The media has not scrutinised a celebrity for a Crime they’ve been accused of this much since OJ Simpson was accused of double homicide and took off in his white Bronco. The difference here, of course, is that comedy legend Bill Cosby’s accusations affect more than two victims. In fact, he’s been accused of raping or otherwise sexually assaulting over sixty women at different points throughout his career.
It’s taken over a year to go to trial
Cosby was first accused back in 2015, and it’s taken more than a year and a half for one of his charges to finally get to trial, despite his best efforts to dismiss or put off the highly-publicised claims.
This was the only criminal case ever put against Cosby, but it’s a pretty big one.
In this trial, taking place at a court in Pennsylvania (Cosby hails from Philadelphia), the “I Spy” star will be faced by just one of his accusers, Andrea Constand, who alleges he raped her in 2004. However, the prosecution is expected to bring in other accusers to support their case with testimonies.
LA firm Greenberg Glusker’s Pierce O’Donnell believes that Cosby’s trial for sexual assault allegations will be remembered as “the celebrity criminal trial of the new 21st century,” saying that the comedian is “far more luminous” than the Juice. OJ had previously found himself in hot water for other troubles, but before these allegations, Cosby was “a national treasure, a beloved icon, and a revered pioneer for Black Americans.”
Cosby ‘already convicted in court of public opinion’
O’Donnell makes the point that Cosby doesn’t really stand a chance, since he has “already been convicted of this crime and many others in the court of public opinion,” whereas an actual court of law where convictions are made and all arguments are heard and facts and evidence are taken into consideration is “the only court that counts.”
Cosby is facing down the barrel of a potential ten-year prison sentence, during which he will almost certainly die since he’s 79 years old, if the court finds him guilty of the crimes he’s been accused of.
Keshia Knight Pulliam, best known as Cosby’s screen daughter Rudy Huxtable, has attended the trail today.
The trial is expected to last two weeks
Cosby’s trial is expected to last two weeks, and he isn’t expected to appear as a witness in his own defence hearing. Later this week, Constand will be testifying, and this will be the first time she has publicly told her side of the story that happened at Cosby’s mansion over a decade ago.
She won’t be the only Cosby accuser to take the stand, but only 13 of the more than sixty accusers have been sought out by the prosecution, and only one of those 13 has been allowed to testify by the judge, Steven O’Neill. The legal system works in mysterious ways to make things easier for rapists.