Advertising and marketing. Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers
Landfills around the world are getting overloaded with waste, much of it hazardous and slow to decompose. As it becomes increasingly difficult to find new places for discarded unwanted items, people around the world are looking for ways to re-use as much stuff as possible before throwing it away. Designers are embracing the trend and are increasingly using recycled materials in their new creations.
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From: MeNeedIt
The fine print of YouTube’s terms of service has a warning that goes unheeded by millions of children who visit YouTube to watch cartoons, nursery rhymes, science experiments or videos of toys being unboxed.
“If you are under 13 years of age, then please do not use the service,” the terms say. “There are lots of other great web sites for you.”
In a complaint filed Monday, child advocates and consumer groups are asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate and impose potentially billions of dollars of penalties on Google for allegedly violating children’s online privacy and allowing ads to target them.
“Google profits handsomely from selling advertising to kid-directed programs that it packages,” said Jeff Chester, director of the Center for Digital Democracy, one of the groups that drafted the complaint. “They created a successful model monetizing kids’ data.”
Television networks also run ads during cartoons and other programs aimed at kids.
The difference? YouTube does so with a lot of data collection. Its business model relies on tracking IP addresses, search history, device identifiers, location and other personal data about its users so that it can gauge their interests and tailor advertising to them. But a 1998 federal law prohibits internet companies from knowingly collecting personal data from kids under 13 without their parents’ consent.
The coalition accuses YouTube of violating that law and deliberately profiting off luring children into what Chester calls an “ad-filled digital playground” where commercials for toys, theme parks or sneakers can surface alongside kid-oriented videos.
YouTube said in an emailed statement that it “will read the complaint thoroughly and evaluate if there are things we can do to improve. Because YouTube is not for children, we’ve invested significantly in the creation of the YouTube Kids app to offer an alternative specifically designed for children.”
That toddler-oriented YouTube Kids app, launched in 2015, offers more parental controls but is not as widely used — and features a selection of the same videos and channels that kids can also find on the regular YouTube service.
‘Day of reckoning’
Although it’s not known if the FTC will take action, the complaint comes at a time of increased public scrutiny over the tech industry’s mining of personal data and after the FTC opened an investigation last month into Facebook’s privacy practices.
For that reason, the FTC “may be more reinvigorated and ready to take these issues seriously,” said Josh Golin, director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, which drafted the complaint along with the Center for Digital Democracy and a Georgetown University law clinic. Several other groups have signed on, including Common Sense Media, which runs a popular website for families, and the advocacy division of Consumer Reports.
“I think the day of reckoning has arrived,” said U.S. Sen. Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat who co-authored the 1998 law and says he wants the FTC to look into the YouTube complaint. “Americans want to know the answers as to whether or not the privacy of their children is being compromised in the online world.”
FTC spokeswoman Juliana Gruenwald Henderson said the agency looks forward to reviewing the letter. She said the FTC already has brought more than two dozen cases for violations of the 1998 law. It has settled child privacy cases with Yelp, mobile advertising network inMobi and electronic toy-maker VTech.
None of those services are as popular for kids as YouTube, which has toddler-themed channels with names like ChuChuTV nursery rhymes, which as of last week counted more than 16 million subscribers and 13.4 billion views. It also has many channels that cater to preteens.
Kandi Parsons, a former FTC attorney who now advises companies on child-privacy compliance, said that because YouTube is a general-audience service, it could be hard to determine if parents are curating content for their kids to watch or letting them use it on their own. Parsons said the FTC so far hasn’t gone after kid-directed channels within broader media websites, though that doesn’t mean it won’t.
Consumer advocates say Google knows what it is doing. They point to its “Google Preferred” program that allows advertisers on YouTube to pay extra to get their ads on the most popular videos. The program includes a “Parenting & Family Lineup” that has featured channels such as ChuChu TV, Fox’s BabyTV and Seven Super Girls, whose topics include “fluffy unicorn slime.”
YouTube does block children who identify themselves as under 13 from posting video, by prohibiting them from creating an account to begin with, but an account isn’t needed merely to watch.
