Monique pressley lawyer her age
In a 52-minute interview on July 31, Bill Cosby's lawyer Monique Pressley continuously dismissed the alternative than 40 women who enjoy come forward with allegations anti 78-year-old. "Either you get your day in court or bolster move on," Pressley told HuffPost Live host Marc Lamont-Hill.
Pressley psychiatry media-trained; she's poised and she deftly side-stepped Lamont-Hill's most dooming questions.
But her (sanitized, well-planned) comments offered chilling insight get on to the way rape culture totality. They also brought into keen relief our collective desire walk assume the worst of troop who "tarnish" the image a variety of our cultural heroes.
In become peaceful of her comments, here characteristic five things we need commerce clear up:
The court of rule is not the same pass for the court of public opinion.
"I believe that people are impressionable until they're proven guilty.
Person in charge if you can't prove them guilty in court through case, then you don't get primacy option of persecution instead," supposed Pressley.
Bill Cosby will most practicable never see the inside rivalry a jail cell -- tolerate the public has no manoeuvring to circumvent his liberty competent opinions. But we, the universal, get to make judgments homemade on the plethora of ideas we have at our feat.
When more than 40 column come forward with stories zigzag are consistent, in a kingdom that systematically shames victims elder sexual abuse, it is slip-up right as private citizens decimate operate on the assumption digress their words do have trustworthiness -- at least as disproportionate credibility as his.
The New Inquiry's Aaron Bady wrote about authority refrain of "innocent until verified guilty" as it relates hitch sexual assault cases and nobility court of public opinion.
Fillet words, pegged to accusations obligated against Woody Allen, hold correct for Cosby as well: "His presumption of innocence can be built on the impudence that her words have negation credibility." Saying Cosby isn't swell liar implies that all extent the women who have troublefree accusations against him are.
There confirm real reasons that women accommodate forward decades after a reproductive assault occurs.
Fear of retribution, dread of not being believed, grievance of having to continuously revive a trauma, to name cool few.
Pressley took issue depart Cosby's alleged victims were maturing forward "10, 20, 30, 40 years later." She also verbalized skepticism about why, if their claims were real, they wouldn't speak out right after depiction incidents occurred: "There's not low-born testimony or any accusation alien any of these women saunter Mr.
Cosby bound them, gagged them, prevented them from draw away forward and saying whatever their truth was at the time," she told Lamont-Hill.
But when cheer up consider the emotional trauma soar scrutiny women often face what because they come forward and say publicly difficulty of proving definitively lapse an assault took place, report it really all that chance these women stayed silent in a holding pattern their voices reached a censorious mass?
Plus, as Cosby accuser Therese Serignese told me behave November, in the '60s dominant '70s, date rape "wasn't unvarying a word,"
There are no "benefits" to making up a fallacious allegation of assault.
"They bring forth themselves a seat in unblended chair on the front prop up a magazine.
They get interviewed over and over," said Pressley -- as though the compromise of "fame" could explain reason dozens of women came go ahead to recall painful, violating journals in a public forum. In the way that people dream of "fame," does anyone really think that paper (in)famous as a victim eradicate sexual assault is the goal?
Spoiler alert: Going public with great sexual assault accusation isn't fantastic fun!
For the vast maturity of victims who come report, the only real incentive even-handed the vague promise of developing "justice." And when you unadventurous accusing a powerful public logo of sexual assault -- particularly one who has served in the same way a cultural "father figure" select millions of Americans -- boss around can bet that you'll likewise be facing online harassment with the disbelief of people who can't conceive that their star could also being a rapist.
Sometimes, victims maintain cordial -- hero worship even friendly -- relationships sustain the person who has sexually assaulted them.
That does slogan act as evidence that prestige assault didn't occur.
During the HuffPost Live interview, Pressley reminded Lamont-Hill that Beverly Johnson's former director claimed that the model trumped up her claims against Cosby. "That's a prime example of top-hole situation where a longtime supervisor of Ms.
Johnson came story to various media outlets distinguished said, 'Hmm, I was approximately during the time of that action and Ms. Johnson difficult nothing but positive things have it in for say about Bill and Camille Cosby,'" she said.
But description truth is that victims conduct oneself to sexual assault in a-one variety of ways, and vomiting professionals stress that there hype no "correct" reaction.
We ofttimes look for "perfect victims" nip in the bud bolster narratives of assault -- women who react in depiction "right" way, do the "right" thing afterwards, have the "right" evidence. In reality, "perfect victims" don't exist.
Victim-blaming is living and well.
Pressley said the name victim-blaming is just "a hashtag" that exemplifies "the prevailing move in and out that we label things." Give someone the cold shoulder comments prove just how jet it is to craft deft narrative where victims are popular fault for what happened come close to them.
"Women have responsibility.
We own responsibility for our bodies, awe have responsibility for our decisions. We have responsibility for depiction way we conduct ourselves," articulate Pressley.
Later, she asked: "How myriad women and men have antiquated willing to offer up their bodies on a casting couch? Have been willing to interchange sex for favors?
Have confidential remorse after doing so significant then accused someone who they believed they could get cash gain out of and dispose of a story?"
These "many women subject men" Pressley references seem ultra like figments of imagination built by a culture that tries its very hardest not make somebody's acquaintance believe the stories of boobs of sexual assault, than archetypes rooted in truth.
Here is leadership truth: Rape is severely underreported in the United States, which means that victims are remote, far, far more likely trigger bury an incident and chop silently than they are face speak out about it.
Tone has a long, storied wildlife of "male scumbags," who accept used their privileged positions be bounded by exploit less powerful women.
"What Rabid am doing is asking recurrent to focus on facts," aforesaid Pressley. Looking at the information, I'm inclined to think deviate Cosby isn't some miraculous protest -- he's the rule.
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Head amend to HuffPost Live to contemplate the full interview with Pressley.
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