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Is Racial Bias a Factor In Cosby Jury Selection? (Videos)

NB Commentary: Personally, I don’t think it’s about race. I am sure they will be hard pressed to find a jury that either didn’t hear about the allegations or never heard of Bill Cosby. I mean next to Oprah and Barack Obama, what other internationally known Black person have we heard of coming out of Hollywood especially during those days. Not to mention his TV series and commercials. If anything, folks will be more lenient even tolerant or maybe even disbelieving in the allegations due to his notoriety.

It’s about Hollywood, it’s about being a part of the shenanigans that go on in Hollyweird. It’s about how they chose certain folks to be “Super Stars” and how they exploit them once they agree to being chosen. It’s about the promises that are made to them and what they have to do to still be a part of the game. It’s about the parties, the backroom deals, the wine, women and song. And may I add, drugs and other nefarious goings on that happen in Hollyweird. Eddie Murphy said something to the effect, that it’s hard to get out of Hollywood clean.

Back in the day, much of the stuff that went on in Hollyweird was hidden from the public, nowadays, there are a plethora of articles, documents and YouTube videos that tell the story of what happens in Hollywood. Bill Cosby was chosen to play a role and as long as he played that role, he was able to do whatever he did. I strongly believe he decided he didn’t want to play ball anymore. Not sure what ball they threw his way, but for sure, these folks in Hollyweird make you an offer you can’t refuse.. Or you go down and it’s just that simple. It ain’t about race, it’s about the game. If you are gonna be a player, then you gotta play…. Or else.
By  Associated Press  May 24, 2017
Bill Cosby arrives for the second day of jury selection in his sexual assault case at the Allegheny County Courthouse. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
PITTSBURGH (AP) — With just one Black person seated among the first 11 jurors chosen for Bill Cosby’s sexual assault trial, defense lawyers are crying foul and accusing prosecutors of trying to systematically keep Blacks off the jury.
The lawyers returned to court on Wednesday in Pittsburgh to pick a 12th juror and six alternates. Cosby arrived Wednesday just before 8 a.m.
For now, Judge Steven O’Neill has rejected the race bias argument.
Prosecutors said race was not a factor in their decision to strike two Black women from the panel this week. They said one was a former Pittsburgh police detective who sued the city after she was arrested in a public scandal.
O’Neill pledged to revisit the issue if defense lawyer Brian McMonagle, who had accused prosecutors of “a systematic exclusion of African-Americans,” presented statistical evidence to back that up.
The 100 people summoned to the Allegheny County courthouse for juror consideration so far have included 16 people of color. A new jury pool will be summoned on Wednesday.
The jurors selected on Tuesday included a Black woman who said she knew only “basic information” about the case, a young white man who initially expressed a tendency to believe police and two people who said they don’t read or watch the news.
The jury now consists of seven men and four women — all but one of them white — in a case that Cosby has said may have racial undertones.
The actor-comedian once known as America’s Dad for his beloved portrayal of Dr. Cliff Huxtable on “The Cosby Show” is charged with drugging and molesting a Temple University women’s basketball team manager at his home near Philadelphia in 2004. He has called the encounter consensual. Dozens of other women have made similar accusations against Cosby, 79, but O’Neill is allowing only one of them to testify at the June 5 trial in suburban Philadelphia. The jury from Pittsburgh will be sequestered nearly 300 miles from home.
Cosby, in an interview last week, said race could be a motivating factor in the accusations against him.
“Race plays a role in every trial, but it shouldn’t eclipse … the evidence,” Loyola Law School professor Laurie Levenson said. “This case is frankly more about gender, celebrity, how women are treated [and] Bill Cosby’s credibility. But race may take a more focused perspective because the defense has [raised it] recently.”
The trial will take place in Montgomery County, where Cosby had invited Andrea Constand to his home in 2004. Constand said she went seeking career advice. She said Cosby gave her wine and pills that put her in a stupor before molesting her on his couch. Constand was 30 and dating a woman at the time, while Cosby was 66 and long married to wife Camille. Cosby in sworn testimony has said he put his hand down Constand’s pants but said she did not protest.
Cosby has said he does not expect to testify.
The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are the victims of sexual assault unless they come forward, as Constand has done.
Cosby was arrested Dec. 30, 2015, just days before the 12-year statute of limitations expired. He has pleaded not guilty and remains free on $1 million bail.

