Constand, the accuser in this case. Reporter so tom maze roe, you tried and failed. The personal attacks did not work. Bill cosby, three words for you, guilty, guilty, guilty tom mesereau, the high Profile Defense attorney bill cosby brought in for this retrial after he was found guilty. There was some discussion of whether whether or not there should be bonds cosby stood up and yelled at the prosecutor saying you asshole. Heres more of what his attorney had to say just moments ago. We are very disappointed by the verdict. We dont think mr. Cosbys guilty of anything and the fight is not over. Thank you. Are you going to appeal, sir . Yes, yes. Yes, very strongly. Is mr. Cosby prepared to go to prison . No comment from bill cosbysSexual Assault and harassment has changed a lot since the first trial. How much that impacted the jury in their deliberations, i dont know, theyre human beings. I know they were ad monished not to allow what was going on in the culture and socially to interfere with their deliberations in the case, but their human beings. Your accusations of bill cosby stem from an event in 1979, so were talking obviously decades here. There has been a real sea change just in the last few months but prior to that in the last few years as more and more of bill cosbys accusers, stood up and spoke out. A number of you doing so together. How did that change things for you knowing that you werent the only one out there who was making these allegations . When i came forward in 2005, i thought i was the only one until Andrea Constand tried to have him charged the first time, so i was jane doe number four in the original 13 jane does and i cant tell you how amazing it
much do you think that has empowered other men and women . I hope its empowered women. I hope they know now that this is proof that they dont have to stay silent any more. What do you think is going to happen in terms of sentencing . Does it matter to you . It doesnt matter to me. I had no control over this outcome, so my purpose from the beginning has been to tell the truth and to let Andrea Constand know that she was not alone and none of that has been easy for any of us. We have been vilified and called horrible names by many members of the public and some members of the media, but today, in this moment, it has been worth all of that. Patricia, appreciate you taking the time for us today. Thank you. Thank you for asking. I also want to bring in cnn legal analyst areba martin. You and i have talked a lot about the impact of these
different stories, whether it is an accuser of bill cosby, of harvey weinstein, this is a this is a remarkable day in terms of that conversation . Yeah, this is huge. I dont think we can underestimate erica, how significant this is for women. Ive been a civil rights lawyer for two decades. Ive watched what has happened in this country around Sexual Assault how this movement has evolved and to see someone like bill cosby convicted is monumental. We have to remember that the prosecutors in this case, the original District Attorney refused to file charges and there was a lot of back and forth between the prosecutors about whether there was substantial evidence, whether constand was a credible witness and we saw cosbys new defense lawyer, his new Defense Team Go after Andrea Constand and the five other women really hard, really challenge their credibility, and despite that, the jurors still found thatAndrea Constand was telling the truth, that she had a credible story to tell and that bill cosby was guilty of what he was charged with. So this is incredible. Weve seen men fall. Weve seen men lose their jobs and careers but weve not seen a man in recent history, particularly a man of bill cosbys stature being convicted. Three criminal convictions, facing up to 30 years in prison, this is a significant sea change in the whole movement to keep women safe and free from Sexual Harassment and assault. Cnn jean casarez has been covering this from the very beginning extensively. She joins us now from pennsylvania as we wait for this Press Conference with the prosecutor. Jean, you had been in that courtroom, you have witnessed a lot of this first hand, no cameras were allowed. You have been an incredible set of eyes and ears for us. Reporter were getting word that this Press Conference is just about to begin with prosecutors. We do understand that andrea
jurors for their diligence, the sacrifices that they made as well as the sacrifices of their families so that they could serve in this important duty that they did. So today were finally in a place to say that justice was done. As prosecutors we have a responsibility to seek justice and we have to go wherever and to whomever it takes us and to begin, i want to step back to a point that was pretty desighive in this case and thats when the judge released the civil case deposition and indicated in his opinion that the defendants deposition showed the stark contrast between bill cosby, the public moralist, and bill cosby, the subject of serious allegations concerning improper and perhaps criminal conduct. At that point the prosecutors, who are here to Do The Right Thing and specifically my predecess predecessor, opened up and reopened this investigation. So thats a duty but that duty took courage because she had to open up a case against a powerful man, but i can say definitively that thats one of the things that is done over and over again in the Montgomery CountyDistrict Attorneys office. We have shown from our record that money and power or who you are will not stop us from a criminal investigation or prosecuting a case. What was revealed through this investigation was a man who had
