Constand, the accuser in this case. Reporter so tom maze roe, you tried and failed. The personal attacks did not work. Bill cosby, three words for you, guilty, guilty, guilty tom mesereau, the high Profile Defense attorney bill cosby brought in for this retrial after he was found guilty. There was some discussion of whether whether or not there should be bonds cosby stood up and yelled at the prosecutor saying you asshole. Heres more of what his attorney had to say just moments ago. We are very disappointed by the verdict. We dont think mr. Cosbys guilty of anything and the fight is not over. Thank you. Are you going to appeal, sir . Yes, yes. Yes, very strongly. Is mr. Cosby prepared to go to prison . No comment from bill cosbys
Sexual Assault and harassment has changed a lot since the first trial. How much that impacted the jury in their deliberations, i dont know, theyre human beings. I know they were ad monished not to allow what was going on in the culture and socially to interfere with their deliberations in the case, but their human beings. Your accusations of bill cosby stem from an event in 1979, so were talking obviously decades here. There has been a real sea change just in the last few months but prior to that in the last few years as more and more of bill cosbys accusers, stood up and spoke out. A number of you doing so together. How did that change things for you knowing that you werent the only one out there who was making these allegations . When i came forward in 2005, i thought i was the only one until Andrea Constand tried to have him charged the first time, so i was jane doe number four in the original 13 jane does and i cant tell you how amazing it
much do you think that has empowered other men and women . I hope its empowered women. I hope they know now that this is proof that they dont have to stay silent any more. What do you think is going to happen in terms of sentencing . Does it matter to you . It doesnt matter to me. I had no control over this outcome, so my purpose from the beginning has been to tell the truth and to let Andrea Constand know that she was not alone and none of that has been easy for any of us. We have been vilified and called horrible names by many members of the public and some members of the media, but today, in this moment, it has been worth all of that. Patricia, appreciate you taking the time for us today. Thank you. Thank you for asking. I also want to bring in cnn legal analyst areba martin. You and i have talked a lot about the impact of these
different stories, whether it is an accuser of bill cosby, of harvey weinstein, this is a this is a remarkable day in terms of that conversation . Yeah, this is huge. I dont think we can underestimate erica, how significant this is for women. Ive been a civil rights lawyer for two decades. Ive watched what has happened in this country around Sexual Assault how this movement has evolved and to see someone like bill cosby convicted is monumental. We have to remember that the prosecutors in this case, the original District Attorney refused to file charges and there was a lot of back and forth between the prosecutors about whether there was substantial evidence, whether constand was a credible witness and we saw cosbys new defense lawyer, his new Defense Team Go after Andrea Constand and the five other women really hard, really challenge their credibility, and despite that, the jurors still found that
Andrea Constand was telling the truth, that she had a credible story to tell and that bill cosby was guilty of what he was charged with. So this is incredible. Weve seen men fall. Weve seen men lose their jobs and careers but weve not seen a man in recent history, particularly a man of bill cosbys stature being convicted. Three criminal convictions, facing up to 30 years in prison, this is a significant sea change in the whole movement to keep women safe and free from Sexual Harassment and assault. Cnn jean casarez has been covering this from the very beginning extensively. She joins us now from pennsylvania as we wait for this Press Conference with the prosecutor. Jean, you had been in that courtroom, you have witnessed a lot of this first hand, no cameras were allowed. You have been an incredible set of eyes and ears for us. Reporter were getting word that this Press Conference is just about to begin with prosecutors. We do understand that andrea
jurors for their diligence, the sacrifices that they made as well as the sacrifices of their families so that they could serve in this important duty that they did. So today were finally in a place to say that justice was done. As prosecutors we have a responsibility to seek justice and we have to go wherever and to whomever it takes us and to begin, i want to step back to a point that was pretty desighive in this case and thats when the judge released the civil case deposition and indicated in his opinion that the defendants deposition showed the stark contrast between bill cosby, the public moralist, and bill cosby, the subject of serious allegations concerning improper and perhaps criminal conduct. At that point the prosecutors, who are here to Do The Right Thing and specifically my predecess predecessor, opened up and reopened this investigation. So thats a duty but that duty took courage because she had to open up a case against a powerful man, but i can say definitively that thats one of the things that is done over and over again in the Montgomery CountyDistrict Attorneys office. We have shown from our record that money and power or who you are will not stop us from a criminal investigation or prosecuting a case. What was revealed through this investigation was a man who had