LINKS OF INTEREST
Watch Long-Lost Footage Bill Cosby Eyeing Sofia Vergara in Interview
Bill Cosby Moves to Bar Victim Expert From Sex Assault Trial
Published on Nov 1, 2016
Bill Cosby’s lawyers pressed a judge Tuesday to keep the comedian’s
damaging deposition in a decade-old lawsuit out of his sexual assault trial,
saying he agreed to answer questions after being assured he wouldn’t
be charged with a crime. (Nov. 1)
The Buzz: Cliff Huxtable Is Not a Rapist
THE CENTRAL QUESTION IN THE BILL COSBY CRIMINAL CASE
Off The Hook! Bill Cosby’s Wife Gets Deposition Postponed
Bill Cosby Won’t Be Charged in Two Sexual Assault Cases
Bill Cosby Gives First Interview About Allegations in Two Years: Racism ‘May Very Well’ Be a Factor
Bill Cosby’s Daughter Defends Him, Calls Rape Allegations ‘Harsh & Hurtful’
What is the Spousal Privilege?
Mother of Bill Cosby accuser Jennifer Thompson sends letter to comedian’s wife Camille Cosby
LAPD to search Hugh Hefner’s estate during Bill Cosby sexual assault investigation
No, Mrs Mugabe, I am not responsible for my rape.
Bill Cosby arraigned; TV star’s attorneys vow to fight ‘unjustified’ charge
Bill Cosby Look-Alike: “My Life Sucks Now”
We must abandon Bill Cosby: A broken trust with women, black America
What Bill Cosby’s Fall Says About the New Age of Television
Bill Cosby rape allegations explained: Why are these allegations coming out now? And why has nobody taken legal action?
Bill Cosby Thinks Sexual Assault Allegations May Be Rooted in Racism, Does Not Plan to Testify Against Andrea Constand
Convicted Killer of Ennis Cosby Confesses
I Warned You About Bill Cosby in 2007
The public may be waking up to the mountain of rape allegations now, but women were coming forward years ago to warn that the Jell-O Man was not so sweet.
Bill Cosby’s Untold Story: Agony, Ambition and a Son’s Tragic Murder
Murder of Ennis Cosby
Can Respect Mute Media’s Frenzy in Cosby Slaying?
January 17, 1997|HOWARD ROSENBERG
Bill Cosby’s secret messages disclosed MKULTRA ‘Rape Demon’ redux
THE MURDER OF ENNIS COSBY
Cosby Show, Boule’ and the News: The Cause for Killing Off Cos
What did Bill Cosby do to piss someone off in Hollywood?

Category:

allegation, Andrea Constand, Camille Cosby, Court case, Dr. Huxtable, Hollywood, House of Fraser, NBC, news, Philadelphia Daily News, Television, The Cosby show, trial

The Cosby Saga: Introduction (Videos)

NB Commentary: Bill Cosby is about to be back in the news. After a little over a year or so, the media attention will be focused on him once again. Unless of course they give us something else to focus on. Which is quite likely.

I am going to create a video playlist… and hopefully I won’t get too distracted from this project. But I have written several blogs on this topic and I wish to share my thoughts with you on some of the topics that I covered in my blog.
This is a weird adventure for me because I actually met Bill Cosby. In fact, I have never been given to the star mania, but there were a handful of “stars” who derived the allure from me that most others did not, so when I met him, I was overwhelmed and practically became faint. He had become a household word in my life as a young teenager and young adult. He was a black man that I listened to. His comedy albums were something that you cherished.
Back then to even purchase one album was a sign of having some significant income, not too mention having a library of albums by various artist and entertainers. 
I grew up around the Red Fox, Richard Pryor and several other “foul” mouthed comedians who were only played at adult parties. It was awesome to listen to a black man, make us laugh and be able to do it in the light and around children and family members.
We would sit on our steps on summer nights and mimic his routine. Most of us had never even seen him in person but we knew his albums by heart and we would sound like him at least.
There was one youth on our block who was so funny, before he started mimicking Cosby, that when he added Cosby to his repertoire, he was even more funny and he kept us laughing till we shed tears and other bodily fluids.
So, it is definitely disheartening to have this man, a superstar in our eyes back then and an icon, AKA America’s dad in the eyes of the more contemporary folk.
The great thing about age is that you were there when it happened. And then again, you find out as you get older, that you were not really there on some levels, particularly if they were covering up and had hidden agendas.

