Does the evidence defend, or condemn him?

First, the total number of women who have accused Bill Cosby is over 50. Various sites report various amounts, but it is consistently above 50. That alone is staggering. Some say it is so many, some must be lying. I agree. There’s a good chance not all of the 50+ are telling the truth, some no doubt looking to gain exposure or money from this situation. Whether that applies to 1 or 49, does it matter though? 1 rape makes a rapist. 50 makes a serial rapist. The numbers matter. But I don’t assume 49 women are lying. I will not deny their right to be heard. Some may be lying, but that is not for me to discern when the evidence is stacked against Cosby.

In seeing opinions fly across the internet, I kept seeing people reference a deposition* from 2005 when Cosby stood accused by the same Andrea Constand of sexual assault. Our courts are open to the public for a reason, things go on record for a reason. A deposition isn’t hearsay, it isn’t blind accusations. It is the exact questions and answers given by Cosby, on the stand, under oath. I’ll be blunt, this deposition was damning. In it, Cosby acknowledged getting a prescription for Quaaludes, but that he did not intend to use them for himself. He said the drugs “made him sleepy”, and that he gave them to women he intended to sleep with. He likened it to buying a drink for a woman.

Buying a drink for a woman is a normal social act, however intentionally trying to get a woman drunk so that she cannot consent, then having sex with her is rape. Cosby acknowledged that the drugs made him “sleepy”, then gave them to women he wanted to have sex with. Sleepy from drugs, of course, is not the same as sleepy from exhaustion. The women claim he would offer them medicine for a headache, or other ailment, then woke up after having been sexually assaulted, not having given consent, and even if they had they were no longer conscious. He goes on in the deposition to say he only gave Andrea Constand Benadryll, then offered to pay for grad school for her, after she said all she wanted was an apology, and the name of the drug she was given.

That is a damning circumstance, multiple women with similar stories, and Bill Cosby’s own words stating he bought drugs and gave them to women he wanted to have sex with. The stories are not verbatim, but they carry dangerous similarities. Accusations aside, the predatory nature of giving women drugs to sleep with them is very questionable.  I have yet to see Dr. Cosby defend these actions, or deny them. Until then, I cannot stand behind him. The evidence is there to support their stories. We can watch how it plays out in court, but the deposition speaks volumes for me. Cosby has done nothing to prove the accusations wrong. I hope he does, but he has not and until then, I can only make logical conclusions based on the evidence presented.

 

Who is Bill Cosby, beyond his art?

            I planned on writing more about who Bill Cosby is as a person, in my eyes. About the Pound Cake Speech and his stereotypical patriarchal views. But we have Google. I’ll leave the personal opinions of him to you. The case against Cosby is about rape, not his disagreeable conservatism.

 

However, a man standing accused of drugging women to sleep with them, admitted to buying drugs to sleep with women on record in 2005. That speaks volumes. How we interpret the information, that speaks volumes as well.

 

“Even the sun goes down, heroes eventually die, horoscopes often lie, and sometimes why, nothing is for sure, nothing is for certain, nothing lasts forever.”

-Outkast, Aquemini

 

 

 

*http://deadspin.com/here-are-the-documents-bill-cosby-didnt-want-you-to-rea-1716083975