Add Category
Updated
From America's Dad to convictions on all three counts of drugging and sexually assaulting a young woman — Bill Cosby's downfall is complete.
Today he shuffled from court on his cane to the waiting black suburban SUV pursued by news helicopters as he tried to shake the press.
The choice of car and cane (which often didn't touch the ground) were humble for a man of his means and an attempt to manage a toxic image.
He failed to convince the most important people, the jury, and he'll likely face an even humbler ride to prison in the near future.
Last year, I covered Cosby's first trial which ended in a hung jury after six days of deliberations.
A lot changed inside and out of the court room in the 10 months since then.
Inside court prosecutors were this time able to call another five women as witnesses who allege suffering very similar treatment at Cosby's hands.
All up about 60 women accused Cosby of sexual assault but last time only one additional woman testified.
That will likely be the basis of a Cosby appeal but that's a story for another day.
Outside court the world had been rocked by the upheavals of the #metoo movement with powerful men finally held to account for their misdeeds.
Men have been sacked, sued and criminally investigated over crimes many of the alleged perpetrators thought they'd long got away with.
The world had changed since the last time Cosby shuffled into court on his cane and this time there was no escape.
Legal experts say with his previously clean criminal record and charity work he can expect to escape with a maximum sentence of 10 years (most expected the crimes would be served concurrently).
However, speculation is of a sentence of about 22 months — though it still could be much longer.
At 80 years old, the fall from one of the world's richest and most powerful accusers to convicted sex offender is complete.
Topics: television, arts-and-entertainment, law-crime-and-justice, courts-and-trials, crime, united-states
First posted