spent decades preying on women that he drugged and sexually assaulted and a man that had evaded this moment here today for far too long. He used his celebrity, he used his wealth and his network of supporters to help him conceal his crimes, and now we really know today who is behind that act, who the real bill cosby was and a juror has spoken with one voice, in a court of law and found the defendant guilty of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in his home. Theres a number of people up here and im going to try to address as many of this as i can. And the most important person in this is Andrea Constand. Where are you . There you are. 14 years later it may be easy to forget that she was that first courageous person that stood up in public to go to the authorities and say that bill cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her. Her courage and resilience in the face of horrible and unfounded attacks upon her and her family has been so inspiring to all of us. We thank her, we thank her family, we thank her mother gianna for trusting us through this process of prosecuting her attacker. Standing next to her there is the Dolores Triani who were the ones that were asking the questions in that deposition
that the judge obrano was referring to that got us to the point where we were able to reopen this case and seek justice. And standing with her through this whole process has been a lot of other courageous women who are willing to stand up and tell their stories about being drugged and sexually assaulted or raped. 19 were willing to stand up with us in this prosecution, take the Witness Stand and we are humbled by the courage all of them showed and we cant help but applaud and celebrate the courage of the five witnesses that had a chance to face bill cosby in this case, to tell the
jury, to tell all of you, what he did to them. So heidi thomas, shallon lasha, janis dickerson, janice bakerkinney, the public thank all of them, i called each of them after the verdict was not able to talk to all of them, but they they know what theyve done and they know what their courage helped all of us do. So supporting all of these women have been the victim advocates, the victims groups, the womens group, the antirape groups and so many others and each of these groups play such an Important Role in supporting these women and helping them to heal from the ordeal that they have been
put through. Those are the people we all owe a debt of gratitude too today for their strength and resilience through this entire process as well as every day, because they stand with us, they work with the victims and they make a difference in their lives. Im very grateful to stand here before you with this team and again, its not all of our team, who worked to see that justice was done, but we had to overcome many legal hurdles that were thrown at us by various Defense Lawyers who have been on this case for the past 28 months. This time from the lawyers of four different law firms and each step of the way, we fought for the opportunity for the victims to be heard. The opportunity to get this case to a jury, an opportunity to be standing before all of you after
hearing the defendant had been convicted of three counts of aggravated, indecent assault. This team has been incredible. I cant say enough about the prosecutors, the detectives, dedicated staff who despite everything that was thrown at us, at them stayed the course. I own the ball and work today get us here today and im so incredibly proud of these talented people. Their committed always to Do The Right Thing for the right reasons and im going to have to start with, i think, i heard them referred to recently as thunder and lightning. So mr. Ryan here on my left, he heads our Family Protection unit
and hes prosecuted a lot of cases, sexuality assaults, rapes and those who have been drugged in Sexual Assault cases. Hes been with our office six years and just is one of the best. You saw some of that talent coming across throughout this trial and and i got reports on how i looked as i was watching what they did. And the other thing i enjoy doing is coaching and, you know, you get to these points where you work with kids, you work with young adults and you get to that point where you put them out on the field or on to the
court and theres not much you can do at that point other than watch and i could not have been more proud of what they did, throughout this whole thing and some of the crossexamination that you all got to see and some of the quick witted remarks were something. I think even caused the jurors to laugh when testimony was being coming back on things where they had the the ability here to close, and kristen here, so we wouldnt be here if not for her and i say that because when when we came back to look at this case,
reesa and judge furman now asked kristen and some of our team to go to toronto to meet with andrea and that was a difficult task and when kristen came back, she was adamant, adamant about what we should do, and we moved forward and it was the right thing to do and she has stuck through this the whole way, and she had an opportunity, which was kind of a bad day for me when she had a great opportunity
for her and her family to go to an excellent law firm, Stradley Ronan and we talked a lot and kristen did not want to leave this and not see it to the end, and we talked to bill sasso the chairman of the firm who we all owe a debt of gratitude too, for allowing her to stay on with us and stay with us through this case. And and you have seen the results of that. She, like, like mr. Ryan here has prosecuted so many sexual y assaults and Domestic Violence cases and i couldnt have found
two better partners and two better people, two better prosecutors to walk this journey with. Their commitment to doing the right thing has been extraordinary, and i got to talk about this one and the one on the end. Our deputy District Attorney, bob fallon, the captain of our appellate unit adrian jappy. We have seen what seems like hundreds of motions from the beginning when these charges were filed throughout the last days of trial and these incredible, legal minds have found the law that we needed to support our positions despite those many law firms and many lawyers that have made it
