The jury in Bill Cosby’s retrial found him guilty of three counts of sexual assault on Thursday. These charges come from the testimony made by Andrea Constand that states Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her in his Philadelphia home in 2004.
When the conviction was announced, Cosby did not immediately react but he did have an outburst later on. After the verdict was over, prosecutors asked to withdraw Cosby’s bail. The outburst came when the prosecutor was trying to get rid of his bail. Cosby yelled “He doesn’t have a plane, you a**hole.” (CNN)
Judge O’Neill had ruled that Cosby should not leave his home but because he has multiple homes in different states, the judge said that if he ends up arranging to stay at one of his other homes in another state, he must have a GPS attached to him.
After the conviction, it was stated that Cosby would face up to 10 years in prison for each count but he is most likely going to serve those years simultaneously. There has not been a sentencing hearing scheduled yet on behalf of Cosby.
The decision was made a year after Cosby’s mistrial in which a number of jurors could not agree on a verdict. The jury that decided on his verdict for this trial started working on it on Wednesday starting at 11 AM and had worked for about 14 hours each day to finally reach their decision.
Attorney Tom Mesereau plans on appealing the verdict in Bill Cosby’s trial because he believes that he is not guilty of sexual assault and that the fight is not over.
How the case developed
The case developed when Andrea Constand, a former employee of the Temple University women’s basketball team, testified in relation to Cosby and what he had done to her 14 years ago. She stated that he drugged her and she was sexually assaulted by him.
Over the course of the trial there were a lot of “he said, she said” comments which is often common in sexual assault trials.
During the case, the prosecutors relied on the testimony that Constand made. In addition to Constand’s testimony, there were five other women that testified that Cosby had drugged and sexually assaulted them back in the 1980s and 1990s. From this, prosecutors were able to determine that Cosby’s actions were a pattern. The defense questioned Constand’s credibility and stated that there was consent.
When they reached a verdict, Constand left the courtroom, walked toward two women, and hugged them, with a huge smile on her face.
Attorney Gloria Allred, who represented Constand, stated that this is probably the happiest that she has been with a verdict in over 40 years. Allred stated that they are happy that women are finally believed not just within the #MeToo movement but also in a court of law.
High spirits and courage after verdict
Prosecutor Steele thinks that Constand was very courageous for coming forward and for getting justice. In addition, Steele stated that he hopes that people who have been assaulted see the courage that Constand had, and encouraged them to always stand up for themselves.
Andrew Wyatt, Cosby's spokesman, told CNN: "Mr. Cosby's spirits are up -- they're high. Just because he has been found guilty -- when you know you're not guilty -- he's not gonna act guilty," Wyatt said outside Cosby's suburban Philadelphia home. "He knows he's not guilty."
"We're all shocked," Wyatt said. "These jurors didn't get it right. All of the evidence that was presented -- they ignored it."