“It’s laughable if Google execs claim that they think the parent is in charge of the online viewing behaviors of tens of millions of children,” Chester said. “Children are watching this content by themselves. Google is trying to look the other way.”
From: MeNeedIt
The fine print of YouTube’s terms of service has a warning that goes unheeded by millions of children who visit YouTube to watch cartoons, nursery rhymes, science experiments or videos of toys being unboxed.
“If you are under 13 years of age, then please do not use the service,” the terms say. “There are lots of other great web sites for you.”
In a complaint filed Monday, child advocates and consumer groups are asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate and impose potentially billions of dollars of penalties on Google for allegedly violating children’s online privacy and allowing ads to target them.
“Google profits handsomely from selling advertising to kid-directed programs that it packages,” said Jeff Chester, director of the Center for Digital Democracy, one of the groups that drafted the complaint. “They created a successful model monetizing kids’ data.”
Television networks also run ads during cartoons and other programs aimed at kids.
The difference? YouTube does so with a lot of data collection. Its business model relies on tracking IP addresses, search history, device identifiers, location and other personal data about its users so that it can gauge their interests and tailor advertising to them. But a 1998 federal law prohibits internet companies from knowingly collecting personal data from kids under 13 without their parents’ consent.
The coalition accuses YouTube of violating that law and deliberately profiting off luring children into what Chester calls an “ad-filled digital playground” where commercials for toys, theme parks or sneakers can surface alongside kid-oriented videos.
YouTube said in an emailed statement that it “will read the complaint thoroughly and evaluate if there are things we can do to improve. Because YouTube is not for children, we’ve invested significantly in the creation of the YouTube Kids app to offer an alternative specifically designed for children.”
That toddler-oriented YouTube Kids app, launched in 2015, offers more parental controls but is not as widely used — and features a selection of the same videos and channels that kids can also find on the regular YouTube service.
‘Day of reckoning’
Although it’s not known if the FTC will take action, the complaint comes at a time of increased public scrutiny over the tech industry’s mining of personal data and after the FTC opened an investigation last month into Facebook’s privacy practices.
For that reason, the FTC “may be more reinvigorated and ready to take these issues seriously,” said Josh Golin, director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, which drafted the complaint along with the Center for Digital Democracy and a Georgetown University law clinic. Several other groups have signed on, including Common Sense Media, which runs a popular website for families, and the advocacy division of Consumer Reports.
“I think the day of reckoning has arrived,” said U.S. Sen. Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat who co-authored the 1998 law and says he wants the FTC to look into the YouTube complaint. “Americans want to know the answers as to whether or not the privacy of their children is being compromised in the online world.”
FTC spokeswoman Juliana Gruenwald Henderson said the agency looks forward to reviewing the letter. She said the FTC already has brought more than two dozen cases for violations of the 1998 law. It has settled child privacy cases with Yelp, mobile advertising network inMobi and electronic toy-maker VTech.
None of those services are as popular for kids as YouTube, which has toddler-themed channels with names like ChuChuTV nursery rhymes, which as of last week counted more than 16 million subscribers and 13.4 billion views. It also has many channels that cater to preteens.
Kandi Parsons, a former FTC attorney who now advises companies on child-privacy compliance, said that because YouTube is a general-audience service, it could be hard to determine if parents are curating content for their kids to watch or letting them use it on their own. Parsons said the FTC so far hasn’t gone after kid-directed channels within broader media websites, though that doesn’t mean it won’t.
Consumer advocates say Google knows what it is doing. They point to its “Google Preferred” program that allows advertisers on YouTube to pay extra to get their ads on the most popular videos. The program includes a “Parenting & Family Lineup” that has featured channels such as ChuChu TV, Fox’s BabyTV and Seven Super Girls, whose topics include “fluffy unicorn slime.”
YouTube does block children who identify themselves as under 13 from posting video, by prohibiting them from creating an account to begin with, but an account isn’t needed merely to watch.