difficult for us to get to this point. Theyve supported our positions to keep it moving forward. They have kept up with everything, all of these lawyers have thrown at us and did it with just amazing grace. Youve seen them in court. Youve seen what they can do and theres been some pretty memorable writing along the way from from each of them and you all saw a difference maker too when the judge ruled that we could bring prior bad acts in, adrian handled that argument and just did a stellar job to get us in the position were in. Our Law Enforcement community, some of them are up here with me, all the folks from
shade with our department and Detective Reap who i heard it may be your birthday today. Yeah. Were all going to sing happy birthday now. These detectives worked really hard to reopen this case and throughout the whole process, and i couldnt be more proud of the entire investigative team. They are theyre supported by the lieutenant from our major crimes, chris cooklyn, deputy chief, mark byrne who has handled so much of these investigative efforts, chief gallen and all the support that they provide and have picked up in this. Beyond the guilty verdict, there have been some other, i think, important outcomes in this case. As we understand, this has been important for Sexual Assault victims everywhere. But we did this case because a crime was committed against Andrea Constand and it happened in our jurisdiction and that was our duty to move forward on, and when you look at this and look at what andrea has done to stand up and declare what happened to him, she has been a major factor in a movement that has gone in the right direction finally, and her quiet courage and her actions through this have helped victims to stand up and tell
what happened to them and i think now theres tremendous awareness of how these crimes have been covered up and papered over for the years and i hope and i pray that our actions have shown that we will stand up with those victims and all women that are out there standing up and telling their truth, i, we, support them and encourage them to keep it up and i hope now everybody recognizes that here, youre going to be treated with dignity and respect through the process. Another outcome has been increased. Look at rape myth or the myth of Sexual Assault especially by someone they knew or trusted will immediately report it to
the authorities, that they will behave in a certain way or they will never talk to anyone again, weve dispelled that here and thats because thats false and thats not always the way it goes. Too often these types of crimes, Sexual Assault do not get reported especially a case in where a drug has been used, an intoxicants so the victim does not have a clear memory of what went on, so we hope that this case sends a strong message that the victims of these types of crimes can come forward and be heard on what happened to them. So there was a defendant in this case, the next steps. A sentencing date will be issued by the judge. That is typically within about a 60 to 90 day period of time on
when the sentencing date will come. In the interim, hell be looked at and assessed in a couple ways. Theres a Presentence Investigation that will be done. There will be a Sexually Violent Predator Assessment that will be done and all of these are standard procedures in these types of cases. These assessments will then be used by the judge in determining the sentence and that sentencing hearing. Well have the opportunity to put evidence on as will the defense. The defendant may be facing years in prison. He was convicted of three counts of this, so technically that would be up to 30 years, however, we have to look at merger of those counts to determine what the final maximum
will be that he is facing. So in addition to jail time and i mentioned this because theres been some things that have been asked about it over time and you know, typically what is done in a case is that a defendant will be assessed and all of these things will be looked at in terms of a sentencing but when a sentencing occurs, theres also an assessment for the cost of prosecution. We expect that well be arguing that the cost associated with both the trials, the sequestration, the sheriffs costs for this will go to the defendant and i will be relying on Defense Counsels opening remarks in this when he was talking about 3. 38 million being a paltry sum or simply a
nuisance, so clearly the cost of prosecution in this matter should not be a problem for the defendant. Dolores, you wanted to Say Something here so let me get out of the way. Good afternoon. I know its going to be disappointing to you but i have the privilege of speaking for andrea and andrea will only will not be speaking today. Only i will. First of all, we have to thank the Montgomery County for doing what they have done, kevin, kristen, stuart and the many, many lawyers in the d. A. s office who have been diligent in bringing about this just result. I cant even begin to name all the people who have worked on this case. We also and im doing this on
