Dramatic start to Bill Cosby sexual assault retrial as topless protester goes on attack
AFTER a topless protester rushed Bill Cosby as he arrived for his sexual assault retrial amid hordes of media, an eye-watering sum was revealed that could be key to the result.
THERE was chaos at court as Bill Cosby’s retrial began, with a topless protester rushing the TV star and the prosecution revealing the huge sum he paid his accuser in a settlement.
The man once known as “America’s Dad” paid Andrea Constand $4.39 million ($US3.38m) in 2006 when he settled a civil suit, without admitting any wrongdoing.
Ms Constand alleges the entertainer drugged and sexually assaulted her after they met at his former university. He denies her claims, and says the sexual activity was consensual.
The actor said during his deposition that he had previously given sedative-hypnotic drug Quaaludes to women for consensual sex.
Demonstrators waving placards chanted, “No more silence, stop sexual violence!” and, “Justice for survivors, justice for Andrea!” as he arrived at court on the outskirts of Philadelphia, while counter-protesters yelled out, “Justice for Bill!”
The 80-year-old stepped from his car with a walking stick, slowly put on his coat and walked towards Montgomery County Court surrounded by cameras, for the first big sexual assault trial in the age of #MeToo.
It was then that a woman jumped over the wall and was tackled into a bush by police, arrested and taken into custody as she shouted, “Women’s Lives Matter, hey hey hey!” The slogan was also scrawled in red ink across her chest.
“This is a circus,” one onlooker remarked.
The protester was later identified as Nicolle Rochelle, who appeared in several episodes of The Cosby Show, and charged with summary disorderly conduct. The 39-year-old, a member of activist group Femen, could face a fine and have to pay court costs if convicted.
In his opening statements, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said the case was about trust, “that was built over time” between Mr Cosby and Ms Constand.
“In January 2004, that trust was betrayed,” said the prosecutor. “It was betrayed because he used words, he used words to try to get her to take pills, then he used words to try to encourage her to drink something. Because of that trust, she did.
“It led to a woman being incapable of making a decision, a decision about something that was going to happen.”
Mr Steele told the court Mr Cosby went upstairs in his home in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania, before coming down with three blue pills. “When he does that, he says these words about the pills: these are your friends, I have three friends for you,” he said.
The prosecution claims Mr Cosby, who is charged with three counts of indecent assault, touched Ms Constand’s breasts and penetrated her with his fingers while she was semiconscious. She allegedly woke up on the sofa woozy and dishevelled.
Mr Steele said the prosecution’s case would show this was not merely a case of “he said, she said” by calling other women with similar allegations of being drugged and assaulted.
Opening statements and first witnesses were delayed on Monday morning after Mr Cosby’s high-profile Hollywood lawyer Tom Mesereau raised objections to a juror who had reportedly been heard stating that he already thought the defendant was guilty.
Judge Steven O’Neill questioned the juror in private.
The comedian’s lawyer will make his opening statement at the courthouse in Norrisville, northwest of Philadelphia tomorrow.
The retrial is set to be very different to the first with six women set to take the stand to allege Mr Cosby sexually assaulted them, compared to just two last time.
The #MeToo movement is proving a major theme in this case, with jurors asked during selection how much they knew about the campaign and whether it would affect their decision-making.
Madness outside court at #BillCosby trial in outer #philadelphia pic.twitter.com/HmBfmAJwzb
— Emma Reynolds (@emmareyn) 9 April 2018
His first trial last year ended with a hung jury.
One of the women is supermodel Janice Dickinson, who will say the comedian drugged and raped her in a Lake Tahoe hotel room in 1982 when she was 27 and he was 45. She has also sued him for defamation.
The others were aspiring actresses, models and a bartender when they say they were assaulted by Mr Cosby between 1982 and 1989.
The Cosby Show actor denies all the allegations.
Ms Constand is the only woman whose complaint has resulted in criminal charges against the performer. His reputation began to crumble in 2014, when the first of at least 23 women alleged he drugged and raped them.
Mr Cosby’s defence will call at least three witnesses, including Marguerite Jackson, a Temple University academic adviser. She says Ms Constand, who worked with the women’s basketball team, once told her she could make money by falsely claiming that she had been molested by someone famous.
Ms Constand — who met Mr Cosby at Temple University, his alma mater — previously said she did not know Ms Jackson, who was not called as a witness in the first trial.
Mr Cosby called only one defence witness during the trial last year, a detective who testified for just six minutes.
His new lawyer Mr Mesereau helped acquit Michael Jackson in his 2005 child molestation trial and has represented Mike Tyson.
The first trial took just six days, with jurors deliberating for another 52 hours before deciding they could not reach a unanimous verdict. The retrial is likely to last as long as a month.
The 12-person jury is made up of five women and seven men, with one male and one female African-American, just like the first.
This time, however, they will come from the local area. Last time, Mr Cosby had jurors brought in from Pittsburgh, 480 kilometres away, because he was concerned locals would be affected by the pre-trial publicity.
The trial continues.
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