More than a decade after Bill Cosby invited a college basketball manager to his home to discuss her career, the US comedian goes on trial on Monday in a sexual assault case that is sure to define his legacy.
Cosby's image as a father and family man, on screen and off, helped fuel his extraordinary 50-year career in entertainment. He created TV characters, most notably Dr Cliff Huxtable, with crossover appeal among blacks and whites, young and old, rich and poor. His TV shows, films and comedy tours earned him an estimated $US400 million ($A535 million).
Then a deposition unsealed in 2015 revealed an unsavoury private life marked by a long history of sexual liaisons with young women. Dozens came forward to say he had drugged and assaulted them.
The trial involves just one of those complaints, that of the former Temple University basketball staffer. Andrea Constand, 44, of the Toronto area, will take the stand in suburban Philadelphia this week and tell her story in public for the first time.
Cosby, 79, faces three counts of aggravated indecent assault. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 10 years and a fine of up to $US25,000
Montgomery County Judge Steven T. O'Neill hopes to keep the media frenzy from influencing the case as it did at O.J. Simpson's murder trial. The cameras that dominated Simpson's trial aren't allowed in Pennsylvania courtrooms, but scores of photographers will be lined up outside the courthouse. Like the Simpson case, the jury will be sequestered.
"We've had an O.J. hangover for many years," said Loyola Law School professor Laurie Levenson. "What you worry about as the judge is that the lawyers don't showboat, the evidence gets presented fairly, and that you have a jury that does its job and is not being thrown into the whole milieu of the trial outside the courtroom."
In 2005, prosecutors decided not to file criminal charges against Cosby. Constand then filed a civil suit that was settled the following year.
The criminal case was reopened in 2015 after several dozen other women made sexual assault accusations against Cosby similar to Constand's.
