Back to the drawing board.
Judge Declares Mistrial In Bill Cosby Case
I wonder how many jurors were at odds.
Not sure if there will be a retrial. The prosecution spent big bucks on this and it’s highly likely than the next jury will be just as deadlocked. Legal experts are saying this boils down to a he said, she said case. Of course lots of other women said too but their evidence is inadmissible.
The LA prosecutor is longing to have a crack at Cosby. Lots of juicy press coverage for an ambitious DA and if he/she nails him then a future governorship may be on the cards. Problem is I’m pretty sure all the cases in California are outside the statute of limitations for that state. How lawyers must hate the law sometimes! 
Probably depends on the vote split though. The closer to unanimous the more likely he will be retried, or so I’d guess.
ETA http://www.cnn.com/videos/justice/2017/06/17/prosecution-plans-to-retry-cosby-case.cnn
They will redo it.
Disappointing.
This is probably the right outcome for now. The problem with the prosecution’s case is they didn’t have any convincing forensic evidence and it is an old case. Some of the so-called facts just didn’t make sense and there were serious errors in recollection.
I understand that some people want a lynch mob because they are convinced that Bill Cosby is a serial rapist but the court system doesn’t (and shouldn’t) work that way. I am fairly convinced that he did some skeevy things but some of the allegations have already been proven wrong or flat out impossible. Some of the descriptions about the mystery drugs that were supposedly given match 70’s TV shows much more closely than anything that exists in reality.
They can try again when they have actual facts and a coherent timeline. Until then, it doesn’t really matter who did what. You can’t convict someone in the U.S. on a specific crime just because you think they are a bad person and deserve it.
More like a he said / 100+ of them said.
mmm
It doesn’t and shouldn’t work that way when prosecuting a specific charge. The most you are going to get out of it is character testimony. That still has little bearing on any specific charges. The prosecution had a very flawed case. They are going to have to do better than that if they want a conviction the next time.
I personally believe that Bill Cosby probably did a lot of bad things but some of the accusations are wildly implausible to impossible. You can’t expect a successful prosecution with gaping holes in the evidence and accusations.
Trying Cosby again in a sense works against the many women who have accused him of sexual assault. While the criminal case is in progress all civil cases are paused. And unlike the criminal case Cosby would be forced to testify in a civil case. By retrying him the prosecution is making it very likely that Cosby will never answer to the charges against him and could well die before a retrial.
My personal belief is that Cosby has already suffered enough for any crimes or misdemeanours he committed. His reputation is in tatters, his life has been turned upside-down and all this, remember, for a man who has been convicted of nothing whatsoever. Enough already! Leave the man in peace.
Not even close to enough, if he did even half of what he’s accused of, in my humble opinion. I will wish peace for his victims. But not for him.
There will be
Yes, it should. The fact that he’s done something before is great evidence he did it again. That’s how people work. Past behavior is the best prediction of future behavior.
Is it proof? No. But, when you see patterns of behavior repeat, that shows that there is something to it.
Our legal system should not be designed where you could actually be tried for multiple instances of a crime, get off, and yet everyone (including the jurors of the cases) is sure that you committed one of them. That’s not justice.
I’d actually say that, given the same evidence, the public at large ought to come to the same conclusion as the jury. Anything else invites believing the legal system is rigged one way or another, and thus invites extralegal measures being taken.
Assuming that Cosby drugged and raped women, he should be found guilty. If he is not, but he did do it, then that is a failure of the system.
We don’t know, because there isn’t a verdict AND because so many of the cases are past the statute of limitations and cannot be brought.
I will say this, however. If we take as a given that he did commit these crimes, which your statement seems to do, then I wholeheartedly disagree that the personal discomfort he has endured for the last few years of his life in any way, shape or form comes close to being adequate punishment for the crimes he committed against dozens of women across decades. The notion that his trashed reputation represents justice is nauseating.
But what other justice will there be? I do think this is the only form of justice he will ever receive and I do think it fitting. The man was an icon, now he’s a someone to be despised or mocked. You don’t think the punishment fits the crime? I think it totally appropriate. Sometimes you have to take what you can get and this is likely all we’ll get with Cosby.
It’s been reported that Cosby knew all along he would get a hung jury. He was telling friends and associates the prosecution needs all of the jurors, he only needs one. That was true for the trial that just took place, it will be true for any future trial or trials. And I confess I do find those comments of his pretty nauseating.
I repeat, if people want justice for the victims then they should militate for no retrial. The civil cases could then proceed, Cosby would be forced to testify and speak directly to what he has done. Given your post I should have thought that you would approve of this course. You’ll never see the guy in prison but at least you’ll see him forced to confess to his crimes in public, which BTW I am certainly not making light of, although your reply seems to imply it.
What other justice? How about going to jail for sexual assault? Do you not think that would be fitting for the crime of sexual assault?
Whether I think it fitting or not it is extremely unlikely that Cosby will ever be imprisoned. He’s old and unwell, he’ll probably die before any conviction. Reasonable doubt over something that happened so long ago is simply a hurdle too high to jump, as this jury found. In civil cases you don’t have that hurdle. If you want Cosby to escape any justice at all then just keep trying him criminally.
The best argument for Cosby is: Why did she take the pills? There is no allegation that he slipped these into her drink. He handed her the pills and she took them.
Does that make sense? Would you take a pill that someone handed you, like a benadryl? When you didn’t have a cold?
It suggests (but of course, does not affirmatively prove) that it was a consensual encounter.
Innocent until proven guilty. And he has not been proven guilty.
He rapes but he saves. And he saves more than he rapes. And he saves not just the people he rapes.
Quite the conundrum.
(Yes I’ve been sick and watching Netflix).
Update: Nov 6th
What’s been going on with the sleazebag predator rapist asshole motherfucker?
14 Dec: Bill Cosby accuser may proceed with defamation suit
30 Nov: Bill Cosby’s star removed from Orpheum Theatre
15 Sep: Bill Cosby’s Retrial For 2004 Rape Gets Official April 2018 Start Date – Update