The Cosby Case: The other side of the story

It has been a few days since entertainer Bill Cosby was found guilty of sexually assaulting a Temple University employee, Andrea Constand, 13 years ago. Where was the statute of limitations on this case? Didn't it run out before this case first went to trial?

Consider, then, that Cosby's wife of 54 years, Camille, made her first public comments on Wednesday. The following is courtesy of Yahoo!:
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“We the people” are the first three words of our nation’s Constitution, but who were those people in 1787? Dr. Howard Zinn, the renowned, honest historian, states in his best selling book, A People’s History of the United States: “The majority of the 55 men who framed the Constitution were men of wealth in land, slaves, manufacturing or shipping.” Clearly, most people were not included in that original draft of the Constitution; no women, Native Americans, poor white men; and, absolutely, no enslaved Africans. What have the masses of people done who are treated as outcasts by “we the people”? They, through the purity of the unceasing human spirit, forced 27 amendments to the Constitution that have guaranteed fundamental rights to all people…finally doing what the framers should have done in 1787. Now enters an American citizen, Bill Cosby.

The overall media, with their frenzied, relentless demonization of him and unquestioning acceptance of accusers’ allegations without any attendant proof, have superseded the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, which guarantee due process and equal protection, and thereby eliminated the possibility of a fair trial and unbiased jury. Bill Cosby was labelled as guilty because the media and accusers said so… period. And the media ensured the dissemination of that propaganda by establishing barricades preventing the dissemination of the truth in violation of the protections of the First Amendment. Are the media now the people’s judges and juries? Since when are all accusers truthful? History disproves that…for example, Emmett Till’s accuser immediately comes to mind. In 1955, she testified before a jury of white men in a Mississippi courtroom that a 14-year-old African American boy had sexually assaulted her, only to later admit several decades later in 2008 that her testimony was false. A more recent example is the case of Darryl Hunt, an African American who in 1984 was wrongfully convicted for the rape and murder of a white woman, only to have DNA evidence establish in 1994 that he did not commit the crime. Nonetheless he was held in prison until 2004, serving almost twenty years behind bars, until the true rapist confessed to the crimes.

These are just two of many tragic instances of our justice system utterly and routinely failing to protect African Americans falsely accused in so-called courts of law and the entirely unfair court of public opinion. In the case of Bill Cosby, unproven accusations evolved into lynch mobs, who publicly and privately coerced cancellations of Bill Cosby’s scheduled performances; syndications of “The Cosby Show”; rescissions of honorary degrees and a vindictive attempt to close an exhibition of our collection of African American art in the Smithsonian Museum of African Art. Although the Smithsonian’s hierarchy did not capitulate, a disclaimer was posted on the exterior of that Museum. And all of that occurred before the trial even started.

The worst injustices, however, have been carried out in the Pennsylvania Montgomery County Courthouse. Three criminal charges, promised during an unethical campaign for the district attorney’s office, were filed against my husband…all based on what I believe to be a falsified account by the newly elected district attorney’s key witness. I firmly believe her recent testimony during trial was perjured; as was shown at trial, it was unsupported by any evidence and riddled with innumerable, dishonest contradictions. Moreover, Bill Cosby’s defense team introduced the testimony of a witness who confirmed that the district attorney’s witness admitted that she had not been sexually assaulted, but that she could say she was and get money … which is exactly what she did.

I am publicly asking for a criminal investigation of that district attorney and his cohorts. This is a homogeneous group of exploitive and corrupt people, whose primary purpose is to advance themselves professionally and economically at the expense of Mr. Cosby’s life. If they can do this to Mr. Cosby, they can do so to anyone. How much longer will we, the majority of the people, tolerate judicial, executive, legislative, media and corporate abuses of power? We, the majority of the people, must make America what it has declared itself to be….a democracy…not to be destroyed by vicious, lying, self-absorbed paradigms of evilness. Once again, an innocent person has been found guilty based on an unthinking, unquestioning, unconstitutional frenzy propagated by the media and allowed to play out in a supposed court of law.

This is mob justice, not real justice. This tragedy must be undone not just for Bill Cosby, but for the country. I wish to thank the witnesses who courageously came forward at trial to testify as to the truth, as well as those witnesses who would have done so but for the judge preventing them from testifying. Someday the truth will prevail, it always does. =====================================

Mrs. Cosby believes the media, in a never ending quest for sensational, ratings-grabbing stories, exploited and destroyed her husband's career without checking the facts of Constrand or any of the other accusers who came forward. No one, save maybe for the Aspire cable network, is willing to run any of Cosby's series (i.e. I Spy, Fat Albert & The Cosby Kids, The Cosby Show) today, because to them, that would be glorifying a known sexual predator, ignoring the fact that he was a cultural icon for more than 50 years, starting with I Spy.

Bear in mind that the media similarly had a hand in bringing down college football icon Joe Paterno, whose story was told in a recent HBO movie with Al Pacino. Today's generation, for whatever reason, can't see that the accomplishments of Cosby & Paterno have nothing to do with the allegations laid against them. If you believe Mrs. Cosby is right, then you'd likely believe that most of her husband's accusers were bandwagon jumpers looking for a quick payday of their own. But we don't know that for sure.

Honorary degrees awarded to Bill Cosby are being rescinded in the wake of his conviction. Yale. Temple. I'm reading that RPI intends to do the same. The NCAA punished Penn State by taking away hundreds of football victories, including a national title or two, when it had nothing to do with the behind-the-scenes misdeeds of assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. It's called extreme over-reaction, and it happens, constantly, when a public figure such as a Cosby or a Paterno is involved.

In Paterno's case, it's what he didn't do in regards to Sandusky that destroyed his legacy. Cosby's own words, reportedly, sealed his fate. Because of his age, I doubt very seriously he'd do any real time in prison, maybe a year or two, followed by house arrest. Andrea Constand got what she wanted all along, or did she? I'd say, if she decides to write a book, she'd be well served to consider making restitution for destroying a man's life and the memories of millions of fans who grew up with Fat Albert, Picturepages, Kids Say The Darndest Things, and the time spent on the original Electric Company. The defense charged that Constand wasn't totally honest about what happened that night in 2004, but the jury bought her story instead.

Cosby's conviction, however, sends a strong message to a certain fellow in Washington who thinks he's above reproach because he holds the highest office in the country. He thinks that because one of his predecessors avoided being removed from office 20-odd years ago for his extra-marital affair with a White House intern, he, too, can escape scot free. I don't think so.