Forgive me for bringing up the Cosby matter again but I'm sorry. It's on my mind. The New York Times says his legal team has a three-point objective…
…the team's strategy is to proceed on three broad fronts: 1) to cast Mr. Cosby's use of drugs during sex as a widely accepted practice four decades ago; 2) to assert that his testimony does not change his consistent denials that he did anything criminally wrong; and 3) to argue that it was a mistake for the court documents to be released.
Working backwards: It seems to me that #3 is a waste of time in terms of public opinion. No one who decided Cosby was guilty (or even just a slimeball) based on those releases is going to take that decision back because the documents were improperly released. I'm guessing they might be able to make those documents inadmissible in certain future legal battles but maybe not. Once the toothpaste is out of the tube and so forth.
#2 is interesting because we seem to have moved from Cosby insisting he did nothing wrong to Cosby insisting he did nothing criminally wrong. In a time when we can all name things that are legal that we all know should not be legal, that also may not matter much to public opinion. This bullet point sounds to me like the defense for civil cases pending and yet to come. But it didn't help either O.J. Simpson or Robert Blake to argue in civil suits that they hadn't been found guilty or done the deeds of which they were accused.
And #1 brings to mind the parental scold, "Just because others do it doesn't make it right." I guess he's going to argue here that the women had sex with with him willingly and that they took the drugs willingly to get in the mood and that they weren't under the influence of those drugs when they consented to the sex with the older, powerful, wealthy celebrity who dangled career possibilities and then offered the drugs to them. Good luck convincing a jury on that one.
Seems to me Mr. Cosby and his minions have three possible goals here: They're fighting for his reputation, they're fighting for his money or they're fighting for his freedom. Obviously, they'd like to win on all three but I'd say his reputation is gone for good. Proving he technically isn't guilty of some of what's being said about him is not going to restore his position as a God of Comedy. There's too much of a stench around this man for that to happen.
Is he worried about going to prison? Right now, maybe not. I mean, there could be women out there who were drugged 'n' raped within the Statute of Limitations…women upon whom a solid case could be mounted if they came forward. But if there are, we haven't heard about them.
There are, however, women who can file civil cases against him. Some have…and while it might seem to be cheaper to pay them off than to fight them in court, Cosby and his attorneys could be worried that if one or two get payoffs, they'll all connect with lawyers willing to handle their cases on contingency. So far, around 40 women have claimed that Cosby molested them. That's a lot of women to settle with…and their number probably wouldn't stop there.
I may be way overthinking this but I'm imagining Cosby listing for his lawyers as many women as he can remember who could possibly claim what the 40 or so have claimed. I'm imagining that being a very long list and the attorneys telling him, "If a few dozen have come forward when they get verbal abuse but no money, think how many of them will get in line when the country is for the most part believing them and others are each collecting a few million dollars from you."
So that could get really expensive in terms of both settlements and legal fees…and a lot more women coming forward is only going to bury his reputation deeper and deeper. Not only that but more victims coming forward could also lead to the emergence of one or more in that "within the Statue of Limitations" category. Maybe the guy is worried about winding up in the slammer.
Bill…if that does happen, one word of advice: I wouldn't wander around the prison courtyard wearing the "Hello Friend" sweatshirt.