Kavanaugh's third accuser

Julie Swetnick is the third woman to publicly accuse Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct.  Swetnick's allegations have been treated less seriously than accusations against Kavanaugh from two other women: Christine Blasey Ford and Deborah Ramirez. Swetnick's lawyer, Michael Avenatti, demanded she be interviewed by the FBI as part of an investigation into the allegations against Kavanaugh.

In a sworn declaration released last week, Swetnick claimed she was gang raped at a high school party that Kavanaugh and his friend, Mark Judge, attended in the 1980s. She also accused Kavanaugh and Judge of sexual misconduct at other parties.
Swetnick's allegations have been treated less seriously than accusations against Kavanaugh from two other women: Christine Blasey Ford and Deborah Ramirez.

Who is Julie Swetnick?

In her sworn declaration, Swetnick identified herself as a resident of Washington, DC.
Swetnick, 55, graduated from Gaithersburg High School in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and attended Montgomery College, a community college in the area, according to The Washington Post.
She's the child of government bureaucrats. Her father worked on the lunar orbiter for NASA and her mother was a geologist at the Atomic Energy Commission, The Post reported.
Swetnick is a web developer and has held multiple security clearances doing work for various government agencies.
 
What we know about Swetnick's allegations against Kavanaugh

Swetnick's sworn declaration, which was made public by her attorney Michael Avenatti, says she attended "well over" 10 parties where Kavanaugh and Judge were present during the early 1980s.
She claims she saw both men "consistently engage in excessive drinking and inappropriate contact of a sexual nature with women" at these parties.

"I also witnessed efforts by Mark Judge, Brett Kavanaugh and others to cause girls to become inebriated and disoriented so they could then be 'gang raped' in a side room or bedroom by a 'train' of numerous boys. I have a firm recollection of seeing boys lined up outside rooms and many of these parties waiting for their 'turn' with a girl inside the room. These boys included Mark Judge and Brett Kavanaugh," Swetnick states in the declaration.
Swetnick also claimed she "became the victim of one of these 'gang' or 'train' rapes where Mark Judge and Brett Kavanaugh were present," though she did not explicitly accuse either of them of raping her.

Elisabeth Rasor, an ex-girlfriend of Mark Judge, told The New Yorker that Judge once confessed to "an incident that involved him and other boys taking turns having sex with a drunk woman."
Judge, who is also accused of being involved in Kavanaugh's alleged assault of Christine Blasey Ford, a California professor, seemed to believe the incident was consensual, Rasor said. But some have taken this as corroborative evidence of Swetnick's allegations. Kavanaugh and Judge have both vehemently denied Swetnick's allegations.

Questions arise about her allegations

Statements Swetnick made in an interview on Monday have raised questions about her allegations, and she appeared to walk back some of her initial claims. In her sworn declaration, Swetnick claimed she was "aware" of "efforts" from Kavanaugh, Judge, and others to spike drinks with drugs "and/or" grain alcohol so they would "lose their inhibitions" and their ability to say "no."
When asked by NBC's Kate Snow if she directly saw Kavanaugh or Judge spike drinks, she said "around the punch containers" and had seen him "giving red cups to quite a few girls during that time frame."
"I don't know what he did. But I saw him by them, yes," Swetnick said.

On Tuesday, a letter written by a former TV weatherman named Dennis Ketterer that made claims about Swetnick's alleged sexual preferences was released by Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee in what was widely viewed by critics as an effort to undermine her allegations.
Responding to the letter, Avenatti tweeted, "The letter from Dennis Ketterer is garbage - the GOP is desperate. The allegations he makes are false and without any basis."
—Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) October 2, 2018

Swetnick's credibility has also been called into question due to the fact she's been involved in at least six lawsuits over the past quarter century, including one in which a former employee accused her of falsifying her college and work history on her job application. The suit was ultimately dismissed.
Moreover, an ex-boyfriend of Swetnick's, Richard Vinneccy, has also said she's not credible and claims he filed a restraining order against her in 2001. But records show the suit was dismissed two weeks after he filed a petition for the order.
During her recent interview with NBC, Swetnick said of Vinneccy's claims, "That is absolutely preposterous, and honestly, I never received a restraining order."
Swetnick has been excluded from an FBI investigation into allegations against Kavanaugh

After Ford and Kavanaugh delivered dramatic, emotional testimony on her allegations before the Senate Judiciary Committee last Thursday, the White House authorized an FBI investigation into the matter to be completed prior to a Senate floor vote on Kavanaugh's nomination.
The FBI investigation concluded on Wednesday and the White House received a report from investigators. The report was passed on to senators on Thursday morning for review.

