Bill Cosby found guilty in sexual assault trial

• Bill Cosby was found guilty in his sexual assault retrial in a Norristown, Pennsylvania court on Thursday.
• Cosby, 80, was found guilty on three counts of aggravated indecent assault, for drugging and violating Temple University employee Andrea Constand at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004.
• The verdict came after a two-week retrial in which prosecutors put five other women on the stand who testified that Cosby drugged and violated them, too.
• The conviction could put him in prison for up to 10 years on each count.

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Bill Cosby was found guilty on all counts in his sexual assault retrial in a Norristown, Pennsylvania court on Thursday.

He was found guilty on three counts of aggravated indecent assault. The conviction could put him in prison for up to 10 years on each count. He is likely to get less than that under state sentencing guidelines, but given his age, even a modest term could mean he will die behind bars.

A jury panel of seven men and five women deliberated for around 14 hours before delivering the verdict. The guilty verdict came less than a year after another jury deadlocked on the charges.

Cosby was charged with drugging and violating Temple University employee Andrea Constand at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004. Cosby claimed the encounter was consensual. His lawyer called Constand a "con artist" who leveled false accusations against Cosby so she could sue him. 

The verdict came after a two-week retrial in which prosecutors put five other women on the stand who testified that Cosby drugged and violated them, too. One of those women asked him through her tears, “You remember, don’t you, Mr. Cosby?”

Prosecutors used Cosby’s past admissions about drugs and sex as well as the testimony of the other women to help bolster accuser Andrea Constand’s allegations.

It was the only criminal case to arise from allegations from more than 60 women.

“The time for the defendant to escape justice is over,” prosecutor Stewart Ryan said in his closing argument. “It’s finally time for the defendant to dine on the banquet of his own consequences.”

AP reporting by Michael R. Sisak and Claudia Lauer.

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