All we knew back then was that he was a black man and he was funny as hell and that he didn’t curse and he talked about his life and family to such a degree that we could all relate to it, especially since we were from Philadelphia.
What we did not is the Hollywood drama. We did not know the shenanigans that went on behind the scenes. We were not privy to the real Cosby and what he had to do to become the “icon” or “America’s Dad”. We did not know any of that. And it is so true today, that many folks have no clue of what happens behind the scenes when it comes to the folks they adore, the stars they emulate and even want to be like. They have no clue as to what has to happen to these stars or even what happened to them before they became entertainers.
Today, we have the Internet. In the 50’s and 60’s we had black and white televisions and lp’s and 45’s. We had one or two papers in the neighborhood.  We had Jet Magazine, Sepia and Ebony. There were few publications that catered to the Black community so we got our news from Time, Newsweek, Look and sometimes Reader’s Digest.  None of these publications would talk openly about what went on behind the scenes in Hollywood. And if so, it would be inferred or in fiction form. Every once in a while a brave reporter would go deep into a story and tell all, but still those stories were syndicated and only written in certain news outlets and magazines. In those days we had word of mouth or gossip in some cases about the stars, but if it was about someone we favored, we would blow it off as jealousy.
Nowadays, the wealth of information and the ability to gain more and more of it, is sometimes overwhelming, and while you may want to get your hands on it all, it is virtually impossible to do so, so you have to pick and focus and stay focused.
What I wish to do with this video series is discuss the some many tentacles that are part of the Cosby Saga.
I will start with this article from Atlanta Black Star.

  • Then I will talk about Camille Cosby.
  • Then I want to go to my dream.. I really think that my dream has all the following elements in it.
  • I will address what folks perceive as racism when Bill Cosby was targeted for the “fall” from grace.
  • I will give you all a little history on Bill Cosby, his background and how he came into being the “clean” comedian.
  • I will discuss the “rape” allegations and their implications particularly as it has been such a long time and that the women are coming out now and what media hype it created. I want to talk about the real women and the real “victims” and the reason they may not have said anything when it happened.
  • I want to address the “Cult of Personality” and how we get caught up in it thinking the person we see on screen is really the person and how we don’t realize they are “actors” playing a role.
  • I want to talk about his age and career, and what the implications are if convicted or not.
  • I want to talk about Enis, his son and the mystery still surrounding it.
  • I hope that I can stay focused enough to get through this all.
  • I may throw in another video here and there as I make it through this series.
Links Of Interest
Watch Long-Lost Footage Bill Cosby Eyeing Sofia Vergara in Interview
Bill Cosby Moves to Bar Victim Expert From Sex Assault Trial
Published on Nov 1, 2016
Bill Cosby’s lawyers pressed a judge Tuesday to keep the comedian’s
damaging deposition in a decade-old lawsuit out of his sexual assault trial,
saying he agreed to answer questions after being assured he wouldn’t
be charged with a crime. (Nov. 1)
The Buzz: Cliff Huxtable Is Not a Rapist
THE CENTRAL QUESTION IN THE BILL COSBY CRIMINAL CASE
Off The Hook! Bill Cosby’s Wife Gets Deposition Postponed
Bill Cosby Won’t Be Charged in Two Sexual Assault Cases
Bill Cosby Gives First Interview About Allegations in Two Years: Racism ‘May Very Well’ Be a Factor
Bill Cosby’s Daughter Defends Him, Calls Rape Allegations ‘Harsh & Hurtful’
What is the Spousal Privilege?
Mother of Bill Cosby accuser Jennifer Thompson sends letter to comedian’s wife Camille Cosby
LAPD to search Hugh Hefner’s estate during Bill Cosby sexual assault investigation
No, Mrs Mugabe, I am not responsible for my rape.
Bill Cosby arraigned; TV star’s attorneys vow to fight ‘unjustified’ charge
Bill Cosby Look-Alike: “My Life Sucks Now”
We must abandon Bill Cosby: A broken trust with women, black America
What Bill Cosby’s Fall Says About the New Age of Television
Bill Cosby rape allegations explained: Why are these allegations coming out now? And why has nobody taken legal action?
Bill Cosby Thinks Sexual Assault Allegations May Be Rooted in Racism, Does Not Plan to Testify Against Andrea Constand
Convicted Killer of Ennis Cosby Confesses
I Warned You About Bill Cosby in 2007
The public may be waking up to the mountain of rape allegations now, but women were coming forward years ago to warn that the Jell-O Man was not so sweet.
Bill Cosby’s Untold Story: Agony, Ambition and a Son’s Tragic Murder
Murder of Ennis Cosby
Can Respect Mute Media’s Frenzy in Cosby Slaying?
January 17, 1997|HOWARD ROSENBERG
Bill Cosby’s secret messages disclosed MKULTRA ‘Rape Demon’ redux
THE MURDER OF ENNIS COSBY
Cosby Show, Boule’ and the News: The Cause for Killing Off Cos
What did Bill Cosby do to piss someone off in Hollywood?

Category:

allegation, Andrea Constand, Camille Cosby, Court case, Dr. Huxtable, Hollywood, House of Fraser, NBC, news, Philadelphia Daily News, Television, The Cosby show, trial