Actor Bill Cosby’s History Of Mistrials and Retrials, And Why Judge Denied His Most Recent Request
Bill Cosby’s legal issues continue to make the news cycle as the beloved comic faces fallout from his various case. While many know that the former television dad is now a free man, few understand the circumstances that made this possible. Let’s get into the history of mistrials and retrials that he’s faced over the last few years.
In 2017, Bill Cosby was standing trial in the case of him and Andrea Constand. The civil suit was filed in March of 2005 and initially resolved the following year out of court for an undisclosed amount. However, in 2015, new charges were brought up on Cosby, including three second-degree felony counts of aggravated indecent assault. The court struggled with the case, and the jury initially could not come to an agreement on how to charge Mr. Cosby following 52 hours of deliberation. According to USA Today, “Cosby was not found guilty and was not acquitted,” resulting in the mistrial.
By 2018, the court had finally reached a decision. Cosby was found guilty of all three counts against Constand, and he was sentenced to 3–10 years in state prison. Mr. Cosby, 83, would go on to serve more than two years of a 3-10 year sentence at a state prison near Philadelphia. Cosby would eventually be let out on a technicality when it was revealed that Cosby’s lawyers had made an agreement with the previous state prosecutor, promising that he would not be charged in the case.
Because Cosby was now a free man, it allowed for several other pending cases on him to be able to finally come through. This included a claim from Judy Huth, a woman who claimed Cosby assaulted her at the Playboy mansion in 1975 when she was only 16. The court found he was guilty and ordered him to pay $500,000.
Cosby and his team claimed the trial was unfair and tried to push for a retrial, but unfortunately, that was denied this week by the court. Cosby’s rep said, “Judge Karlan denying Mr. Cosby a new trial was expected, but it’s unfortunate.” They claim Huth changed her testimony several times and that the case was an “assassination on Mr. Cosby’s character.
