Three years and 60 accusers later, Bill Cosby's trial begins But only one woman will decide his fate
Bill Cosby, once television’s lovable “Dr. Huxtable,” is set to face off in a courtroom against Andrea Constand, a woman who says he drugged and sexually assaulted her.
By Manuel Roig-Franzia May 20 at 1:20 PM
As the Bill Cosby sex scandal spread, flaring into a media firestorm, the woman best positioned to confront him in a criminal court kept returning to her tattoo artist.
Thickly rendered lines twist and curl up Andrea Constand’s forearm, then past her elbow. On her upper left arm she had a brilliant pink gladiolus etched into her skin.
Constand had seen Lili Bernard, another woman who has accused the comedian of drugging and sexually assaulting her, carrying the spiky flower at a Cosby protest. Bernard said her friend was inspired.
In Latin, the flower’s name means a small sword. Now the woman with the sword flower on her arm is the central figure in one of the most highly anticipated trials in recent history, a potential reckoning for an entertainment legend whose legacy as “America’s Dad” lies in tatters. The trial that starts Monday with jury selection will determine whether Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted Constand, the only woman to have her allegations against Cosby heard in a criminal court.
The proceedings cap a nearly 2½ -year stretch that has seen Cosby, now 79, accused of sexual misdeeds spanning five decades by at least 60 women, stripped of dozens of honorary degrees and shunned by much of the entertainment world that once fawned over him. Cosby has consistently denied that he sexually assaulted or drugged any women, but the allegations have prompted several states to extend their statutes of limitations for sex crime, and even his “Little Bill” children’s works now appear on the list of books most often targeted for removal from libraries.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/three-years-and-60-accusers-later-bill-cosbys-trial-begins-but-only-one-woman-will-decide-his-fate/2017/05/20/a28a2342-3ae5-11e7-9e48-c4f199710b69_story.html
