Society Wantonly Punishes Any Serial Rapist After Decades Of Inaction?

I give the parody about 24 hours until the hot takes from Bari Weiss, Bret Stephens, Kevin Williamson and friends make it reality.
posted by zombieflanders at 6:17 AM on April 27, 2018 [15 favorites]


I wonder if any of his victims will be invited to speak at his sentencing hearing.
posted by ZeusHumms at 7:30 AM on April 27, 2018 [1 favorite]


But I know in my heart that son of a bitch will never serve a day of incarceration.

He's already lost his reputation, which he seemed to treasure, given the amount of time that he spent using it as a platform to scold others of his race. His churlish post-conviction outburst regarding the plane seems to indicate that he's already suffering, if that helps.
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:44 AM on April 27, 2018 [2 favorites]


Cosby's a narcissist. For him, any criticism, any refusal on the part of others to do exactly as he wants, is an absolute outrage. So the public backlash against him and the loss of career opportunities is certainly getting to him. But he's not yet suffering enough for my liking. I want him to go to prison. And unlike others in this thread, I do believe he's going to prison for the rest of his life, unless he dies before his sentence is set to begin.
posted by orange swan at 7:51 AM on April 27, 2018 [2 favorites]


...theloss of career opportunities is certainly getting to him.

At 80 years old, I don't think he was going to be out there looking for career advancement opportunities. He'd be headed for retirement either way.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 8:19 AM on April 27, 2018


It won't shock me if his sentence gets commuted to house arrest or something like that. But for now, I'm going to go ahead on and trust that the prison sentence will stick.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 8:22 AM on April 27, 2018


With OJ you can at least say that white supremacy cops were trying to frame him even if it was for a crime he commuted. Cosby has none of that cover.
posted by Artw at 8:43 AM on April 27, 2018




At 80 years old, I don't think he was going to be out there looking for career advancement opportunities. He'd be headed for retirement either way.

Well, but as I recall, just a few years ago he was on tour, and I believe he had a Netflix deal for a new show that got canceled when the news came out. So we know that his career was affected, if only near the end of it. With someone like Cosby, that counts for something.
posted by holborne at 9:08 AM on April 27, 2018 [1 favorite]


He released a live DVD only 5 years ago titled—get this—Bill Cosby... Far From Finished.
posted by Atom Eyes at 9:24 AM on April 27, 2018


Bill Cosby... Far From Finished.
Ewwwwwwwwwwwww.
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:44 AM on April 27, 2018 [1 favorite]


I would call those projects more "keeping your hand in," but yeah, I guess technically they count.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 11:59 AM on April 27, 2018


I give the parody about 24 hours until the hot takes from Bari Weiss, Bret Stephens, Kevin Williamson and friends make it reality.

Next up on the Charlie Rose Show...
posted by scalefree at 12:18 PM on April 27, 2018 [1 favorite]




Or, more accurately, compares his situation as similar to Emmitt Till's. And then the other publicist says that Cosby is the victim of a "public lynching."

In any case, them painting him as a victim on par with Emmitt Till is nauseating.

posted by mudpuppie at 2:02 PM on April 27, 2018 [4 favorites]


Saying that something is as bad as lynching cheapens the suffering of people who were actually lynched, which is something you wouldn't expect a Black man to do.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 2:33 PM on April 27, 2018 [4 favorites]


Saying that something is as bad as lynching cheapens the suffering of people who were actually lynched, which is something you wouldn't expect a Black man to do.

No, but it is something a man without a moral compass would do - hence why you saw Clarence Thomas do the same when his nomination came under justifiable fire.
posted by NoxAeternum at 2:43 PM on April 27, 2018 [10 favorites]


Why won’t this Career die? (Alexandra Petri, WaPo)
“Charlie Rose Will Reportedly Host a Show About Men Brought Down by #MeToo”
The Cut
“Matt Lauer Is Planning His Comeback"
Vanity Fair
“Louis CK’s Path To A Comeback Likely Runs Through Comedy Clubs”
The Hollywood Reporter


Panting with exhaustion, she let the stake drop from her hands. It was done. She had made her Allegation public, spoken the Killing Words, and the Man’s Career was dead.

This, at least, is what everyone had said.

“Do you understand what you’re doing?” they had wondered, anxiously. They knew — centuries of lore, from those who had sought to destroy a Man’s Livelihood before, had warned them — that merely hinting at some sort of scandal would be enough to destroy a Promising Gentleman’s Career for good.

She had felt bad. If there were a way to punish only the Man. The Career had not been always and entirely bad, and she had been a little sad to be the agent of its destruction.

But it was done. She had killed it. The worst was over. She heaped dirt and garlic on it, bleeding and exhausted, and began the long trek back. […]

She felt bad for the Career. It was not the Career’s fault, the things the Man had done. The Career had been a source of joy. It was like a delicious sausage of whose precise ingredients she had been unaware; she could not deny that it was tasty, and maybe there was nothing wrong even in the meat itself, but once you learned that the only person able to make it ate a baby’s arm each time, nothing about the taste changed, except your awareness of what it meant to be a person who liked that taste. […]

They had said the Career was dead, but it wasn’t dead.

They had shunned her as a murderer. She saw her own Career wither and die. But at least the thing was gone and it would not trouble anyone else.

The first twitches were noted less than a month afterward. Someone in an interview had said he missed it, and for a moment she thought she had seen it twitch. But that was nothing, they assured her. She had murdered it (MURDERER!), and it was dead.

Only it wasn’t. […]

She came home and her child was drawing something. It emerged slowly in firm swipes of the crayon beneath her little girl’s stubby fingers. At first it looked like a monster with spaghetti for a head. There was something unshakably ominous about it. Something she almost recognized.

“What is that, sweetie?” she asked, her voice shaking a little.

“It’s an inevitable comeback tour,” her daughter said. “Do you like it, Mommy?”

She swallowed down the sickly sweet taste of bile in her mouth. “You did a very good job with the coloring,” she said. “What made you decide to draw that?”

Her daughter shrugged, starting on a new picture that appeared to show the spaghetti-headed monster being given an award of some kind by its peers. “It’s only a matter of time, Mommy.”
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 10:02 PM on April 27, 2018 [18 favorites]






Wow that is quite a change considering the Academy awarded Polanski an Oscar after he fled the US to avoid jail for raping a 13 year old.
posted by Mitheral at 12:35 PM on May 3, 2018 [10 favorites]


Yeah, that Oscar was in 2003. Polanski's crime was in 1977. But I guess better extremely late than never.
posted by thefoxgod at 9:07 PM on May 3, 2018 [2 favorites]


The defenders of Polanski weren't necessarily saying he didn't rape that girl. Some did, but there were an alarmingly large number of people in Hollywood and cultural circles in Europe who thought what he did was no big deal and he should be excused because he is an artist.

Which is probably why it's taken until now for Hollywood to start to turn on Polanski. That blasé attitude towards him had to have helped enable Weinstein and Cosby and others.
posted by riruro at 11:07 PM on May 3, 2018 [4 favorites]


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