Swetnick was not contacted by the FBI, a fact Avenatti has been highly critical of. He said on Monday that the investigation is a "farce" being run by President Donald Trump and claimed the White House and Republicans are "afraid" of what Swetnick might say.
Avenatti also rejected the notion that her claims cannot be corroborated and on Wednesday tweeted a declaration from another women he said "confirms a number of Ms. Swetnick's claims."
"These women deserve to be heard & interviewed by the FBI before any vote on the nomination," Avenatti added.

Judge, who is also accused of being involved in the alleged assault of Ford, was interviewed.
Ramirez, who accuses Kavanaugh of shoving his penis in her face at a party when they were both at Yale University, has also been interviewed, among others with potentially relevant knowledge about the allegations the Supreme Court nominee faces.

But Kavanaugh and Ford were not interviewed, a fact that has led to criticism from Democrats who have noted that Trump said he wanted the investigation to be "comprehensive."
Critics, particularly Avenatti, feel the FBI investigation was not extensive enough.

On Thursday morning, Avenatti tweeted, "The FBI investigation was no investigation at all. [President Donald Trump], [Sen. Mitch McConnell], and [Sen. Chuck Grassley] ensured that numerous key witnesses, including six very damaging witnesses I am aware of, were never even interviewed. Their conduct is a disgrace - they never wanted the truth."

Meanwhile, the president tweeted that that the treatment of Kavanaugh as "harsh" and "unfair" and described the allegations against him as "uncorroborated."

Cosby ... Life in Prison



 

© Jacqueline Larma/AP/REX/Shutterstock Bill Cosby is escorted out of the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in Eagleville, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 25, 2018, after he was sentenced to three to 10 years in state prison for sexual assault.

Just days after Bill Cosby was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison for drugging and sexually assaulting a woman in his home 14 years ago, new details are emerging about the sex offender treatment he'll receive while he's behind bars.

Judge Steven O'Neill branded the disgraced comedian, 81, a "sexually violent predator" during his sentencing on Sept. 25 and ordered him to immediately be incarcerated in a Pennsylvania state prison.

During his first few weeks as inmate NN7687, prison officials confirm Cosby -- who's being housed in his own cell near the infirmary -- will be meeting with medical, psychological and records staff as he's evaluated so that, they can "determine the extent of his sex offender treatment."

The program he'll be assigned to is called "Responsible Living: A Sex Offender Treatment Program," TMZ explains, and while it's something all convicted sex offenders must go through, how far into the program Cosby gets depends on how much of a danger experts decide he poses.

 

© Pennsylvania Department of Corrections / Uncredited/AP/REX/Shutterstock This photo provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections shows Bill Cosby in a booking photo taken after he was transferred to a state prison in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, after being sentenced to three to 10 years for sexual assault on Sept. 25, 2018.

The program has seven phases, Phase 1: Responsibility taking; Phase 2: Behavioral techniques; Phase 3: Emotional well-being; Phase 4: Victim empathy; Phase 5: Anger management; Phase 6: Sex education; Phase 7: Relapse prevention.

"According to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, Cosby will go through an evaluation process to determine what category of risk he falls in and what sort of treatment is deemed fit in the state sex offender program," explaining that the comedian -- who maintains his innocence despite dozens of women's claims that he raped or sexually assaulted them over the decades, many say after he incapacitated them with drugs -- could end up completing just a few steps.
"If he falls into a moderate-high or a high-risk category, he'll have to complete all seven phases of the sex offender program".
"If he falls into a low or low-moderate risk category, he's just required to knock out 'Responsibility taking,' 'Sex education' and 'Relapse prevention.'"

 

© Montgomery County Correctional Facility / Uncredited/AP/REX/Shutterstock This booking photo provided by the Montgomery County Correctional Facility shows Bill Cosby on Sept. 25, 2018

Cosby is so far serving his sentence at Pennsylvania State Correctional Institution Phoenix in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, a 3,830-bed facility that houses some of the state's most violent offenders. The state-of-the-art prison is brand new and only opened in July. Officials could determine that he should be transferred to a different facility at a later date.

Though Cosby, who's legally blind, is currently in a cell on his own, Corrections Secretary John Wetzel explained in a press release that "the long-term goal is for him to be placed in the general population to receive the programming required during his incarceration."

