Cosby, a year later: Will he seek deal or prepare for trial?

[webfact]

Cosby, a year later: Will he seek deal or prepare for trial?

By MARYCLAIRE DALE

 

NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Bill Cosby is starting 2017 in a legal dragnet that has only tightened around him since his stunning arrest a year ago.

 

Cosby was charged with aggravated sexual assault on Dec. 30, 2015, just days before the 12-year statute of limitations would have run out over a 2004 encounter at his estate near Philadelphia.

 

A year later, it's increasingly unlikely that he can avoid a felony trial slated for June. The judge has denied nearly each defense motion as the two sides fight over Cosby's deposition, other accusers and the decade-long delay in filing charges.

 

"It doesn't sound like the prosecutors are inclined to give him a deal that will matter," said Loyola Law School professor Laurie Levenson, who is not involved in the case. "It's an elderly man, and any (jail sentence) is probably, in his mind, worth fighting."

 

A recent tabloid news report suggested a plea could be in the works, but Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele's spokeswoman calls the report unfounded. Still, some celebrity lawyers don't rule it out.

 

"Ultimately, I think they work something out. Unfortunately, I don't think it's the deal he wants," said Los Angeles lawyer Mark Geragos, who represented Michael Jackson on child molestation charges. "If they can work out a felony with minimal time, I think he'd be wise to take it, given his age and infirmities."

 

Cosby, 79 and legally blind, had appeared shaken last year as he maneuvered past the cameras that mobbed him outside the small court office where he posted $1 million bail after his arrest. But he now appears more comfortable in court after a half-dozen or so hearings.

 

He quipped "Don't Tase me, bro" to security guards wanding visitors at the Montgomery County Courthouse this month; shouted out answers to questions meant for lawyers at the latest pretrial hearing; and drifted into a comedic riff as he and a handler left the ceremonial courtroom where the case is being heard to accommodate the press.

 

Yet inside the room, it's been rough going for "the Cos," long beloved for his portrayal of family man Cliff Huxtable on the top-ranked 1980s sitcom "The Cosby Show." The aging comedian is accused of sexually assaulting Andrea Constand, a basketball team manager he knew through Temple University, where he was a trustee and high-profile booster.

 

O'Neill has said the jury can hear the damaging deposition he gave in her 2005 lawsuit, when Cosby acknowledged a long list of affairs and hookups with young women during his 52-year marriage. He also testified to giving at least one woman quaaludes before sex, and giving others, including Constand, pills and wine.

 

Scores of women now say they were drugged and molested. Steele wants 13 of them to testify at trial.

 

O'Neill heard two days of arguments on the issue this month. The other women knew Cosby over a 50-year span, most through the entertainment industry. Steele called Cosby a lifelong sexual predator with a signature style. The defense questioned the women's memories and motivations as they sought to keep them from testifying as "prior bad act" witnesses.

 

"It's hard to know what the (plea) deal would be if the prosecution wins on the prior bad act motion," Levenson said. "Although it's not impossible, because the prosecutors also have to see and calculate how well their witnesses will hold up."

 

O'Neill has knocked down repeated defense efforts to dismiss the case over the 12-year delay or the so-called "promise" from a former prosecutor that he would never be charged.

 

Steele's office reopened the case after Cosby's deposition became public last year. O'Neill has also appeared cool at times to Cosby's revolving team of lawyers from Los Angeles. His lead criminal lawyer remains local Philadelphia standout Brian McMonagle, who has a warm, easygoing style that engages jurors but who can also turn up the heat, as he did this month when he sparred with Steele over naming the other accusers in open court.

 

Once O'Neill decides if they can testify, the defense will start prepping for trial in earnest. McMonagle did not return calls seeking comment Thursday.

 

"You get ready to cross-examine the key witnesses in the case, unless you think some kind of deal can be worked out," Levenson said.

