Most readers have heard of the ongoing sexual assault accusations against Bill Cosby, including the recent charges of sexual assault. Those charges are based on an alleged incident in Pennsylvania involving a former employee of Temple University. The incident is said to have occurred 12 years ago.
One of the interesting aspects of the case is that the statute of limitations runs out this month. In this case, police had apparently interviewed both Cosby and his accuser but prosecutors declined to pursue charges since there wasn’t enough evidence. Most of the evidence presented in support of the recently filed charges was obtained back in 2005, but there was also an unsealed court deposition from a civil case that prosecutors presented.
The deposition reportedly reveals that Cosby had drugged women in order to obtain easy sex. No doubt, the fact that Cosby has been accused of involvement with other women provides prosecutors the impetus to pursue the case. It remains to be seen whether the evidence in this particular case will be strong enough to obtain a conviction.
One important point to make about this case is that, although Cosby has been accused of sexually assaulting many other women, these allegations have been unable to go anywhere due to the running of the statutes of limitation, which are different in different states. An important defense goal for Cosby will be skillfully addressing the admissions of drugging other women and containing the effects of that admission on the case against him. In any event, we’ll keep readers updated on the proceedings against Cosby.
Sources:
The Washington Post, “Why prosecutors are charging Bill Cosby 12 years later, and why other rape cases quietly die,” Danielle Paquette, Dec. 31, 2015.
The Daily Beast, “Cosby’s Chilling Instructions to Andrea Constand: ‘Put Them in Your Mouth’,” Olivia Messer, Dec. 30, 2015.
