Bill Cosby has been accused by more than 50 women of sexual assault — and the sheer weight of that number has led to crushing condemnation in the court of public opinion.
But when he faces a court of law Monday, Cosby’s fate will hang on testimony from just two of his accusers. “There is a big contrast,” said James Cohen, a criminal law professor at Fordham.
“What Cosby is hoping for is that the jury forgets about the other 48.”
Cosby, 79, faces three counts of aggravated indecent assault for allegedly drugging and assaulting Andrea Constand, a Temple University employee, in 2004. He has denied the accusations since 2005, when Constand first went to the police.
The district attorney at that time declined to press charges — and in 2006 Cosby settled a civil suit with Constand that remained sealed for almost a decade.
‘Google Bill Cosby rape’
The legal landscape began to change unexpectedly for Cosby in October 2014, when video of a routine by comedian Hannibal Buress went viral. The performance focused sharply on Cosby and the allegations against him.
“When you leave here, google ‘Bill Cosby rape,'” the comedian told an audience at a comedy club in Cosby’s hometown of Philadelphia.
“It’s not funny. That s*** has more results than ‘Hannibal Buress.'”
In the months that followed, dozens of women came forward with more claims against Cosby. Many told similar stories; they said Cosby had drugged and then assaulted them.
In a statement to CNN in November 2014 Cosby’s attorney, Martin D. Singer, denied what he called “unsubstantiated, fantastical stories,” which were becoming “increasingly ridiculous.”
The growing number of accusers and heightened public interest in the case would be instrumental in a judge’s subsequent decision to unseal Cosby’s deposition in Constand’s civil suit.
Cosby’s public persona also played a part in that ruling. Even as the number of accusations against him rose, Cosby had continued to make statements about what he saw as the flaws and failings of many African-American families. As a much-loved family entertainer and “America’s dad,” he chose to cast himself as a conservative role model and moral compass for that community.
That will be on full display when Cosby walks into court: He’ll be escorted into the courthouse by Keisha Knight Pulliam, who played his daughter, Rudy Huxtable, on “The Cosby Show,” according to Andrew Wyatt, Cosby’s media representative.
In explaining his decision to unseal the deposition, US District Judge Eduardo Robreno cited the “stark contrast” between “Bill Cosby, the public moralist,” and “Bill Cosby, the subject of serious allegations.”
In the deposition, Cosby said he had engaged in consensual sexual activity with Constand — and that he had obtained Quaaludes in order to give them to women with whom he wanted to have sex. The unsealed deposition was central to Cosby’s arrest in December 2015.
Cosby has no plans to testify
Despite the volume of compelling accounts from dozens of accusers, only Constand’s story will be the focus of the upcoming trial.
The jury will hear testimony from just one other accuser at trial as prosecutors seek to establish that Cosby’s alleged actions toward Constand were part of a pattern of behavior. Prosecutors had sought to include testimony from 13 other accusers, but Judge Steven O’Neill ruled that would be too prejudicial.
Cosby has said he does not plan to testify. His deposition from the civil suit will stand as his explanation of what happened — which means the trial likely will hinge on a classic case of “he said, she said.”
“It’s going to be basically two people in the room and they’re going to have very different versions of the event,” said Barry Coburn, a defense lawyer based in Washington.
“And the jury is going to have to decide.”
It would be hard to overstate Cosby’s impact on the entertainment industry and popular culture in America.
The Philadelphia native enjoyed a steady rise to extraordinary, global fame. By the early 60s he had achieved widespread recognition as a standup comedian and Grammy winning recording artist. He was the first black actor to co-star in a leading dramatic role on US TV — in the espionage series “I Spy.”
In 1966, he won an Emmy for that role — another first for an African-American performer. He starred in movies opposite Sidney Poitier and in the 70s developed the animated “Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids” series for TV.
In the 1980s, he reached another generation of fans by turning the lives of the Huxtables, a black, middle-class New York family, into a beloved and groundbreaking sitcom. Over the course of multiple award-winning seasons of “The Cosby Show,” he starred as sweater-loving father figure Dr. Cliff Huxtable. The role cemented his place among the most prominent of celebrities.
Cosby’s serial successes translated into extraordinary fame and considerable influence — and he relished the opportunity to use his lofty status as a platform to make public pronouncements about social responsibility and parenting.
In 2004, at an NAACP event commemorating the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, Cosby delivered what came to be known as the “Pound Cake” speech, in which he argued that crime in the black community was in part due to bad parenting and a lack of personal responsibility.
“Looking at the incarcerated, these are not political criminals,” Cosby said.
“These are people going around stealing Coca-Cola. People getting shot in the back of the head over a piece of pound cake! Then we all run out and are outraged: ‘The cops shouldn’t have shot him.’ What the hell was he doing with the pound cake in his hand?”
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