On Tuesday, June 21, a civil jury found historical stand up comedian known as ‘America’s Dad’ , Bill Cosby; guilty of sexually abusing (then), 16 year old Judy Huth back in 1975. Cosby’s team responded that the jury’s findings were “an astonishing victory.”
Confusing, right? Right. Calling a sex crime a ‘win’ of some sorts, or even victorious seems backhanded; to say the least.
“Yesterday actor and comedian Bill Cosby was awarded an astonishing victory by jurors in a civil trial brought by Judy Huth”, a statement from Cosby’s team member, Andrew Wyatt. He continues to read the statement aloud, “The jurors decided to grant Judy Huth with a $500,000 verdict but voted 9-3 in favor of not rewarding Ms. Huth any punitive damages.”
variety
What Are Punitive Damages You Ask?
Well, punitive damages are compensation that goes above the simple compensation. Basically, damages that highlight purposeful wrongdoing to harm another. So in other words, Ms. Huth was ordered the $500k and will not be able to seek any other compensation from Bill Cosby. And it could be because of the length of time that has passed since the alleged crime took place in 1975. Which doesn’t take away from the fact that it was still a crime and it was still wrong, no matter when it happened. Let’s just be clear on that.
Nonetheless, Huth’s attorney’s and women’s rights activist Gloria Allred pushed back on the verdict, saying “Bill Cosby should be held and was held accountable for what he did to her.”
“Mr. Cosbys spokesperson appears to be trying to snatch victory from the jaws of Mr. Cosby’s significant defeat”, Allred told Variety. “Ms. Huth has no legal bills for fees with my law firm. The $3 million legal bill that Mr. Wyatt cited appears to be a figment of his imagination. In the alternative, it may be that the $3 million amount is what Mr. Cosby had to spend to hire countless lawyers over the years in his unsuccessful effort to defend himself from Ms. Huth’s lawsuit.”
variety
Bill Cosby Claims Two Jurors Told Him He Didn’t Deserve To Be In That Courtroom
In the pudding pop advocate’s statement, he claimed that two of the jurors who voted in his favor told him”You didn’t deserve to be in this court.” Additionally, Cosby’s statement said that the jurors “did not agree with the majority of the jury on questions regarding Cosby’s conduct to be harmful or sexually offensive.”
“Mr. Cosby along with his team has always remained steadfast in his innocence and we never played in the sewer nor gutter; but most importantly, we stayed on the mountain top of ethics, integrity, truth and facts,”Cosby’s spokesperson said. “The Cosby’s are thankful to those particular jurors who removed their bias and ruled on the evidence and facts of this case.”