spent decades preying on women that he drugged and sexually assaulted and a man that had evaded this moment here today for far too long. He used his celebrity, he used his wealth and his network of supporters to help him conceal his crimes, and now we really know today who is behind that act, who the real bill cosby was and a juror has spoken with one voice, in a court of law and found the defendant guilty of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in his home. Theres a number of people up here and im going to try to address as many of this as i can. And the most important person in this is Andrea Constand. Where are you . There you are. 14 years later it may be easy to forget that she was that first courageous person that stood up in public to go to the authorities and say that bill cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her. Her courage and resilience in the face of horrible and unfounded attacks upon her and her family has been so inspiring to all of us. We thank her, we thank her family, we thank her mother gianna for trusting us through this process of prosecuting her attacker. Standing next to her there is the Dolores Triani who were the ones that were asking the questions in that deposition
that the judge obrano was referring to that got us to the point where we were able to reopen this case and seek justice. And standing with her through this whole process has been a lot of other courageous women who are willing to stand up and tell their stories about being drugged and sexually assaulted or raped. 19 were willing to stand up with us in this prosecution, take the Witness Stand and we are humbled by the courage all of them showed and we cant help but applaud and celebrate the courage of the five witnesses that had a chance to face bill cosby in this case, to tell the
jury, to tell all of you, what he did to them. So heidi thomas, shallon lasha, janis dickerson, janice bakerkinney, the public thank all of them, i called each of them after the verdict was not able to talk to all of them, but they they know what theyve done and they know what their courage helped all of us do. So supporting all of these women have been the victim advocates, the victims groups, the womens group, the antirape groups and so many others and each of these groups play such an Important Role in supporting these women and helping them to heal from the ordeal that they have been
put through. Those are the people we all owe a debt of gratitude too today for their strength and resilience through this entire process as well as every day, because they stand with us, they work with the victims and they make a difference in their lives. Im very grateful to stand here before you with this team and again, its not all of our team, who worked to see that justice was done, but we had to overcome many legal hurdles that were thrown at us by various Defense Lawyers who have been on this case for the past 28 months. This time from the lawyers of four different law firms and each step of the way, we fought for the opportunity for the victims to be heard. The opportunity to get this case to a jury, an opportunity to be standing before all of you after
hearing the defendant had been convicted of three counts of aggravated, indecent assault. This team has been incredible. I cant say enough about the prosecutors, the detectives, dedicated staff who despite everything that was thrown at us, at them stayed the course. I own the ball and work today get us here today and im so incredibly proud of these talented people. Their committed always to Do The Right Thing for the right reasons and im going to have to start with, i think, i heard them referred to recently as thunder and lightning. So mr. Ryan here on my left, he heads our Family Protection unit
and hes prosecuted a lot of cases, sexuality assaults, rapes and those who have been drugged in Sexual Assault cases. Hes been with our office six years and just is one of the best. You saw some of that talent coming across throughout this trial and and i got reports on how i looked as i was watching what they did. And the other thing i enjoy doing is coaching and, you know, you get to these points where you work with kids, you work with young adults and you get to that point where you put them out on the field or on to the
court and theres not much you can do at that point other than watch and i could not have been more proud of what they did, throughout this whole thing and some of the crossexamination that you all got to see and some of the quick witted remarks were something. I think even caused the jurors to laugh when testimony was being coming back on things where they had the the ability here to close, and kristen here, so we wouldnt be here if not for her and i say that because when when we came back to look at this case,
reesa and judge furman now asked kristen and some of our team to go to toronto to meet with andrea and that was a difficult task and when kristen came back, she was adamant, adamant about what we should do, and we moved forward and it was the right thing to do and she has stuck through this the whole way, and she had an opportunity, which was kind of a bad day for me when she had a great opportunity
for her and her family to go to an excellent law firm, Stradley Ronan and we talked a lot and kristen did not want to leave this and not see it to the end, and we talked to bill sasso the chairman of the firm who we all owe a debt of gratitude too, for allowing her to stay on with us and stay with us through this case. And and you have seen the results of that. She, like, like mr. Ryan here has prosecuted so many sexual y assaults and Domestic Violence cases and i couldnt have found