Cosby was convicted in an April retrial of three counts of aggravated indecent assault against Andrea Constand. Sixty women came forward to recount their sexual assaults by Cosby. The 'statute of limitations' precluded him from being charged in almost all cases.
 Cosby's wife Camille and their children were conspicuously absent from his sentencing. Camille has been by his side all the way through his trial but seems to have abandoned him since his conviction.

Gee, maybe your hopes are about to be dashed Mr Trump.... Sen. Flake opts for fair play

Trump Agrees to Open ‘Limited’ F.B.I. Investigation Into Accusations Against Kavanaugh

 Senator Jeff Flake has asked for a one-week delay before the full Senate holds a vote to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh so that the F.B.I. could investigate allegations against him of sexual assault.

President Trump, ceding to a request from Senate Republican leaders facing an insurrection in their ranks, ordered the F.B.I. on Friday to reopen a background investigation of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, his nominee to the Supreme Court, and examine the allegations of sexual assault that have been made against him.

The announcement plunged Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination into new turmoil after a tumultuous week on Capitol Hill, and will delay, by as much as a week, a final confirmation vote. It came only 24 hours after the judge and one of his accusers, Christine Blasey Ford, each gave emotional testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee that led many Republicans to think Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation was inevitable.

Republican leaders had little choice but to ask Mr. Trump to order the F.B.I. inquiry after Senator Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona, first announced he was supporting Judge Kavanaugh, and then, in a stunning reversal, said he would not vote to confirm him without an F.B.I. investigation first. With a handful of allies in a closely divided Senate, Mr. Flake, a conservative but an outspoken critic of the president, could determine the future of the Kavanaugh nomination, and that gave him leverage over Senate Republicans as well as the president.

“We ought to do what we can to make sure we do all due diligence with a nomination this important,” Mr. Flake told his colleagues on the Judiciary Committee after extracting a promise from Republican leaders to delay the final vote on the nomination until after the F.B.I. investigation. “This country is being ripped apart here.”

Mr. Trump, who had hoped Judge Kavanaugh would be sworn in by the time the Supreme Court opens its next term on Monday, said he was ordering the F.B.I. to conduct what he called a “supplemental” investigation that he said “must be limited in scope and completed in less than a week,” as the Republican Senate leadership had asked for.

The F.B.I. has already completed a background check on Mr. Kavanaugh, and it is unclear what the parameters of the new inquiry would be. But according to a person familiar with the matter, the allegations made by Deborah Ramirez, a former Yale classmate of Judge Kavanaugh’s, will be investigated along with those made by Dr. Blasey.

Judge Kavanaugh said in a statement on Friday that he would continue to cooperate with investigators to clear his name. Debra S. Katz, a lawyer for Dr. Blasey, said her client welcomed the development but not the “artificial limits” imposed by senators. Mark Judge, a friend of Judge Kavanaugh’s identified by Dr. Blasey and another accuser at the scene of the episodes, said through a lawyer that he would cooperate with investigators.

The delay cast a cloud over what Republicans expected to be a triumphant day, but they still had reason to be optimistic: Despite adamant Democratic opposition, they were able to muscle the

nomination through the Judiciary Committee with an 11-to-10 vote and send it to the full Senate with a favorable recommendation.

 



 

Mr. Flake had already announced his intention to vote in favor of Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation on Friday morning when, on his way to the committee meeting room, he was confronted by protesters who tearfully told him that they had been sexually assaulted. Then, after the committee chairman, Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, set a 1:30 p.m. vote, he began to waver, and retreated into an anteroom with colleagues of both parties.

After nearly an hour of hushed conversations, as well as calls to law enforcement officials and other undecided Republicans, Mr. Flake emerged to ask for an investigation that would be “limited in time and scope to the current allegations that are there,” siding with Democrats who have repeatedly requested an inquiry.

With that stipulation, the committee quickly voted along party lines to recommend to the full Senate that Judge Kavanaugh be confirmed.

Bill Cosby sentenced to 3 to 10 years in state prison for 2004 sexual assault

 By JESSICA SCHLADEBECK  and NANCY DILLON
| NEW YORK DAILY NEWS |        SEP 25, 2018 
Bill Cosby was sentenced to three-to 10-years for sexual assault on Sept. 25, 2018. (Montgomery County Correctional Facility via AP)

Disgraced pudding pop pitchman Bill Cosby finally got his just desserts.

