Bill Cosby found guilty of sexual assault

Bill Cosby was found guilty of sexual assault in his retrial in Norristown, Pennsylvania, on Thursday.
Cosby, 80, was found guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault for drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004.
The verdict came after a two-week retrial in which prosecutors put five other women on the stand who testified that Cosby drugged and assaulted them too.
Cosby faces up to 30 years in prison.

Bill Cosby was found guilty of sexual assault in his retrial in Norristown, Pennsylvania, on Thursday.

A jury found Cosby, 80, guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years. He is likely to get less than that under state sentencing guidelines, but given his age, even a modest term could mean he will spend the rest of his life behind bars.

A jury of seven men and five women deliberated for about 14 hours before delivering the verdict, which came less than a year after another trial ended in a deadlocked jury.

Cosby was convicted of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004, when she was an employee at Temple University. A lawyer for Cosby, who has claimed the encounter was consensual, called Constand a "con artist" who leveled false accusations against Cosby so she could sue him.

The verdict came after a two-week retrial in which prosecutors put five other women on the stand who testified that Cosby drugged and assaulted them too. During her testimony, one woman said through tears, "You remember, don't you, Mr. Cosby?"

Prosecutors used Cosby's past admissions about drugs and sex, as well as the testimony of the other women, to help bolster Constand's allegations.

It was the only criminal case to arise from allegations against Cosby from more than 60 women.

"The time for the defendant to escape justice is over," the prosecutor Stewart Ryan said in his closing argument. "It's finally time for the defendant to dine on the banquet of his own consequences."

Cosby left the courthouse following the conviction but was ordered to remain in the state. Prosecutors had pushed the judge to take Cosby into custody immediately, arguing that he was a flight risk because he owned a private plane.

Journalists at the trial reported that Cosby yelled in response: "He doesn't have a plane, you a--hole!"

Associated Press reporting by Michael R. Sisak and Claudia Lauer.