two better partners and two better people, two better prosecutors to walk this journey with. Their commitment to doing the right thing has been extraordinary, and i got to talk about this one and the one on the end. Our deputy District Attorney, bob fallon, the captain of our appellate unit adrian jappy. We have seen what seems like hundreds of motions from the beginning when these charges were filed throughout the last days of trial and these incredible, legal minds have found the law that we needed to support our positions despite those many law firms and many lawyers that have made it
difficult for us to get to this point. Theyve supported our positions to keep it moving forward. They have kept up with everything, all of these lawyers have thrown at us and did it with just amazing grace. Youve seen them in court. Youve seen what they can do and theres been some pretty memorable writing along the way from from each of them and you all saw a difference maker too when the judge ruled that we could bring prior bad acts in, adrian handled that argument and just did a stellar job to get us in the position were in. Our Law Enforcement community, some of them are up here with me, all the folks from
shade with our department and Detective Reap who i heard it may be your birthday today. Yeah. Were all going to sing happy birthday now. These detectives worked really hard to reopen this case and throughout the whole process, and i couldnt be more proud of the entire investigative team. They are theyre supported by the lieutenant from our major crimes, chris cooklyn, deputy chief, mark byrne who has handled so much of these investigative efforts, chief gallen and all the support that they provide and have picked up in this. Beyond the guilty verdict, there have been some other, i think, important outcomes in this case. As we understand, this has been important for Sexual Assault victims everywhere. But we did this case because a crime was committed against Andrea Constand and it happened in our jurisdiction and that was our duty to move forward on, and when you look at this and look at what andrea has done to stand up and declare what happened to him, she has been a major factor in a movement that has gone in the right direction finally, and her quiet courage and her actions through this have helped victims to stand up and tell
what happened to them and i think now theres tremendous awareness of how these crimes have been covered up and papered over for the years and i hope and i pray that our actions have shown that we will stand up with those victims and all women that are out there standing up and telling their truth, i, we, support them and encourage them to keep it up and i hope now everybody recognizes that here, youre going to be treated with dignity and respect through the process. Another outcome has been increased. Look at rape myth or the myth of Sexual Assault especially by someone they knew or trusted will immediately report it to
the authorities, that they will behave in a certain way or they will never talk to anyone again, weve dispelled that here and thats because thats false and thats not always the way it goes. Too often these types of crimes, Sexual Assault do not get reported especially a case in where a drug has been used, an intoxicants so the victim does not have a clear memory of what went on, so we hope that this case sends a strong message that the victims of these types of crimes can come forward and be heard on what happened to them. So there was a defendant in this case, the next steps. A sentencing date will be issued by the judge. That is typically within about a 60 to 90 day period of time on
when the sentencing date will come. In the interim, hell be looked at and assessed in a couple ways. Theres a Presentence Investigation that will be done. There will be a Sexually Violent Predator Assessment that will be done and all of these are standard procedures in these types of cases. These assessments will then be used by the judge in determining the sentence and that sentencing hearing. Well have the opportunity to put evidence on as will the defense. The defendant may be facing years in prison. He was convicted of three counts of this, so technically that would be up to 30 years, however, we have to look at merger of those counts to determine what the final maximum
will be that he is facing. So in addition to jail time and i mentioned this because theres been some things that have been asked about it over time and you know, typically what is done in a case is that a defendant will be assessed and all of these things will be looked at in terms of a sentencing but when a sentencing occurs, theres also an assessment for the cost of prosecution. We expect that well be arguing that the cost associated with both the trials, the sequestration, the sheriffs costs for this will go to the defendant and i will be relying on Defense Counsels opening remarks in this when he was talking about 3. 38 million being a paltry sum or simply a
nuisance, so clearly the cost of prosecution in this matter should not be a problem for the defendant. Dolores, you wanted to Say Something here so let me get out of the way. Good afternoon. I know its going to be disappointing to you but i have the privilege of speaking for andrea and andrea will only will not be speaking today. Only i will. First of all, we have to thank the Montgomery County for doing what they have done, kevin, kristen, stuart and the many, many lawyers in the d. A. s office who have been diligent in bringing about this just result. I cant even begin to name all the people who have worked on this case. We also and im doing this on
behalf of myself and my cocounsel who unfortunately moved to philadelphia is probably stuck on the Schuylkill Expressway as we speak or she would also be here. We want to thank all the Police Officers who have dedicated themselves to this case. Detective reap, Sergeant Schaffer and the many others who are unnamed who all contributed to what has happened today. Most of all, i want to express on behalf, if i can, the gr gratitude of so many women that admire andrea for he