Judge Steven T. O’Neill on Tuesday sentenced the fallen funnyman to three to 10 years in state prison for drugging and sexually assaulting former Temple University staffer Andrea Constand nearly 15 years ago.

Cosby, 81, removed his tie and cufflinks and was escorted from the Montgomery County District Courthouse in handcuffs after the judge denied him bail.

“It’s time for justice,” O’Neill said. “Mr. Cosby, this has all circled back to you. The time has come.”

Prosecutors had asked for a term of five to 10 years, arguing the man once revered as “America’s Dad” showed no remorse for his actions. Cosby’s legal team requested house arrest, arguing Cosby is now legally blind and poses no risk to the community.

P.J. Masten — who came forward in 2014 to accuse Cosby of drugging and raping her in 1979, when she worked as a Bunny manager at the Playboy Club in Chicago — said she was overcome with emotion when she heard the sentence.

“First I screamed, and then I just started to cry,” Masten told the Daily News in a phone interview.

“He’s done. He can’t hurt anybody else ever again. I’m just so relieved it’s finally over,” she said. “I just hope he suffers in prison. His survivors have suffered for more than 40 years. It’s now his turn to suffer and see what it feels like. We’ve had attempted suicides, hospital stays, ongoing therapy. We’ve been attacked and spit on. It’s been horrific.”

Fellow accuser Jennifer Kaya Thompson, 47, expressed shock Cosby got close to what prosecutors wanted and could spend a decade behind bars.

“I was just so surprised. It’s been so many years, I didn’t think it would actually happen. I expected him to get away with it,” Thompson told The News.

“I didn’t think people would be able to wake up, collectively. So it’s really rewarding on many levels. It’s a sign our society is healing. It really affirms we do care, and just because a person has money, status, fame and knows how to bully people, that doesn’t mean they will come out ahead,” she said.

Thompson was a 17-year-old model when she met Cosby in 1988 with the hope of landing a role on “The Cosby Show.”

She stepped forward as a Jane Doe witness for Constand during her 2005 civil lawsuit and later went public with claims the powerful comedian made unwanted sexual advances and manipulated her into performing a sex act at his New York residence that caused her lasting trauma.

“The damage he caused was to his victims as well as their families and loved ones. It robbed us of many of our hopes and dreams. It’s a complex sort of victimhood,” Thompson said.

O’Neill on Tuesday also declared Cosby to be a “sexually violent predator,” a designation that requires the former comedian to submit to counseling for the remainder of his life. The label had no impact on the length of Cosby’s sentence.

Cosby’s publicist, Andrew Wyatt, gave a withering statement after the sentencing, calling Cosby’s legal proceedings “the most racist and sexist trial in the history of the United States.”

He said Cosby was the victim of a “sex war,” and compared him to U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who’s now battling separate accusations of decades-old sexual misconduct.

Former Playboy bunny P.J. Masten stepped forward to say Bill Cosby drugged and raped her. Here, they are pictured together.
Former Playboy bunny P.J. Masten stepped forward to say Bill Cosby drugged and raped her. Here, they are pictured together. (Courtesy PJ Masten /)

Constand, 45, offered a much different account during emotional and often excruciating testimony at Cosby's first trial in June 2017, which ended with a deadlocked jury, and again at his retrial five months ago.

The former head of women’s basketball operations at Cosby’s alma mater, said she considered the actor a mentor and father figure the night he offered her three unidentified blue pills he referred to as “your friends” during a meeting to discuss her career.

She thought the pills were herbal remedies for stress, she testified, and was stunned and confused when they caused her words to slur, her vision to blur and her legs to turn rubbery.

Constand told the jurors she felt powerless as Cosby groped her breasts, penetrated her with his fingers and masturbated himself with her hand.

“I wanted it to stop,” she said on the witness stand in April. “I was weak. I was limp, and I could not fight him off.”

While Cosby’s first jury failed to reach a verdict after marathon deliberations, his second jury of five women and seven men returned a unanimous verdict after a 12-day trial that included new testimony from five additional accusers, including former supermodel Janice Dickinson.

“The harrowing memory of the rape continues to this day. I have reoccurring nightmares, I wake up in fear, I fear the dark. I struggle to discuss this even with my beloved husband of 6 years,” Dickinson said in a statement Tuesday, adding that she “will never be the same.”

During a press conference after the sentencing, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said Cosby not only used his on-screen personality to manipulate women, but that he also used it as a shield to hide behind.

