Bill Cosby Verdict
Bill Cosby was found guilty on all three counts of aggravated indecent assault at a retrial in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania on April 26. Last year, Cosby’s first trial was declared a mistrial after a jury failed to reach a verdict.
Multiple accusers, testifying as ‘prior bad acts’ witnesses, alleged at the trial that Cosby had drugged them using sedatives and sexually assaulted them.
The main accuser was Andrea Constand, who worked for the Temple University women’s basketball team. She alleged that in a 2004 incident, Cosby, a powerful trustee/alum of Temple, gave her three pills to relax but was soon semi-conscious and unable to move before he sexually assaulted her.
The 80-year old Philadelphia native, best known for playing Cliff Huxtable on The Cosby Show and oft-revered as ‘America’s dad’, now faces 10 years in prison for each count, though he could serve them concurrently.
Cosby did not testify at the trial, but at one point shouted “he doesn’t have a plane, you asshole,” during the bail negotiations after the jury was dismissed.
Cosby’s attorney, Tom Mesereau, plans to appeal the verdict.
