Anderson Cooper did an excellent segment last night on the snowballing allegations of rape against Bill Cosby, and why he hasn’t been prosecuted, and why prosecution was difficult, and what that means for everyone else.
One of the women who has accused Bill Cosby of rape is Andrea Constand. Back in 2005, she came forward alleging the comedian drugged and groped her at his house.
Bill Cosby has not been charged in connection with any of the rape allegations made against him. Constand settled a lawsuit against Cosby.
Former Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Prosecutor Bruce Castor made the decision not to charge Bill Cosby in that case.In a discussion that also included CNN Legal Analyst Sunny Hostin, Mr. Castor told Anderson he believed Constand’s account, but did not have the forensics to back it up.
Castor and Hostin both talk about the fact that rape can be very difficult to prosecute, and that that does not mean the prosecution does not believe the woman who reports she was raped. For instance, when the victim is drugged, then her memory is blurry, and that makes it hard to prosecute. Does that sound familiar? Yes it does. Alison Smith told Mark Oppenheimer her memory was blurred.
What this means, of course, is that drugging a woman for purposes of rape is a very good way of ensuring you’ll get away with it. Win-win: she doesn’t struggle, and she can’t prosecute you. Total freebie! Minus the cost of the drug, of course.
Hostin points out that 13, maybe 14 women have come forward and described the same MO, and they have nothing to gain from this. At about 3:30:
I am just so sick and tired of reading on Twitter or getting emails from people saying, ‘they have a lot to gain, they’re gonna get fame and notoriety, I can tell you from working with victims of crime, they don’t want that kind of fame, they don’t want that kind of notoriety, they want their story to be heard, and I think that is why we are seeing so many people come forward. What I am curious about is when Bill Cosby is going to come forward.
Castor around 4:30:
My gut from 25-30 years of doing this business was that she was telling the truth and he was being evasive and lying. So this was a classic example of what drives prosecutors to wake up at night, which is, I thought he was guilty, I didn’t have enough evidence to prove it, and I was worried that he would go out and do it again. So I wanted to make sure that whatever investigation we did would be useful in the civil case. The public shaming here I think is going a long way, and at least in my case the victim did have a civil recourse.
The public shaming is going a long way. Huh. So we’re allowed to do that? We’re allowed to report allegations, and discuss them in public? Really? Isn’t there some guy in Ireland insisting that we’re not allowed to do that? And trying hard to extort apologies from people who do that?
Do you think you could ever get a direct answer to this from the Nugget?
Isn’t there some guy in Ireland insisting that we’re not allowed to do that?
Yes you have to change all your sentences too
[named person] did an excellent segment last night on the snowballing allegations of rape against [named person]
lol
Crimson, no, I don’t, and in any case I don’t want to talk to him.
I was very sorry to see Whoopi Goldberg coming out for Team Cosby:
Whoopi Goldberg Skeptical of Bill Cosby Accuser: ‘Don’t You Do a Kit’ After Getting Raped?
http://www.thewrap.com/whoopi-goldberg-skeptical-of-bill-cosby-accuser-dont-you-do-a-kit-after-getting-raped/
Do we REALLY have to start all over from scratch EVERY SINGLE FUCKING TIME??
FFS. Yes, that’s right, Whoopi – rapists always considerate enough to slip a rape kit into their victims’ purses or pockets as they’re depositing their semen…never mind.
See, this is one of the things i think is totally ass-backwards. Was there evidence of any kind of sex at all? Was she capable of consent? (Never mind when they can find evidence of the drug still in a victim’s system.) Even better, does the accused admit to there being sexual contact (you know, they do that).
One of the claims is that this frequently boils down to “one said, the other said”, but that is like the majority of all sorts of cases anyway. Difference is cultural bias as to what will fly and what won’t, and that ain’t justice.
*Bonus points for executing a search warrant (+100 for a SWAT team with an armored vehicle with a hedgerow cutter or whatever mounted on it serving said warrant on an actual suspect of a real crime) and finding the drug in the accused’s possession. [extra snark, just because]
Blanche,
I can’t say I’m surprised that Whoopi “but is it rape rape?” Goldberg is being shitty about this issue.
Not to mention: a rape kit is fine for proving that intercourse occurred, but that just means the rapist falls back to Defense #2 “it was consensual.” A rape kit might also reveal evidence of physical force, but (a) not always; (b) actual force may not have been involved (especially where drugs were used — isn’t that the whole “point”?); and (c) “oh, it was rough sex.”