“It was a seminal character on TV, and so was the family, but it was fiction,” he said.

“Before Bill Cosby became a convicted felon taken away in handcuffs to begin paying for his crimes, a lot of people believed that’s who he was,” Steele said. “He used his acting skills and endearing TV personality to win over his victims and then keep them silent about what he did to them.”

Cosby was held under house with an electronic monitor between his conviction and sentencing. On Tuesday, he returned to court for the second and final day of his sentencing sporting a small grin as he shuffled past both fans and protesters gathering outside.

“We’re right here with you, Bill! Hold your head up,” a man nearby shouted as dozens more called out to the convicted felon.

Cosby was granted an opportunity to speak on his own behalf Tuesday but declined.

“I don’t need any more discussion on that,” he said.

Pennsylvania’s Sexual Offenders Assessment Board had already recommended Cosby be designated a “sexually violent predator.” Psychologist and board member Kristen Dudley on Monday testified that she believes Cosby experiences uncontrollable urges to violate young women.

Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele echoed the sentiment, saying he believed Cosby would commit more crimes given the chance.

“To say that he is too old to do that — to say that he should get a pass because it’s taken this long to catch up to what he’s done?” Steele said. “What they’re asking for is a ‘get out of jail free’ card.”

Cosby’s defense team balked at the label.

“The suggestion that Mr. Cosby is dangerous is not supported by anything other than the frenzy,” defense lawyer Joseph Green Jr. said.

Under Pennsylvania law, Cosby will have to serve the minimum three years before he can be eligible for parole.

Andrea Constand at Cosby's sentencing hearing on Monday, Sept. 24, 2018. He was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison on Tuesday.
Andrea Constand at Cosby's sentencing hearing on Monday, Sept. 24, 2018. He was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison on Tuesday. (David Maialetti/AP / AP)

“They persecuted Jesus and look what happened,” Wyatt said, reading his statement outside the courthouse. “Mr. Cosby is fine. He’s holding up well. Anyone who wants to say anything negative, you’re a joke as well."

Cosby in April was convicted on three counts of aggravated indecent assault for drugging and molesting Constand in 2004 at his home just outside Philadelphia. She reported the incident to police in 2005 but the district attorney at the time did not press charges — so she brought a civil suit against the actor.

In the years since, Cosby has been accused of sexual assault by more than 60 women, prompting officials to reexamine the case. His once family-friendly reputation, sparked by his portrayal of the lovable Dr. Cliff Huxtable in the 1980s sitcom,”The Cosby Show,” eclipsed by the slew of allegations.

“We may never know the full extent of his double life as a sexual predator but his decades-long reign of terror as a serial rapist is over,” Constand said in a victim impact statement released Tuesday.

“I have often asked myself why the burden of being the sole witness in two criminal trials had to fall to me. The pressure was enormous. I knew that how my testimony was perceived — that how I was perceived — would have an impact on every member of the jury and on the future mental and emotional well-being of every sexual assault victim who came before me. But I had to testify.”

Cosby was first charged back in December 2015, just days before the 12-year statute of limitations on the crime ran out. He pleaded not guilty, claiming that Constand was a willing sexual partner. His lawyers were quick to brand her as a “con artist” who framed the comedian for the money, pointing to the $3.4 million settlement she received a decade back.

Therese Serignese was another one of the Jane Doe witnesses for Constand during her civil case and attended the sentencing hearing Tuesday.

“It’s been a long road,” she told The News by phone as she shared the victim impact statement she addressed directly to Cosby.

“I was full of young life, hope, optimism and trust. I was impressionable. I was naïve, and I had my whole life ahead of me. You showed callous disregard for my wellbeing and safety. With your damaging and criminal actions that day, you stole my trust, my body and my belief that good things happen,” she said in the emotional statement.

Serignese was a recent high school graduate when she met Cosby in Las Vegas in 1976. He admitted in a 2005 deposition that he gave her the now-banned sedative Quaaludes then had sexual relations with her.

“You, with premeditation, incapacitated me and then violated me and took away my dignity,” she said. “Your actions of drug-facilitated sexual assault/rape have caused me lifelong harm.”

Bill Cosby prosecutor seeks 5 to 10 years in prison

Variety        EMILIE LOUNSBERRY         Sep 24th 2018
 NORRISTOWN, Pa. — A prosecutor urged the judge in Bill Cosby’s sexual abuse case on Monday to sentence the disgraced entertainer to five to 10 years behind bars, while Cosby’s defense lawyer said incarceration would be an “excessive hardship” for the man once known as America’s Dad.

