After 14 hours of deliberation, a Philadelphia jury has convicted comedian Bill Cosby of aggravated indecent assault against Andrea Constand in 2004.
What we know:
- Constand, 45, alleges Cosby knocked her out with three pills he called “your friends” and molested her in January 2004.
- Cosby has said he gave Constand 1½ tablets of the over-the-counter cold and allergy medicine Benadryl to help her relax before what he called a consensual encounter.
- This is the second jury as the first jury, which considered the case last summer, deadlocked and the court ultimately ended in a mistrial.
- Cosby did not take the stand.
- Five women who have accused Cosby of drugging and assaulting them were allowed to testify in the second trial, unlike the first where only one was permitted, as “prior bad acts” witnesses in an effort to prove the behavior was a pattern.
- New testimony was permitted from Constand’s former colleague who claimed the Constand privately admitted to framing Cosby in order to cash in — and a revelation that Cosby paid Constand nearly $3.4 million in 2006 to settle her civil claims.
- Cosby was charged with three counts of felony indecent aggravated assault. He faces 10 years in prison on each count.
Continue to keep up with the latest black news alerts at BlackNewsAlerts.com.