It was the first celebrity trial and first guilty verdict for sexual assault since the advent of the #MeToo movement. An earlier trial in June 2017 ended in a mistrial after the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict. Although more than 60 women charged that they had been victims of sexual assault by Cosby, he was tried criminally only for Constand's assault, since the statute of limitations had expired in the other cases. He lost an earlier appeal in December when a court ruled that the prosecution's evidence had established Cosby's "unique sexual assault playbook." Ex-movie mogul Harvey Weinstein was convicted of rape and sexual assault earlier this year with the help of "prior bad acts" witnesses.

Source: Daily Nation August 13, 2020 06:56 UTC