Montgomery County Judge Steven T. O’Neill is poised to impose the sentence sometime Tuesday after hearing one defense witness and then deciding whether Cosby should be declared a “sexually violent predator” — a designation that would subject him to a lifetime of registering as a sex offender.

Cosby, 81, was found guilty in April of three counts of aggravated indecent assault for molesting Andrea Constand, a former operations manager for the women’s basketball team at Temple University, where Cosby was an enthusiastic supporter and major donor.

He had been facing a maximum of 30 years in prison, but O’Neill announced in court on Monday that the prosecution and the defense had agreed that two of the three counts should be merged into one charge, leaving Cosby exposed to a maximum of 10 years in state prison.

Cosby is the first celebrity to be sentenced in the heated atmosphere of the #MeToo movement amid a growing cultural awareness of the impact of sexual abuse everywhere from Hollywood to Washington D.C., to the highest echelons of the media world to the Catholic Church.

Dozens of women have accused Cosby of sexual assault, but Constand’s allegation was the only one that became the subject of a criminal case.   She was present in court on Monday, as were a number of the other women who have contended Cosby assaulted them.

Cosby has denied assaulting Constand and claims their sexual encounter was consensual. He is expected to appeal his conviction. He will have an opportunity to address O’Neill before the sentence is imposed.

While Constand’s father, mother, sister, and the chief prosecutor all gave detailed statements in court, Constand herself spoke just briefly. She made her point — and then walked silently back to her seat in the packed courtroom.

“The jury heard me. Mr. Cosby heard me. And now, all I am asking for is justice as the court sees fit,” said Constand.

State sentencing guidelines call for a range of between 22 and 36 months of confinement for Cosby, with leeway of up to 12 months upward or downward, depending on whether the judge finds aggravating or mitigating factors. O’Neill is not bound by the guidelines and could decide on virtually any sentence.

The key questions include whether any prison sentence would be so long that it would essentially mean that Cosby will spend the rest of his life behind bars, and whether he will have to begin serving any sentence immediately or be allowed to remain under house arrest pending the outcome of an appeal.

Constand had testified that the assault took place at Cosby’s home in Montgomery County, just outside of Philadelphia, in early 2004. She said Cosby gave her three pills she thought were an herbal relaxant and took them because she trusted him. Then, she said, she became incapacitated and felt his fingers inside of her, but “couldn’t fight him off.”

Asking the judge to impose the maximum sentence, District Attorney Kevin Steele said state prison was the appropriate place for Cosby, not house arrest at his suburban Philadelphia home or even in the county jail.

“What they’re asking for is a get-out-of-jail free card,” Steele said of the defense.

Steele said the state Department of Corrections has a prison just for older inmates, and that Cosby wouldn’t even be the oldest.

“The bottom line, your honor, is that nobody’s above the law — nobody,” said Steele.

Cosby appeared in court with a new team of defense lawyers, Joseph P. Green Jr. and appellate specialist Peter Goldberger, and as usual, walked into court on the arm of his publicist, Andrew Wyatt.

Green said the 81-year-old Cosby is legally blind, has no prior record, and could become an extortion victim in prison. “Incarceration would impose on him excessive hardship,” said Green.

The defense lawyer disputed efforts by prosecutors to persuade O’Neill to declare Cosby a sexually violent predator.

Such a designation would subject Cosby to registration as a sex offender and would require that he receive counseling. O’Neill is required to decide the issue before announcing a sentence.

Green rejected the prosecution’s contention that Cosby is dangerous.

“Mr. Cosby is not dangerous,” said Green. “Eighty-one-year-old blind men who are not self-sufficient are not dangerous, except to perhaps themselves.”

Green said the entertainer grew up in North Philadelphia and endured hardships as a youth. He went into the Navy and then attended Temple on a scholarship and decided to become a teacher before he learned that he had a knack for making people laugh, the defense lawyer told the judge.

Green said mitigating factors include Cosby’s advanced age, his blindness, and the unlikely prospect of any recurrence of the conduct at issue in the case.

In an apparent reference to the #MeToo movement, Green reminded O’Neill that a court of law is much different than a court of public opinion where public relations and protests may dominate the public square.

“The court of public opinion is governed by its own rules,” said Green.