 

-- © Associated Press 2016-12-30

[Rhys]

Somehow between all the clouds of accusation and information, he still did many good .....

 

A product of the 60s and all that jazz back then.

 

[bendejo]

The guy is nearly 80.  With the right lawyers (which he can certainly afford) he could probably keep this thing going the rest of his life without having to cop a plea or spend time in the Big House.

I doubt he can perform any more, but he can try by putting up his own $$$ for the production.

 

A few months before all this hit the fan I saw him do his performance on an HBO special.  The material was mostly mean swipes at his family members, and I remembered what I thought of him when I saw him on a talk show in the 1970s: I think this isn't a very nice guy.

 

 

[Estrada]

I gather Donald Trump wants to place him in charge of Women's rights.

[helpisgood]

4 hours ago, Estrada said:

I gather Donald Trump wants to place him in charge of Women's rights.

 

Agreed!  Or, in charge of the Food & Drug Admin. 

 

[williamgeorgeallen]

On 30/12/2559 at 9:42 PM, Rhys said:

Somehow between all the clouds of accusation and information, he still did many good .....

 

A product of the 60s and all that jazz back then.

 

ha yea, a real role model.

[elgordo38]

On 12/30/2016 at 3:32 PM, webfact said:

Cosby, a year later: Will he seek deal or prepare for trial?

How does that game show go "Lets Make A Deal?" The guy is suffering and rightly so. 

[GOLDBUGGY]

1 hour ago, elgordo38 said:

How does that game show go "Lets Make A Deal?" The guy is suffering and rightly so. 

I can't see this ever going to some sort of deal. The Prosecution is seeking some jail time for this and at age 79 Crosby isn't going to want to give them any. 

 

Besides all that, Crosby had a deal with the Prosecutor before, including no jail time, which back fired on him. So surely he is not going to be foolish enough to trust them again on some sort of "Lets Make A Deal". 

 

I expect this to be a long drawn out legal battle in which Cosby will be spending most of it on Bail. In my view I see he already has grounds for an Appeal and this court case hasn't even started yet. This will cost Cosby a fortune on legal fees and perhaps the greatest that was ever spent on a case like this, but I highly doubt he will spend anytime in Prison.

 

I wonder what the Book Makers would give you for Odds on Cosby and Polanski sharing the same Jail Cell?  

[elgordo38]

2 hours ago, GOLDBUGGY said:

I can't see this ever going to some sort of deal. The Prosecution is seeking some jail time for this and at age 79 Crosby isn't going to want to give them any. 

 

Besides all that, Crosby had a deal with the Prosecutor before, including no jail time, which back fired on him. So surely he is not going to be foolish enough to trust them again on some sort of "Lets Make A Deal". 

 

I expect this to be a long drawn out legal battle in which Cosby will be spending most of it on Bail. In my view I see he already has grounds for an Appeal and this court case hasn't even started yet. This will cost Cosby a fortune on legal fees and perhaps the greatest that was ever spent on a case like this, but I highly doubt he will spend anytime in Prison.

 

I wonder what the Book Makers would give you for Odds on Cosby and Polanski sharing the same Jail Cell?  

I think the Polanski case was a different can of worms. I think he is not in the "serial" league that Cosby is in. He did not return to the well time and again using his status to personal pleasure like Cosby did. 

[elgordo38]

7 hours ago, williamgeorgeallen said:

ha yea, a real role model.

Well he could now be a role model for the fact that justice and the system will find you. To bad there is not much left to prosecute but a blind failing old man. 

[GOLDBUGGY]

29 minutes ago, elgordo38 said:

I think the Polanski case was a different can of worms. I think he is not in the "serial" league that Cosby is in. He did not return to the well time and again using his status to personal pleasure like Cosby did. 

I agree generally in what you are saying, but consider this also. 

 

Polanski was (is) a famous Motion Picture Director. That puts him in the danger zone with a great influence on young attractive women, trying to break into the industry. Who would have no problem getting a small role in the movie by doing the Casting Couch first. Of this I am sure! 

