Lies My Teacher Told Me -
Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong
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Wednesday, 30 June 2021
quote [ Bill Cosby was released from prison Wednesday after Pennsylvania's highest court overturned his sexual assault conviction, saying the disgraced actor's due process rights were violated in the first major case of the #MeToo era. ]
yall ever just feel like fucking screaming?
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mechavolt said @ 2:00am GMT on 1st July
This is one of those things where I 100% agree with the ruling but still think it's fucked up and shouldn't have happened.
My understanding is that:
1) In 2005, the prosecutor publicly stated they would not prosecute Cosby. This was an intentional gambit to to not allow Cosby to plead the 5th in his civil case. If there was a guarantee of no prosecution, then admitting to his crimes would not be viewed as self incriminating, and thus he would be forced to give testimony in the civil case.
2) This is exactly what happened in the civil case. Cosby was not allowed to plead the 5th amendment, and had to testify.
3) A different prosecutor decided to use the testimony in the civil case as essential evidence in a new criminal trial. Based on the ruling from today, it seems that the assessment is that without this testimony, Cosby probably would not have been found guilty.
4) That makes the testimony he gave in the civil case self incriminating. But he was not allowed his 5th amendment rights then, and had to give it. Thus the most recent criminal trial violated his 5th amendment rights by using that testimony.
Everyone deserves their constitutional rights, even scumbags like Cosby. I'm just really disappointed that no matter what happened, he was essentially going to escape justice. If they didn't use the testimony, and he would have been found innocent. If they did use the testimony, he would be found guilty but let free from prison. There was never a scenario where he actually served the appropriate sentence.
mechavolt said @ 2:01am GMT on 1st July
This is one of those things where I 100% agree with the ruling but still think it's fucked up and shouldn't have happened.
My understanding is that:
1) In 2005, the prosecutor publicly stated they would not prosecute Cosby. This was an intentional gambit to to not allow Cosby to plead the 5th in his civil case. If there was a guarantee of no prosecution, then admitting to his crimes would not be viewed as self incriminating, and thus he would be forced to give testimony in the civil case.
2) This is exactly what happened in the civil case. Cosby was not allowed to plead the 5th amendment, and had to testify.
3) A different prosecutor decided to use the testimony in the civil case as essential evidence in a new criminal trial. Based on the ruling from today, it seems that the assessment is that without this testimony, Cosby probably would not have been found guilty.
4) That makes the testimony he gave in the civil case self incriminating. But he was not allowed his 5th amendment rights then, and had to give it. Thus the most recent criminal trial violated his 5th amendment rights by using that testimony.
Everyone deserves their constitutional rights, even scumbags like Cosby. I'm just really disappointed that no matter what happened, he was essentially going to escape justice. If they didn't use the testimony, he would have been found innocent. If they did use the testimony, he would be found guilty but let free from prison. There was never a scenario where he actually served the appropriate sentence.
<-- Entry / Current Comment
mechavolt said @ 2:00am GMT on 1st July [Score:2 Informative]
This is one of those things where I 100% agree with the ruling but still think it's fucked up and shouldn't have happened.
My understanding is that:
1) In 2005, the prosecutor publicly stated they would not prosecute Cosby. This was an intentional gambit to to not allow Cosby to plead the 5th in his civil case. If there was a guarantee of no prosecution, then admitting to his crimes would not be viewed as self incriminating, and thus he would be forced to give testimony in the civil case.
2) This is exactly what happened in the civil case. Cosby was not allowed to plead the 5th amendment, and had to testify.
3) A different prosecutor decided to use the testimony in the civil case as essential evidence in a new criminal trial. Based on the ruling from today, it seems that the assessment is that without this testimony, Cosby probably would not have been found guilty.
4) That makes the testimony he gave in the civil case self incriminating. But he was not allowed his 5th amendment rights then, and had to give it. Thus the most recent criminal trial violated his 5th amendment rights by using that testimony.
Everyone deserves their constitutional rights, even scumbags like Cosby. I'm just really disappointed that no matter what happened, he was essentially going to escape justice. If they didn't use the testimony, he would have been found innocent. If they did use the testimony, he would be found guilty but let free from prison. There was never a scenario where he actually served the appropriate sentence.
