# Bill Cosby charged with felony sexual assault.. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 31, 2015, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-cosby-charged-with-felony-sexual-assault/741779 "2015-12-31T00:00:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-cosby-charged-with-felony-sexual-assault/741779/41 "2015-12-31T16:53:32Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Cosby can’t win, can he? Even if he’s proved - not just found - innocent then he’ll still be out all those legal fees. He can easily afford them. And maybe he shouldn’t win. I don’t like seeing the justice system used to punish people with legal fees, but there’s certainly grounds to charge him here, and if he’s paying more than the average Joe for legal fees it’s only because he can afford them. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-cosby-charged-with-felony-sexual-assault/741779/42 "2015-12-31T17:08:47Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > He can easily afford them. And maybe he shouldn’t win. Even if he’s not guilty? ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-cosby-charged-with-felony-sexual-assault/741779/43 "2015-12-31T17:12:48Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Now would be a good time for you to rent/buy a food truck. And maybe fix up those two spare bedrooms…put in a coffee pot & a nice TV. Just sayin’. If I had two bedrooms and if I had the means to buy such a truck and negotiate all of the licenses etc. I’m not even sure that food trucks are legal here. I’ve never seen any around town. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-cosby-charged-with-felony-sexual-assault/741779/44 "2015-12-31T17:27:29Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Even if he’s not guilty? Even if he’s not legally guilty, i.e. convicted? Yes. If he didn’t do anything that would cause reasonable people to suspect the alleged victim is telling the truth? No. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-cosby-charged-with-felony-sexual-assault/741779/45 "2015-12-31T17:36:39Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > The civil case happened is 2005. That’s the one that was settled. They tried to do a criminal case but the DA of the time decided there wasn’t enough evidence. I was referring to the civil cases of defamation of character for other women. He still has to face those. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-cosby-charged-with-felony-sexual-assault/741779/46 "2015-12-31T18:04:14Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Even if he’s not legally guilty, i.e. convicted? Yes. I sure hope you don’t find yourself in a similar situation. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-cosby-charged-with-felony-sexual-assault/741779/47 "2015-12-31T20:06:02Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > I was referring to the civil cases of defamation of character for other women. He still has to face those. Ah ok. Gotcha. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-cosby-charged-with-felony-sexual-assault/741779/48 "2015-12-31T20:50:36Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > I sure hope you don’t find yourself in a similar situation. Nice cherry picking. I’m not going to have women coming out of the woodwork accusing me of rape. Even if they did they wouldn’t have a remotely credible story to tell. Cosby is not on trial simply because of a random accusation. He has himself to blame for the way he’s conducted his life. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-cosby-charged-with-felony-sexual-assault/741779/49 "2015-12-31T21:32:36Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I agree by strict legal terms, its not double jeopardy. > > Its double dipping. First the lady gets a juicy settlement and then Cosby still gets prosecuted (days before time runs out) a decade later by an ambitious politician wanting to further his career. This reeks of politics at its worst. This is pretty high up there on my “list of things to think about before embarking on a decades-long career as a serial rapist.” People tend to get angry when you rape them, and often will seek out whatever legal and other remedies are available to them. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-cosby-charged-with-felony-sexual-assault/741779/50 "2016-01-01T00:20:18Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > I sure hope you don’t find yourself in a similar situation. I hope I don’t, either. I have a very careful life plan to prevent it. It involves -Not mentoring young women with the goal of getting in their pants. -Not inviting them to my house under false pretenses in order to get into their pants. -Not giving them tranquilizers with the goal of getting into their pants. -Not raping them. The first three items are all things Cosby has admitted to, IIRC. Note how my clever life plan gives me an excellent chance to avoid finding myself in a situation similar to Cosby’s. I take no credit for coming up with this plan, however. Every decent fucking human being on the planet is already following it. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-cosby-charged-with-felony-sexual-assault/741779/51 "2016-01-01T08:23:59Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Every decent fucking human being on the planet is already following it. I thought the idea was to not be fucking people. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-cosby-charged-with-felony-sexual-assault/741779/52 "2016-01-01T12:25:44Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > I thought the idea was to not be fucking people. No, no, fucking is fine! Fucking is fucking great! Just no false pretenses and drugs to get to the fucking part! ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-cosby-charged-with-felony-sexual-assault/741779/53 "2016-01-01T19:34:57Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > The term “ultra vires” is a constitutional legal term meaning that some state or federal government is “out of bounds” (so to speak) when trying to make laws in a particular sphere of life. > > In general, it’s something that only someone who has been trained in the law would know. > > Would you mind if I ask if you are a lawyer? Specifically, a Constitutional Lawyer? > > From Wikipedia: > > “Ultra vires” is a Latin phrase meaning “beyond the powers”. If an act requires legal authority and it is done with such authority, it is characterised in law as intra vires (“within the powers”). If it is done without such authority, it is ultra vires. Acts that are intra vires may equivalently be termed “valid” and those that are ultra vires “invalid”. > > [Ultra vires - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra_vires) Yes, I am a lawyer. I probably do equal amounts of family law and criminal defense work as a majority of my practice. The remaining parts are civil litigation and the kind of law that if a person will give me money, I am practicing that kind of law. 🙂 Am I a constitutional lawyer? Well, my criminal defense work requires knowledge and research of issues that pertain to criminal defendants and their rights, family law requires constitutional analysis of the rights of parents and children, and really all law is subject to constitutional guarantees and protections. A question underlying any potential litigation can be: is this in violation of the constitution? So in a way you could say that I am a constitutional lawyer in that limited sense, as are most lawyers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-cosby-charged-with-felony-sexual-assault/741779.md?page=2)