I also feel obliged to fix this quote from the linked article:
Okay. I had a twitter convo with Nugent a couple of weeks ago. It was completely unproductive. (Surprise!) He contrasted the media obeying a court-ordered publication ban not naming terrorists who are already on trial with PZ posting Alison’s first-hand testimony about being raped in which Shermer was named as the perpetrator. When I pointed out that the Toronto Star had named Jian Ghomeshi and the New York Times had printed Dylan Farrow’s account of sexual assault by Woody Allen, he moved the goalposts and said that neither paper would use “hand grenade” in the headline or end with “boom”. For some reason he failed to explain, *that’s* what made PZ’s post “unethical journalism”. Yes, that’s what he says his issue is. Ethics in journalism. Totally oblivious to gamergate. You can look at my twitter timeline for all the details.
I am curious about is when Bill Cosby is going to come forward.
He’s just going to let the clock run out, I bet. What a legacy!!! I loved the guy’s comedy back in the day, but now he’s going to be remembered as a piece of shit, instead of a great example of finding success by following your muse. Was it worth that, to have a couple of fleeting moments with an unconscious living body, I wonder?
@7 screechymonkey – more from that linked article:
Why yes. Maybe she WILL come on – to be grilled by someone WHO CLEARLY THINKS SHE’S LYING, about a horrifying and traumatic experience – ON LIVE TELEVISION!! With hostile interrogators! Yes, let’s invite her now! I’m sure she’s hoping we will!!
By all means, bring her on, so that we can RAKE HER OVER THE COALS like in an early-1970s rape trial! “Why didn’t you go to the police? Why didn’t you go to the hospital? Why didn’t you get a written confession from Mr. Cosby? Why were you alone with him in the first place? Why why why?? It was because you were hoping he’d make you his mistress and you could live a life of luxury, weren’t you? C’mon! You can tell US! That’s it, isn’t it? That you were HOPING he’d want to have sex with you all along!!”
And I’m betting that there are no answers that will convince Whoopi Goldberg that funnyman Bill Cosby is woman-drugging rapist. Just because.
“Nuh UH!! I don’t believe you! Nuh UH!! It’s YOUR JOB to convince ME!! And unless you convince ME, oh, YOU’ve got some important questions to answer, little missy!”
Whoopi also defended Roman Polanski a few years back. So, sadly this is not surprising.
http://jezebel.com/5369395/whoopi-on-roman-polanski-it-wasnt-rape-rape
Cosby will never come forward. In his mind he was entitled, they wanted it even if they won’t admit it, and it was their fault anyway for being near him. Now they’re coming forward to get even for him breaking it off with them. He’ll never admit guilt because he doesn’t believe he has any.
@12 weatherwax: Maybe poor Bill is afraid of his big mean wife >.<
For all we know, HE could be the REAL victim here.
Oh, won't SOMEBODY think of his reputation?? [/sarcasm]
Yes, oh yes, please Bill Cosby try to extort (i.e., file a lawsuit for defamation) an apology. You deserve it, after all, right? It’s your good name being dragged through the pudding. It’s clearly hurting you financially, and the public will view your failure to respond in a legal forum as a tacit admission of guilt.
Of course, the first thing that would come up in a slander trial is whether the statements were actually true….
I suggest if it does come to that, there are a lot of people who would put up significant sums for Constand’s “defense”.
I’m going to keep plugging David Lisak. He points out the futility of normal police methonds that stop with collecting statements and scratching their heads over lack of forensics (when they bother to keep ‘rape kits’ in the first place.)
Rape is a committed by repeat offenders, the accused needs to be investigated as much as the specific incident. If you’r investigating an embezzler, you need to see ALL of their financial dealings. A plausibly accused rapist will almost certainly reveal multiple offenses when real investigation is done.
I don’t know for certain quite what it is, but something about this story creeps me out far even beyond the usual ‘famous rapist revealed’ thing. Was maybe thinking I was getting almost used to this stuff. Like yeah, forgive my cynicism, but no, really? Famous, powerful man a rapist? Got away with it for years? Noted. Filed. I have a file for those, now.
This one, it kinda jumps out. Maybe the pattern. The drugs. And that just part of how he made his victims so helpless. The sheer power imbalance in so much of it. The _length_ of the activity. The profile the (expletive deleted) had, and _still_ got away with it. Entertainment paparazzi everywhere, and _still_, he gets away with it.
The way he actively and successfully stifled questions with his celebrity, his reputation. The fact that he could be all role model and get your education behind the lectern and do this the next night, with, it sure appears, chillingly calculated planning. Maybe the fact that I did watch his show in the eighties. Not a huge fan, but it was so everpresent. The way there were stories here and there for years, and _still_, he kept getting away with it.
Dunno. Seriously disturbing. Maybe we’ll learn something from this, at least a bit? Can we, please? Because through the can’t look/can’t look away twitches and shudders, I really feel I might be. If not especially comfortably.