The house that Huxtable built. Burning to the fucking ground

Re: The house that Huxtable built. Burning to the fucking gr

Ok, I'm going to play Devil's Advocate for a moment.

These allegations are decades old in many cases, some dating back to the 60's. Several of the accusers have credibility issues. So I'll get down to it.

Yes, celebrity can act as a shield. I know others have mentioned Cosby's race, but I think it's worth mentioning again. Why did prosecutors not pursue these claims? While I think in today's climate, celebrity can trump race (a la Ray Lewis and Ray Rice - don't be friends with people named 'Ray' apparently) - it wasn't that way in the 60's and 70's. For instance, Richard Pryor, Mercury Morris, and a whole host of other black celebrities were prosecuted. My point being - certainly at THAT time - being a celebrity wasn't the shield it is today if you were black.

People have mentioned Civil suits. The statute of limitations has long since passed. You're not going to get around that - unless there's a discovery issue (meaning 'I didn't know or couldn't bring suit at that time and here's what's changed that I can now).

Criminal prosecutions (and I'm going to differ here from my colleague Noland) for rape cases are often based on 'he said/she said' -those cases are tougher, but certainly back in the day you have convictions based solely on the evidence given by a witness. For instance, take a case where the defendant doesn't deny having sex (as Cosby hasn't in some of these cases) the question of consent is really the only question at that point. That's going to the mindset of the victim. Hard evidence may well not exist (even in this day and age). So I believe had prosecutors really thought (based on the evidence before them at the time) that Cosby raped them - AND they could prove it - he would have been prosecuted. Maybe they couldn't prove it. Hard to say.

Ultimately, my point is this - Cosby (if he were innocent) gains absolutely nothing by responding to these allegations. People have asked 'why not sue for libel/slander' - and it's a fair point, but ultimately there would have to be depositions and HE would then have to prove that he didn't rape them. Lots of ugly things come out in depositions. If I were advising Cosby, I'd tell him to keep doing exactly what he's doing - keep his mouth shut.

In short, there's no way for Cosby to vindicate himself, if he were innocent. While we as the children of the instant media age and justice system as a spectator sport may well find this unsatisfying, his actions do not denote guilt or innocence. They denote that there's nothing he can really do that gets him a win, and it has nothing to do with guilt.

Do I personally think he did it? I have no idea, I wasn't there. I do know that I find it odd that with all these accusers coming out of the wordwork that he has not been indicted once to be a bit strange. While I understand why women don't want to come forward, if we were talking about 3 or 4 accusers, I wouldn't bat an eye - as it is a tough road for a woman to pursue such a claim. But when you start seeing in excess of 10? I start to wonder a bit.

Just my 2 cents.

 

Re: The house that Huxtable built. Burning to the fucking gr

A lot of the stories line up with a pattern of behavior. Then there is that one girl who admitted she knew Cosby always had drugs for partying, never saw him ever use said drugs, asked for some drugs one night when she had a migraine, he suggested as he handed a pill to her that it was powerful stuff, she takes it, blacks out, and wakes up with one of his friends. He later freely admitted to her that it was a quaaludes. At what point is Cosby at fault here?

 

Re: The house that Huxtable built. Burning to the fucking gr

 

Re: The house that Huxtable built. Burning to the fucking gr

No, she claimed she woke up in bed with one of his friends. She never mentioned, even in hindsight that Cosby had done anything beyond handing her a pill he claimed was very strong and later admitting that they were indeed a very powerful prescription drug. Her claim as I read it never even mentions that she thought he assaulted her after she blacked out. By her account this friend of Cosby was the who took advantage of her.

Bet he doesn't play St Louis for a while.......


(He still boycotts Cincinnati for our little civil disturbance in the early 2000's).