Let's hear from Witchy :

As predicted, the man has money....therefore, his sentence will be reduced.  Different levels of consequences for the same crime depending on:  wealth status, political party allegiance, profession, sex, race, state and level of fame.  That said, there was a time when the USA was different (and better) than other countries due to our equal justice system.  Today, even free speech is in jeopardy here in the USA.
Courts should fine Cosby 90% of his wealth and assets and liquidate them  give that money to his victims.  No justice if his defense is that he got away with being a serial rapist until his 80's. Should be in jail as soon as sentence is set. No house arrest pending appeal. He lives in a mansion and the appeal could take years. He needs punishment now.
Cosby's not normal and therefore, I believe he doesn't have a conscience like other people. He's living in luxury and not suffering so he needs to go to prison and fulfill his full sentence which I hope is a lengthy one.

Now ain't  this sentencing a 'BITCH.' HeHe

Stay tuned to    "As The Stomach Turns'

2 Powerful Tornados Strike Canadian Capitol

X

Parts of Canada’s national capital were still reeling Saturday after a powerful tornado carved paths of destruction through residential neighborhoods – snapping huge trees, tossing cars and obliterating homes along its way.

The tornado inflicted heavy damage late Friday as it churned across pockets of Ottawa’s west and south ends, as well as densely populated sections of the neighboring Quebec city of Gatineau.

The storm’s bite continued to be felt across a wide swath of the region many hours later, with more than 150,000 customers still without power Saturday afternoon. Hydro Ottawa CEO Bryce Conrad compared the magnitude of the damage to the power grid to the debilitating ice storm of 1998.

The human toll was also significant. Authorities said dozens of people suffered injuries, however there were no reports of fatalities or of missing people.

The Ottawa Hospital tweeted that two people were in critical condition, one was in serious condition and two others were stable. Officials established shelters for those who couldn’t return home and they said crisis counselling would be available.

On the north side of the Ottawa River, Gatineau Mayor Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin said more than 700 of his citizens were impacted by the storm and about 100 people took refuge in a shelter Friday night at a local college. More than 215 buildings suffered damage or were destroyed in his city – affecting a total of 1,686 housing units, he added.

In areas lashed by the tornado, scenes of the havoc were everywhere. The winds tore the roofs from numerous large buildings, bounced large sections of metal bleachers across soccer fields, knocked over hydro poles and cracked thick trees like twigs.  
   

Much of Dunrobin, a semi-rural community about 35 kilometres west of downtown Ottawa, remained cordoned off by police Saturday afternoon after a second tornado touched down.

“It looked like it was something from a movie scene or a war scene,” Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson told reporters Saturday recalling what he saw in the area of Dunrobin, where buildings were wiped out or partially destroyed.

“Literally, it looks like some bomb was dropped from the air.”

It was eerily quiet inside the police perimeter of one of Dunrobin’s most-damaged neighbourhoods – and only a few trees were still standing. Personal items were strewn everywhere – a baby blanket, a life jacket, mattresses, lawn mowers, a fridge, a kitchen sink lying on the grass and even a love seat wrapped around a telephone pole.

A car, windows shattered, lay on its side in front of a house. Fluffy, pink insulation – sucked out of ravaged homes – covered the neighborhood.

Looking at one house, the blue sky could be seen through an open door. Its roof had vanished.

 

Some houses had nothing left at all and lay flat on the ground, covering their vehicles.

Officials warned people not to re-enter their homes until they had been deemed safe as firefighters went door-to-door to determine whether structures were still sound. In Dunrobin, authorities said many buildings that had emerged from the tornado partially intact would likely have to be torn down.

Conrad informed people in the Ottawa area to brace for a multi-day power outage following what he described as a “cascading failure” of hydro resources.

“Last night’s storm was devastating to our electrical infrastructure, arguably as bad if not worse than the ice storm in 1998,” Conrad told reporters.

He said there were 200 separate outages across the Hydro Ottawa network and 147,000 customers without power. Hydro Ottawa only serves some of the people left without power because of the tornado.

Environment Canada confirmed Saturday that indeed a tornado struck the capital region. Meteorologist Simon Legault said there was evidence of powerful winds around 220 kilometres per hour, which would correspond with an EF2 category tornado.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he would be visiting the Ottawa area on Sunday to commiserate and offer support. We are all waiting to see how much the Ontario Government will help because extreme weather events are becoming more frequent in our province.



We know why they are rushing this confirmation