 

So if Polanski could resist all these temptations, and be loyal and faithful to his wife, then he doesn't deserve to be locked up. He deserves to be given Saint Hood! No way I could turn this down if I was him! So we don't really know what was hidden under the blankets, as unlike Cosby, nobody has come forward yet, except the accuser. 

 

What I see the greatest similarities between these 2 High Profile Men is they both made Plea Bargains with the Prosecution, in which they both pleaded guilty in exchange for not serving anymore jail time. Then they both had the Prosecutors change their minds and then try to charge them on there guilty plea, which was only made as a result of this Plea Bargain.

 

That is the part that sucks with me the most. In my Book a Deal is a Deal! Plea Bargaining saves endless amounts of time and money in court rooms. It serves a very important purpose. If the Prosecution is known not to honor a Plea Bargains, then nobody would make such a deal.

 

It is not that I don't think either one of them deserve jail time, or if they are guilty or not. My point is that if they are guilty and the Prosecution is sure they can prove that, then there is no need to make a deal. But if you can't prove that beyond reasonable doubt, and thus decide to make a deal, then at least stick to it.

 

An admission of guilt in a Plea Bargain is still a Guilty Plea, and something they have to live with all of their lives. Like being put on the Sex Offenders List. But what if you didn't commit this crime but the Prosecution still had a case against you. Even if it was false identity, and like I know one personally which it happened to. Then what?

 

What if you are faced with a 10 year jail sentence, if by chance you were found guilty, or off on probation if you make a Plea Bargain and admit you did it even when you did not. What would you do? Most would say fight it and go to  court. Do you trust your legal system that much? Do you have the money for lawyers to fight it? Or are you happy fighting it with a Real Estate Lawyer you got for free? .   

[williamgeorgeallen]

1 hour ago, elgordo38 said:

Well he could now be a role model for the fact that justice and the system will find you. To bad there is not much left to prosecute but a blind failing old man. 

maybe. i am surprised how much he got away with for so long. bill clinton as well.

[GOLDBUGGY]

5 minutes ago, williamgeorgeallen said:

maybe. i am surprised how much he got away with for so long. bill clinton as well.

Cosby has not been convicted of any crime other than being unfaithful to his wife, which I am sure she knows about it by now.

 

All of these women were of legal age. All of these women went willingly and knowing full well that Cosby's Wife was not there. None of these women were forced to do anything. What remains in question is if these women where drugged unknowingly, then subject to being sexually taken advantage of. Although under these said conditions it is difficult to believe that they didn't think something like this would happen to them sexually.  

 

Interesting that you brought up Bill Clinton, and his affair with Monica Lewinsky. For this affair an American President almost got Impeachment, and thrown out of office. Who knows how much grief this caused for his family and all the press. But what about Monica Lewinsky?  

 

Who was Monica Lewinsky anyway and before her affair with Bill Clinton? I hate to use the word a "Nobody", so instead say an unknown person. But right after the news broke she became famous. She was able to co-author a book in which she was paid $500,000 for. She was paid $1.000,000 for an interview with Barbra Walters on 20/20. Even Jenny Craig gave her a $1,000,000 Endorsement to appear on there commercials. Who knows what other interviews and deals she was paid so well for? I bet Playboy would have paid her a lot to, if she was less weight. 

 

My point is that a basic "Nobody" became rich and famous over this affair, when a famous person almost lost everything. So now I can see why you mentioned her. 

[Elkski]

CXLike Trump says you can do anything to them when your Almighty and Rich.  

I'm not sure I could have resisted temptations if I had the influence a Cosby star had

[SiSePuede419]

You know the guy is really wack when Richard Pryor, a comedian who set himself on fire freebasing Coke-- warns his people not to mess with Cosby because he....craaaaaaaaasszy ?