UNITED STATES—After 13 hours of deliberation, a Pennsylvania jury found Bill Cosby, 80, guilty on all three counts of aggravated indecent assault during his retrial. The first trail in June 2017 ended in a mistrial. The allegations against Cosby started after Andrea Constand accused Cosby of drugging her and sexually assaulting her in 2004. Over 60 women have come forward accusing the actor and comedian of sexual abuse and assault.
Constand, the main accuser in the trial, stated that Cosby gave her blue pills at his house to make her relax. He called the pills “friends.” Drifting in and out of consciousness, she said she was “jolted awake” by the feeling of his violative fingers between her thighs.
“I wanted to know what pills he gave to me, and why he did that to me,” Constand said in court. “He stumbled on his words. He said, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ He said, ‘I thought you had an orgasm,’ and I had not. He would not answer my questions.” Constand received a civil settlement from Cosby for $3.4 million.
The prosecution brought several other accusers to the stand during the trial to demonstrate that Cosby had a pattern and practice of drugging some of his victims. Janice Dickinson, one of the world’s first super models, testified that Cosby also gave her a blue pill for her menstrual cramps, which Dickinson indicated she began to feel lightheaded.
“When I spoke, it didn’t sound like my words were coming out. I was in my head,” said Dickinson. “I couldn’t get words out I wanted to say.” “I was rendered motionless,” she added.
Cosby grew to fame for his role as Dr. Cliff Huxtable on the 1908s sitcom “The Cosby Show.” Reruns of the series on the Bounce network were pulled after the verdict was revealed on Thursday, April 26.
The crimes for which Cosby has been convicted carry a statutory minimum sentence of 10 years for each count. Sentencing will occur within 90 days of this conviction, but a judge has ordered Cosby on house arrest.
Written By Candace Buford