“It’s laughable if Google execs claim that they think the parent is in charge of the online viewing behaviors of tens of millions of children,” Chester said. “Children are watching this content by themselves. Google is trying to look the other way.”
From: MeNeedIt
A topless protester with “Women’s Lives Matter” written on her body jumped a barricade and got within a few feet of Bill Cosby on Monday as the comedian walked into a suburban Philadelphia courthouse for the start of his sexual assault retrial.
The woman ran in front of Cosby toward a bank of TV cameras but was intercepted by sheriff’s deputies and led away in handcuffs. The European feminist group Femen claimed the protester as one of its own.
Cosby seemed startled by the commotion as a half-dozen protesters chanted at him.
Cosby spokesman Andrew Wyatt praised deputies for their quick action but urged court officials to increase security.
“It’s a different world. Things have changed,” Wyatt told The Associated Press, referring to recent mass shootings and other episodes. “You never know who’s going to want to make a name for themselves.”
The protester, Nicolle Rochelle, 39, of Little Falls, New Jersey, was charged with disorderly conduct, authorities said. Inna Shevchenko, a Paris-based leader of Femen, told The Associated Press that the activist was seeking to defend Cosby’s alleged victims, calling the protest “our contribution to the global revolt launched by (hash)MeToo.”
The disruption came ahead of opening statements, which were delayed while the judge sorted through allegations raised late Friday that a juror told a woman during jury selection that he thought Cosby was guilty. Cosby’s lawyers want the juror removed from the case.
Prosecutors have lined up a parade of accusers to make the case that the man revered as “America’s Dad” lived a double life as one of Hollywood’s biggest predators.
Cosby is fighting back with a new, high-profile lawyer and an aggressive strategy: attacking Andrea Constand as a greedy liar and casting the other women testifying as bandwagon accusers looking for a share of the spotlight.
“You’ve seen previews and coming attractions, but things have changed,” said professor Laurie Levenson of Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.
Cosby’s first trial last spring ended with jurors unable to reach a unanimous verdict after five days of tense deliberations on charges that the man who made millions of viewers laugh as wise and understanding Dr. Cliff Huxtable on “The Cosby Show” drugged and molested Constand at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004.
The 80-year-old comedian, who has said the sexual contact was consensual, faces three counts of aggravated indecent assault, each punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
His retrial is taking place in a radically changed and potentially more hostile environment. The (hash)MeToo movement caught fire four months after the first trial, raising awareness of sexual misconduct as it toppled Harvey Weinstein, Sen. Al Franken, Matt Lauer and other powerful men.
Nearly every potential juror questioned for the case this time knew about (hash)MeToo.
Kristen Houser of the National Sexual Violence Resource Center said that could help prosecutors overcome the skepticism some jurors had last time about Constand’s yearlong wait to report her allegations to the police.
“The (hash)MeToo movement is amplifying what experts have been saying for decades: People are ashamed, they’re confused, they can’t believe somebody they trust would hurt them, and then they worry that others won’t believe them,” Houser said.
After limiting the focus of the first trial, Judge Steven O’Neill has been willing to let both sides push the retrial well beyond Constand’s allegations.
This time, O’Neill is letting prosecutors have five additional accusers testify — including model Janice Dickinson — as they attempt to show Cosby made a habit of drugging and violating women. The judge allowed just one other accuser to take the stand last time.
“This one will be harder for the defense,” Levenson said. This time, Constand “is not alone, and there is strength in numbers.”
In another difference, the judge this time is letting Cosby’s legal team call as a witness a former co-worker of Constand’s at Temple University who said Constand spoke of setting up a “high-profile person” so she could sue and enjoy a big payday. Constand’s lawyer has said the co-worker is lying.
The judge also decided the jury can hear the answer to one of the biggest questions hanging over the case: How much did Cosby pay Constand to settle her lawsuit against him more than a decade ago? The two sides agreed at the first trial not to mention the lawsuit.
Cosby lawyer Tom Mesereau, who won an acquittal in Michael Jackson’s 2005 child molestation case, said the jury will learn “just how greedy” Constand was.