behalf of myself and my cocounsel who unfortunately moved to philadelphia is probably stuck on the Schuylkill Expressway as we speak or she would also be here. We want to thank all the Police Officers who have dedicated themselves to this case. Detective reap, Sergeant Schaffer and the many others who are unnamed who all contributed to what has happened today. Most of all, i want to express on behalf, if i can, the gr gratitude of so many women that admire andrea for her courage. She came here 14 years ago for justice. I am so happy today that i can say, although justice was delayed it was not denied. It took a lot of courage for her to come back and to do this. There are so many people who have expressed their admiration for her, the millions and i do mean millions of people who have admired her courage, admired her calm, admired her demeanor and id ask you to bear in mind that when Something Like this happens to someone, male, female, whoever, they have to work every day to be happy. Something that we all who have been fortunate in our lives and not been victimized do not have to do. And when you see andrea and youve all commented about how calm she is, how graceful she is, thats something shes had to work out every day since january of 2004, probably january 6th or 7th when this happened to her. This is a Life Altering Experience for any woman, any victim and the person who i
think needs to be heralded for what she has done is andrea. Thank you. Well take questions. You were in the moment as this verdict was being read, take us back please. I know there was an exchange with the defendant immediately after, but in those moments, what was going through your mind, please . Well, ive been at this for a while, 25 years and when a verdict comes back youre always anxious on what the result was going to be. I keep the Verdict Sheet in front of me and i checked them off as they were read. Its a solemn moment because its hard work for a jury, 12 ordinary folks from our
community that came in and served and so i didnt react. I wont under those circumstances and we heard the verdict, and im just greatful for what they did and that they stood up for what happened. I have never seen the type of attacks that were levied on people that were coming forward to describe how they were sexually assaulted and when that happened, i was concerned. I was really concerned that that were not moving past the
vest vestiges of what happened. They listened to dr. Ziff, they heard what was real and what was false and they were strong when they came back. They were polled, meaning that every one of them was asked whether they agreed to the verdict and all i heard from each of them was strength and im grateful for that and grateful for what they all did and the commitment they gave to Montgomery County, our citizens, our communities and this this is bigger. During the discussion of bail, an incredible outburst by the defendant throughout your opening and closing statements, youve said this is not dr. Huxtable, this is not americas dad, is that the man you were speaking of . I guess you got to see a brief view of who he was. Thats just him acting out. I think everybody got to see who he really is when each of those prior bad act witnesses got to testify. The guy the guy was an actor for a long time and it was an act it was an act. We got to see who he really was, so kevin, standing here before us you speak with emotion in your voice, especially in talking about andrea, you speak with tears in your eyes, describe Emotion Alley what this process has been like for you especially the critics who did not think it was retrying this case . Look, this is this is about our duty as prosecutors and its its really not that complicated. Its about doing the right thing. We had to investigate a case, we
had to make determinations on what happened and then move forward and thats our job and thats our duty and we i hope that it in as grateful way as we could despite what was being thrown at us and being thrown at a number of people, but im not going to get into nonsense with him on this. Do you think other prosecutors will look to this case in dealing with allegations of Sexual Assault . I dont know. I cant speak for anyone else, but i can tell you, its been an interesting start to becoming District Attorney. Ive had ive had a couple cases here that have been with powerful people as most of you know. I tried a case where the chief Law Enforcement officer in the state had committed crimes and we had to go in and thats not the most comfortable place to be when you have to tear apart your profession in some ways because she was a prosecutor, but i think thats just an example of, were going to go where the investigations take us. We are going to look to see who has committed a crime and whether theyre powerful, whether theyre wealthy, whether they have evaded the law in the
past, we just have to do our jobs and i hope, if theres anything that comes from this is, is that, you know, you can move forward on these cases and when you do, you know, ive now had two jurors stand up against the powerful and say guilty on every single count that has been alleged against them and i think thats a recognition of the fact that were doing the right thing and the fact that the jurys understand the significance of this. Are you going to continue your attempts to get bail revoked for mr. Cosby before sentencing occurs . And express what your concerns are about and i said it in court. Im concerned when there is somebody with the wealth and the
aspects of, you know, being a potential risk of flight because of what hes facing. The judge made a determination and i respect his determination that that could be satisfied by him remaining in Montgomery County for the present and well have to take a look at it. Its not necessarily a closed issue for you at this point . No. These things never are. We have cases every day where people are out on bail and they commit new crimes or they try to flee or they do something along those lines. We just have to be vigilant and make sure that were keeping an eye on every aspect of this so that we can be prepared if Something Like that happens. Yes, sir . A number of legal experts have pointed to the 404 b witnesses of being a potential
vulnerability on appeal. Can you talk about how youre ready to defend against that and do you feel confident that thats not going to expose you to problems on appeal . So i mentioned them before. We have our deputy District Attorney bob fallon, captain of our unit, adrian jappy, ill put them up against anybody. Anybody. And they walked with us through this and we asked for 19 and we felt that we had the grounds for 19 or otherwise we wouldnt be asking for it, so were appreciative that five women got to voice what occurred to them in the courtroom, but this is a
