Bill Cosby is the fallen icon of comedy and fatherhood who turned out to be a drug inducing rapist. He was released from prison on Wednesday. It was a shock release \u2013 shock to those who thought that Cosby, with a long hidden history of drugging and attacking women, had finally been brought to justice. And I bet it was a shock to Cosby as well \u2013 though he and his counsel played off the decision as if they truly believed justice had prevailed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There doesn\u2019t seem to be much question that a man that many, including myself, admired for decades, was privately abhorrent.\u00a0\u00a0The evidence is too strong, the number of women willing to accuse him too long, and the stories all too similar to be somehow \u201cmade-up\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s clear to the world he did what they say he did.\u00a0\u00a0He used his good name and influence to lure younger women to his home, and then he drugged and attacked them.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0America\u2019s \u201cDad\u201d is a pervert.\u00a0\u00a0It certainly is a sign of our times.\u00a0\u00a0But when you get through the disgust and betrayal, there is one more fact that may go unnoticed.\u00a0\u00a0Bill Cosby\u2019s lawyers were right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Fifth Amendment is familiar to everyone. You have the right to refuse to testify against yourself. You cannot be forced to risk criminal punishment by answering question \u201cagainst your interest\u201d. We all know the Miranda drill: \u201cyou have the right to remain silent, anything you say can be used against you in a Court of Law\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The exception is well known after years of Trump subordinates and the Mueller Investigation. \u00a0If you have \u201cimmunity\u201d from prosecution then those words can\u2019t be used to convict you, and you can be compelled to testify.\u00a0\u00a0We hear about this process daily.\u00a0\u00a0The Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg seemed to be on the verge of an immunity deal, in exchange for incriminating testimony against the Trumps.\u00a0\u00a0He finally turned that \u201cdeal\u201d down, and now faces criminal charges himself.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cosby was never offered immunity.\u00a0\u00a0But the Pennsylvania Supreme Court said he was put in the same position by the then District Prosecutor Bruce Castor.\u00a0\u00a0That name may be vaguely familiar. Castor was the lead defense attorney in the second Donald Trump impeachment trial.\u00a0\u00a0You might remember him for seeming \u201ceccentric\u201d, so much so that Senators who supported Trump caucused immediately after his opening statement to try to \u201cclean\u201d things up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Castor made a public declaration that he would NOT prosecute Cosby.\u00a0\u00a0In fact, he put out an official media release to make sure everyone, including Cosby and his lawyers, would know.\u00a0\u00a0By making that decision, he fully intended to remove Cosby\u2019s Fifth Amendment protection for a civil proceeding.\u00a0\u00a0Cosby would no longer have \u201cthe right to remain silent\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0Under pain of perjury he would be required to answer questions in the civil trial, where he was being sued for the same kind of actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cosby did answer questions in civil court, answers that did in fact incriminate him in the future criminal action.\u00a0\u00a0He was charged by a later prosecutor who didn\u2019t feel bound by Castor\u2019s decision. Cosby\u2019s own testimony in the civil case WAS used as evidence in the criminal case where he was convicted and sentenced to ten years in jail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No one believes Bill Cosby is innocent. But if Cosby\u2019s conviction was allowed to stand, then any time Prosecutors couldn\u2019t get a possible criminal to answer questions, they could simply refuse to prosecute – then change their minds after some civil case when the suspect was required to testify without the Fifth Amendment shield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s hard to imagine anyone who has so squandered the public trust as Bill Cosby.\u00a0\u00a0We\u2019ve been let down before:\u00a0\u00a0Jared the Subway spokesman, PeeWee Herman the children\u2019s show host, the Today Show\u2019s Matt Lauer.\u00a0\u00a0But none of them set themselves up as such a cultural icon as Cosby.\u00a0\u00a0From the sweaters to giving advice to young Black men, Cosby won his spot in America\u2019s consciousness.\u00a0\u00a0And now we know what he was doing to women, at least sixty that have come forward, during his comedic career.\u00a0\u00a0No one is pushing to get Cosby back on TV, or on the stage.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He will slink away in shame. Folks will speak with outrage about what the Courts did.\u00a0\u00a0But the real failure in this case was not Cosby\u2019s lawyers, nor the prosecutors who followed Castor.\u00a0\u00a0And it\u2019s really not Castor\u2019s fault either.\u00a0\u00a0To give him the benefit of the doubt, he was trying to clear the way for a successful civil action when he didn\u2019t see a winnable criminal case.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cosby characterizes this as \u201cjustice for all Black men\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0But that doesn\u2019t in any way alter what he did.\u00a0\u00a0The world won\u2019t see him as a victim.\u00a0\u00a0And certainly the sixty women lost once again.\u00a0\u00a0The only winner:\u00a0\u00a0the Fifth Amendment and procedural justice.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"