Former Bill Cosby attorney Tom Mesereau has spoken out against the conviction that may send the actor to jail for the rest of his life.
Speaking on Friday’s Inside Edition to Jim Moret, Mesereau called the Cosby verdict “a travesty of justice” and said judges are running scared from the #MeToo movement.
In late April, a Pennsylvania jury found Cosby guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault for the 2004 drugging and sexual assault of Andrea Constand at his home in a Philadelphia suburb. The 80-year old Cosby could get up to 10 years on each count when sentenced in September and is currently out on bail.
Mesereau said he feels Cosby’s trial was biased. “It was a travesty of justice, the likes of which I have never seen in my whole career,” he said. He blamed the #MeToo movement for what happened. “The #MeToo movement is founded in something very, very desirable – stop sexual harassment against women, stop discrimination against women, stop abuse against women. I commend those principles, but the movement has gotten so powerful that judges are running scared, in my opinion.”
He also said he hoped Cosby’s convictions would be reversed on appeal. “I hope he doesn’t spend one minute in jail because he doesn’t deserve to,” he says.
Despite his dismissal from the case, Mesereau claimed he harbored no ill will. “People go through different lawyers. What we do is an art, not a science. I’ve talked to replacement counsel, and I wish the Cosby family and I wish the new counsel the best.”
Stations and times for the interview can be found at insideedition.com.
In other Cosby news, three Maryland schools today said they would rescind honorary degrees he previously received.
The University System of Maryland said it would strip the degrees from the University of Baltimore, the University of Maryland College Park and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.