case where there were so many more. Do you expect to have some more women testify at the sentencing . Would that be the appropriate place for more victims . Potentially. Thats something and im not going to say today what were going to be asking for in terms of sentencing. Thats all the assessments that need to be done, so you do the Presentence Investigation, you look at, you know, what these assessments developed. You speak to victims. They get a voice in this and they should have a voice in this to make a determination of what the appropriate request is at the time. So thats all the process that well be going through in between now and when the sentencing date is. Is it a place for more victims potentially can be heard . Potentially can but its also an area that is somewhat gray in pennsylvania to be able to do
that, so weve heard testimony in effect from five of the women at this point, so i think that goes into the consideration and well be assessing it and our appellate unit will tell us what were allowed to do and not allowed to do. Have you has your office been approached by any new Cosby Accusers since the trial began . I cant speak about investigative matters. Ill leave it at that. Mr. Steele, this is a vastly different trial than the first one. Speak if you can about the importance of having those five women allowed to testify, the additional accusers and counter acting the defenses claims of [ inaudible ]. You all got to hear from
someone who i think very highly of, dr. Barbara zeiv and the legislature in their wisdom has given us the ability to have somebody who is an expert in this area educate a jury and you saw that as our number one witness, our first witness in this case, and i think in the process she was able to explain the situation and then, when you heard from the different people and you saw what the defense was trying to do despite those Sexual Assault myths that lie out there, theres a recognition and again i hope its not attacked, its continued, because it didnt work. And it is a situation where it
was a different trial. We were able to do that on the front end of the case and i think i think thats the benefit of having done this once before. Without the Legislature Making that change, only a few years ago to allow someone like dr. Ziev, you wouldnt be able to call her to the stand . How critical was she in your conviction today . I think that would be a better question for the jurors on how impactful she was, but to us it was very important and its something that we kept going back to and looking at and kristen did the direct examination from her, but we went back to that report that she did a lot, because it was significant in showing what the real science is behind this and how this how this goes and
dr. Valiare who testified in the last trial about this, shes another great expert in this arena and you think its important that these messages get out, that thats what this is and maybe at some point we wont need to put on an expert to educate a jury because well all recognize that those Sexual Assault myths are not real and we should be looking at everything that happens to somebody who has been sexually assaulted. Any chance that Margts Rit Jackson could face Perjury Charges . Cant talk about investigations. Can you talk about the difference of having a local jury as opposed to an out of town jury and whether that had an impact or made a difference . Im not saying this jury seemed different. They took a lot of notes. They really were paying attention, so did you do you think that had an impact as a Montgomery County . Do you think that helped . Obviously it helped, you won. I appreciate being on my home court. Okay. I do. Its we have a Great Community here, we have a community that supports Law Enforcement, we have a community of people that sacrifice so much, to think going into this youre going to be removed from your family as the defense kept saying for a month, is a huge sacrifice to make but theyre willingness to do this and as you said to pay the rapped attention they did to every step of the way, were just grateful
and im grateful we live in this community and im grateful that we get to choose jurors like that who Do The Right Thing and right thing. Thats what happens here and it happens over and over again. It was great being on our home court. What is your message to prosecutors in other jurisdictions, new york city, los angeles, Chester County who may view the cases historically as very different to prosecute . After today, what is your message to any prosecutor who may be on the fence about pushing forward with a case of this nature . Im not here to send messages to my colleagues. We are in a Great Community of prosecutors, particularly in pennsylvania. And i get to work with them
through the pennsylvania District Attorneys association and all i can tell you about that is the incredible outpouring of support that i have gotten every step of the way along this journey that they have been great and, you know, i look at, you know, our colleagues in the attorney generals office, you know, and how they have walked this walk with us. Michelle henry, for example, who tried the cane case with me. You know . Each step of the way these folks are here to support. So i dont think its any need or time to send a message to all of them. Were all working these cases together and each person has to deal with it in their own jurisdictions. Mr. Steele, what is your thought to victims . In your closing argument, there were Character Assassinations in that courtroom and if someone
