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Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs joins list of Hollywood stars charged with sex crimes
Read full article: Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs joins list of Hollywood stars charged with sex crimesWith his arrest this week, Sean “Diddy” Combs joins a short list of celebrities prosecuted for sex crimes in the wake of the #MeToo movement.
5 years on, key #MeToo voices take stock of the movement
Read full article: 5 years on, key #MeToo voices take stock of the movementOnce again, disgraced mogul Harvey Weinstein sits in a courtroom, on trial in Los Angeles while the reckoning the accusations against him launched marks a significant milestone this month.
High court won’t review decision freeing Bill Cosby from prison
Read full article: High court won’t review decision freeing Bill Cosby from prisonA spokesperson for Bill Cosby says the 84-year-old comedian is considering a final standup tour after the U.S. Supreme Court said it would not revive the sexual assault case against him.
Bill Cosby likely to avoid testifying in sex assault lawsuit
Read full article: Bill Cosby likely to avoid testifying in sex assault lawsuitA Los Angeles judge appears strongly inclined to allow Bill Cosby to invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege and avoid giving a deposition in the lawsuit of a woman who alleges he sexually abused her when she was 15 in the mid-1970s.
Hard lessons for lawyers in Cosby case; tougher for victims
Read full article: Hard lessons for lawyers in Cosby case; tougher for victimsThe public outcry over Bill Cosby’s sudden release from prison, where he was serving a sentence for criminal sexual assault, was swift, with #MeToo activists worried it would have a chilling effect on sexual assault survivors.
Rashad draws critics and dismissal calls for defending Cosby
Read full article: Rashad draws critics and dismissal calls for defending CosbyPhylicia Rashad has found herself embroiled in controversy after expressing public support for Bill Cosby’s release from prison, with some prominent Black voices calling for her dismissal as dean of Howard University's College of Fine Arts.
EXPLAINER: Why Bill Cosby's conviction was overturned
Read full article: EXPLAINER: Why Bill Cosby's conviction was overturnedBill Cosby’s sexual assault conviction has been thrown out by Pennsylvania’s highest court, which ruled that he was unfairly prosecuted because a previous district attorney had promised he wouldn't be charged.
Lawyer defending Trump accustomed to political disaster
Read full article: Lawyer defending Trump accustomed to political disasterHe argued that Trump could not have — and would not have — encouraged the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. “We’re really here because majority in the House of Representatives does not want to face Donald Trump as a political rival in the future. AdHis reemergence as an impeachment lawyer for Trump was a head-scratching moment for Pennsylvania's political and legal world. He had not campaigned for Trump, and a longtime friend, Brian Miles, told the Inquirer that the two men had never discussed Trump before Castor mentioned recently that he was up for the job. For all the criticism directed at him, Castor suggested that Trump did not criticize his performance.
Cosby's sex assault conviction goes before high-level court
Read full article: Cosby's sex assault conviction goes before high-level courtNow the Pennsylvania Supreme Court is set to hear his appeal of the conviction on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020. The arguments will focus on the trial judge's decision to let five other accusers testify for the prosecution. Cosby, 83, hopes to overturn his 2018 sex assault conviction because the judge let prosecutors call five other accusers who said Cosby mistreated them the same way he did his victim, Andrea Constand. Judge Steven T. O'Neill had allowed just one other accuser to testify at Cosby's first trial in 2017, when the jury could not reach a verdict. O'Neill then let five other accusers testify at Cosby's retrial in 2018, when the jury convicted him of drugging and sexually assaulting Constand.
Bill Cosby appeal set for Dec. 1 in Pennsylvania high court
Read full article: Bill Cosby appeal set for Dec. 1 in Pennsylvania high courtHARRISBURG, Pa. – The Pennsylvania Supreme Court will hear Bill Cosby's appeal of his felony sex assault conviction on Dec. 1. A lower appeals court had upheld his conviction, but the state's high court agreed this year to review two key issues in the case. The high court will also consider whether the jury should have heard evidence that Cosby had given quaaludes to women in the past. Dozens of women have come forward over the years to accuse Cosby of sexual assault, and the trial judge deemed him a sexually violent predator. The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are sexual assault victims without their permission, which Constand has granted.
Legal advocates line up on both sides of Bill Cosby's appeal
Read full article: Legal advocates line up on both sides of Bill Cosby's appealPHILADELPHIA – Legal advocates are lining up on both sides of actor Bill Cosby’s appeal as the Pennsylvania Supreme Court prepares to review his 2018 sex assault conviction. Cosby was the first celebrity to go on trial in the #MeToo era, and his appeal could resolve lingering questions about how the cases should be tried. Public defenders in Philadelphia, in a friend-of-the-court brief filed in Cosby's appeal, noted that courts have given conflicting guidance on the issue. The other groups filing legal briefs in the appeal include the Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association. Cosby’s trial judge, Montgomery County Judge Steven O’Neill, said their testimony did just that, even if it occurred a decade or two before Constand's encounter.
Cosby sex assault appeal takes on non-prosecution deal
Read full article: Cosby sex assault appeal takes on non-prosecution dealPHILADELPHIA Bill Cosbys lawyers argued in an appeals filing Thursday that it was fundamentally unfair to let prosecutors use Cosbys damaging deposition from a sex accusers lawsuit against him at trial. A spokeswoman for the Montgomery County district attorney's office declined comment but said prosecutors would file a response in the coming month. Cosby, 83, is serving a three- to 10-year prison term after the jury in his 2018 sex assault trial convicted him of three counts of felony sex assault over a 2004 encounter with accuser Andrea Constand. Fundamental fairness and principles of due process mean that promise was binding on Montgomery County prosecutors, Cosbys lawyers argued. In June, Pennsylvanias highest court agreed to review those two issues, overturning a lower court that had rejected Cosbys appeal.
Cosby invokes systemic racism as he fights #MeToo conviction
Read full article: Cosby invokes systemic racism as he fights #MeToo conviction___Constand knew Cosby from her job at Temple University, where Cosby was a booster, alumnus and longtime trustee twice her age. (She thought she was taking a homeopathic supplement; Cosby later said it was Benadryl, while acknowledging he once gave a 19-year-old Quaaludes before sex.) A decade later, Black comedian Hannibal Buress took Cosby to task for his scolding. You rape women, Bill Cosby, so turn the crazy down a couple notches," he said onstage in 2014. She also believes that racial bias exists in the criminal justice system.
Bill Cosby granted appeal in Pennsylvania sex assault case
Read full article: Bill Cosby granted appeal in Pennsylvania sex assault casePHILADELPHIA In a stunning decision that could test the legal framework of #MeToo cases, comedian Bill Cosby has won the right to fight his 2018 sexual assault conviction in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Cosby has said he relied on that agreement before agreeing to testify in the trial accuser's civil lawsuit. Those issues have been at the heart of the case since Cosby was charged in December 2015, days before the 12-year state of limitations expired. Montgomery County Judge Stephen O'Neill allowed just one of them to testify at Cosby's first trial in 2017, which ended with an acquittal. The Associated Press typically does not name people who say they have been victims of sexual assault without their permission, which Constand has granted.