美国国家公共电台 NPR Bill Cosby Found Guilty Of All Charges In Sexual Assault Retrial

 

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

Comedian¹ and entertainer Bill Cosby has been convicted on three counts of aggravated³ indecent assault.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

GLORIA ALLRED: Bill Cosby, three words for you - guilty, guilty, guilty.

CHANG: That was attorney Gloria Allred, who represents some of Cosby's accusers. It was a Pennsylvania jury who found Cosby guilty of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand at his home in 2004. More than 60 other women have also accused Cosby of sexual misconduct. Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele spoke⁴ to reporters after the verdict was read.

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KEVIN STEELE: What was revealed through this investigation⁵ was a man who had spent decades preying⁶ on women that he drugged and sexually assaulted and a man who had evaded⁷ this moment here today for far too long.

CHANG: This was Cosby's second trial on these charges. The first last summer ended with a deadlocked⁸ jury. Bobby Allyn from member station WHYY covered both trials, and he joins us now from the courthouse outside Philadelphia. Welcome.

BOBBY ALLYN, BYLINE⁹: Thanks for having me.

CHANG: So can you tell us what was it like in the courtroom when the verdict was read?

ALLYN: So right before the verdict was read, reporters got word, and you kind of knew just by looking at the steps to the courtroom because there was a mass rush to the courtroom. I mean, it was - throughout the trial, it's been maybe a quarter full. When this was announced, it was packed to the gills. So you get in there. It's really, really, really packed.

CHANG: Yeah.

ALLYN: You know, lawyers are walking around, whispering to each other. Finally the jury says, guilty on all three counts. And I look immediately at Andrea Constand, Cosby's main accuser, and she is stony¹⁰ faced, just looking straight ahead. Cosby similarly has not much of an expression. But then you hear this high-pitched piercing cry, and it was from one of Cosby's other accusers, Lili Bernard. And she was just so overcome with emotion that sheriff's deputies let her outside. And you could still hear her shrieks¹¹ from inside the courtroom.

CHANG: What were some of the pivotal moments in this trial? What stood out to you, as someone who's been watching this case for years now?

ALLYN: What's really been significant in this trial is the additional five women who confronted Bill Cosby for the first time in a criminal courtroom. Now, as you noted¹², there is more than 60 women who have accused Bill Cosby of sexual misconduct, but only one has gone to criminal trial - Andrea Constand.

Last time, one additional woman was able to take the stand. This time, there were five. So that gave the prosecution¹³ sort of more ammo this time around that they were able to say not only was one woman drugged and sexually assaulted by this man, but here are the harrowing stories of five others. And those moments were very dramatic.

At one point, an accuser locked eyes with Bill Cosby from the witness stand and said, Bill Cosby, you remember this, don't you? Another accuser said, I'm here because I want to convict a serial¹⁴ rapist. Those were her words from the witness stand. So I think the additional five women really played a very critical role this time around.

CHANG: What other differences were there between this second trial and the first trial?

ALLYN: One other big differences is the defense¹⁵ team and the strategy. Tom Mesereau, Michael Jackson's former attorney, led the defense this time around, and his main argument was the main accuser is a so-called con² artist who only wanted money from Cosby all along. And he pointed¹⁶ as evidence a $3.4 million civil settlement that Cosby paid out to her a year after the alleged¹⁷ assault. So they were trying to frame her as a desperate person who was always after Cosby's money. And that last time, the money amount of the settlement never came out at all.

So it's that in addition to how aggressive the defense team was. I mean, it's been described as a kind of scorched-earth kind of line of attack - I mean, really, really shattering, trying to shatter the credibility of the accusers, going after the judge at one point, trying to get the judge kicked off the case. I mean, they really went all out to be really, extremely aggressive. And some legal observers said they kind of had to in the #MeToo era.

CHANG: And Cosby's lawyers have already announced that they will be appealing.

ALLYN: That's correct. Cosby's lawyer's said quote, "the fight is not over." They plan to appeal very quickly. I just asked Kevin Steele, the district attorney, whether he's ready for an appeal. And he pointed at his assistants and said, you know, we're ready for it. We're ready to stand by these guilty convictions.

CHANG: All right, that's Bobby Allyn from WHYY. Thank you very much.

ALLYN: Hey, thanks for having me.

(SOUNDBITE OF EMANCIPATOR'S "NATURAL CAUSE")

1 comedian   

n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员

参考例句：

• The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
• The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。

2 con   

n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的

参考例句：

• We must be fair and consider the reason pro and con.我们必须公平考虑赞成和反对的理由。
• The motion is adopted non con.因无人投反对票，协议被通过。

3 aggravated   

使恶化( aggravate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使更严重； 激怒； 使恼火

参考例句：

• If he aggravated me any more I shall hit him. 假如他再激怒我，我就要揍他。
• Far from relieving my cough, the medicine aggravated it. 这药非但不镇咳，反而使我咳嗽得更厉害。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

6 preying   

v.掠食( prey的现在分词 )；掠食；折磨；（人）靠欺诈为生

参考例句：

• This problem has been preying on my mind all day. 这个问题让我伤了整整一天脑筋。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• For a while he let his eyes idly follow the preying bird. 他自己的眼睛随着寻食的鸟毫无目的地看了一会儿。 来自辞典例句

7 evaded   

逃避( evade的过去式和过去分词 )； 避开； 回避； 想不出

参考例句：

• For two weeks they evaded the press. 他们有两周一直避而不见记者。
• The lion evaded the hunter. 那狮子躲开了猎人。

8 deadlocked   

陷入僵局的；僵持不下的

参考例句：

• The plan deadlocked over the funds. 这个计划由于经费问题而搁浅了。
• The meeting deadlocked over the wage issue. 会议因工资问题而停顿下来。

9 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

10 stony   

adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的

参考例句：

• The ground is too dry and stony.这块地太干，而且布满了石头。
• He listened to her story with a stony expression.他带着冷漠的表情听她讲经历。

11 shrieks   

n.尖叫声( shriek的名词复数 )v.尖叫( shriek的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• shrieks of fiendish laughter 恶魔般的尖笑声
• For years, from newspapers, broadcasts, the stages and at meetings, we had heard nothing but grandiloquent rhetoric delivered with shouts and shrieks that deafened the ears. 多少年来， 报纸上， 广播里， 舞台上， 会场上的声嘶力竭，装腔做态的高调搞得我们震耳欲聋。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

13 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

14 serial   

n.连本影片，连本电视节目；adj.连续的

参考例句：

• A new serial is starting on television tonight.今晚电视开播一部新的电视连续剧。
• Can you account for the serial failures in our experiment?你能解释我们实验屡屡失败的原因吗？

15 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

16 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

17 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为