feels too scared to come forward at this time, just a chilling effect. I hope the end result will not cause somebody to refrain from coming forward. Because we got to the right result in this. And yeah, its difficult. And people were put through Character Assassinations. And it was very difficult to sit through. And watch. But you also saw what the jury did in the end. And i hope that people recognize that you got to show courage like this lady did. Like she showed courage. She stepped up. She went forward. And and we got to the right result. And she stayed through this. You know . She didnt have to start down this journey with us. She didnt have to come here for the first trial. She didnt have to come here for the second trial. But she did. You know . And i think that means so much and i hope that others that have been victimized understand that and see that courage and see where it can get. Because for all of us it was just about doing justice. You know . And sometimes you feel like thats just us. That is looking for that. And you got a lot of people working against you to that end. But despite each of these legal hurdles, these things that happened across the way, you know, we got here. And we got to all sit in that courtroom and hear the defendant convicted of all of the
offenses. You know . Found guilty. And i think thats important for victims to know and understand. That were going to stand with them. Were going to walk this journey with them and do the best that we can and treat them with dignity and respect. You talked about what that was like being able to mark off on your sheet for each count guilty, describe the moment when you were able finally able to turn and face andrea after you heard the verdict. I waited until we got upstairs and i gave her a hug. Kevin, which of the hurdle is it knowing that, you know, the d. A. At the time in 2005 declined to prosecute and, you know, you guys made a point of apologizing to andrea in the closings and thanking her which i thought was pretty powerful. How do you think she was treated back then . You talked about right in the middle of the investigation when pulled the plug. He didnt even have the courtesy to know they were pulling the plug. Found out from reporters on the doorstep. Press releases and threatened with arrest basically herself. And they were threatened with arrest. You had other hurdles to overcome. What was that like for you guys . And how do you all ill say on that was on behalf of our office we are sorry for what happened then. But we got a chance to make up for it. And we hopefully have. We hopefully have. So all right. Thank you, everybody. Thank you. One word. So you just been watching the Press Conference there with Montgomery CountyDistrict Attorney kevin steele a. Couple of things that came up, the deposition of 2005 with bill cosby and related to Andrea Constands allegations back then and the other talk was about the five other accusers who were allowed to testify. What do you think was more powerful here for that jury, bill cosbys own words being read to them where he talked about quaaludes and sex and drugs and alcohol . Or was it these other witnesses, these prior bad act witnesses . I think it was both. I think that cosbys own words let the jury know that this was not dr. Huxtable from the Television Show but a human being who was fatally flawed in many, many ways and then the combination of his own words sort of coupled with the
testimony of the women who found the same pattern of behavior as the main plaintiff in this case, ms. Constand did i think was very instrumental in helping the jury understand what happened here. But i think what was very important from a Trial Strategy Standpoint was the opening of the case with dr. Ziv. Remember, she is the forensic psychiatrist who talked about the rape myths, how women behave after being sexually assaulted. So they started the case by educating the jury. This is how people behave in the aftermath of these cases and it is not always consistent and its not Like Television where they call the police immediately or things of that sort. So i think the combination of the introduction of forensic psychiatry with his own words and the prior bad act evidence leading up to Andrea Constands testimony was that which
convicted him in this case. Cnns jean casarez with us, as well. You have been there from day one of the earlier trial, even, jean and you were in the courtroom for much of this. Was it a different feeling in that courtroom . Reporter there was a different feeling and i was in the courtroom for both trials. The different feeling in this one was that, you know, trials have momentums on both sides for the prosecution, for the defense. But in this trial i felt a continual momentum for the prosecution. It was just a feeling that i had in that courtroom. Now, of course, the trial started out after the Opening Statements with dr. Ziv who was a Sexual Assault expert and that was someone that talked about the character of a Sexual Assault victim. But then you started having the prior bad act witnesses. One after the other. And, you know, maybe that added
to the momentum at the beginning and strategy on the side of the prosecution to do it in that manner and then you have Andrea Constand. So that set the stage for the rest of the trial. In terms of those prior bad act witnesses, this was brought up during the trial and a question to the d. A. Earlier. Tom mesereau said they plan to appeal. The d. A. Was asked about concerns using all five of the witnesses. Michael, on appeal do you think that could be an issue . So the rule in these prior bad act cases is whether or not there is motive, intent absence of mistake or common scheme or plan and i think that this fit the common definition of bad act evidence. I think they will have a hard time overcoming the ruling of the court to allow this evidence in because the pattern of behavior between cosby and his victims and cosby and his own words i think set the legal predicate for the judge allowing