In a twist, the judge hinted that he might not allow jurors to hear Cosby’s lurid deposition testimony about giving Quaaludes to women before sex. He said he would rule on it during the trial. Cosby testified in 2005 and 2006 as part of Constand’s lawsuit.
The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they grant permission, which Constand and Dickinson have done.
…
From: MeNeedIt
A topless protester with “Women’s Lives Matter” written on her body jumped a barricade and got within a few feet of Bill Cosby on Monday as the comedian walked into a suburban Philadelphia courthouse for the start of his sexual assault retrial.
The woman ran in front of Cosby toward a bank of TV cameras but was intercepted by sheriff’s deputies and led away in handcuffs. The European feminist group Femen claimed the protester as one of its own.
Cosby seemed startled by the commotion as a half-dozen protesters chanted at him.
Cosby spokesman Andrew Wyatt praised deputies for their quick action but urged court officials to increase security.
“It’s a different world. Things have changed,” Wyatt told The Associated Press, referring to recent mass shootings and other episodes. “You never know who’s going to want to make a name for themselves.”
The protester, Nicolle Rochelle, 39, of Little Falls, New Jersey, was charged with disorderly conduct, authorities said. Inna Shevchenko, a Paris-based leader of Femen, told The Associated Press that the activist was seeking to defend Cosby’s alleged victims, calling the protest “our contribution to the global revolt launched by (hash)MeToo.”
The disruption came ahead of opening statements, which were delayed while the judge sorted through allegations raised late Friday that a juror told a woman during jury selection that he thought Cosby was guilty. Cosby’s lawyers want the juror removed from the case.
Prosecutors have lined up a parade of accusers to make the case that the man revered as “America’s Dad” lived a double life as one of Hollywood’s biggest predators.
Cosby is fighting back with a new, high-profile lawyer and an aggressive strategy: attacking Andrea Constand as a greedy liar and casting the other women testifying as bandwagon accusers looking for a share of the spotlight.
“You’ve seen previews and coming attractions, but things have changed,” said professor Laurie Levenson of Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.
Cosby’s first trial last spring ended with jurors unable to reach a unanimous verdict after five days of tense deliberations on charges that the man who made millions of viewers laugh as wise and understanding Dr. Cliff Huxtable on “The Cosby Show” drugged and molested Constand at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004.
The 80-year-old comedian, who has said the sexual contact was consensual, faces three counts of aggravated indecent assault, each punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
His retrial is taking place in a radically changed and potentially more hostile environment. The (hash)MeToo movement caught fire four months after the first trial, raising awareness of sexual misconduct as it toppled Harvey Weinstein, Sen. Al Franken, Matt Lauer and other powerful men.
Nearly every potential juror questioned for the case this time knew about (hash)MeToo.
Kristen Houser of the National Sexual Violence Resource Center said that could help prosecutors overcome the skepticism some jurors had last time about Constand’s yearlong wait to report her allegations to the police.
“The (hash)MeToo movement is amplifying what experts have been saying for decades: People are ashamed, they’re confused, they can’t believe somebody they trust would hurt them, and then they worry that others won’t believe them,” Houser said.
After limiting the focus of the first trial, Judge Steven O’Neill has been willing to let both sides push the retrial well beyond Constand’s allegations.
This time, O’Neill is letting prosecutors have five additional accusers testify — including model Janice Dickinson — as they attempt to show Cosby made a habit of drugging and violating women. The judge allowed just one other accuser to take the stand last time.
“This one will be harder for the defense,” Levenson said. This time, Constand “is not alone, and there is strength in numbers.”
In another difference, the judge this time is letting Cosby’s legal team call as a witness a former co-worker of Constand’s at Temple University who said Constand spoke of setting up a “high-profile person” so she could sue and enjoy a big payday. Constand’s lawyer has said the co-worker is lying.
The judge also decided the jury can hear the answer to one of the biggest questions hanging over the case: How much did Cosby pay Constand to settle her lawsuit against him more than a decade ago? The two sides agreed at the first trial not to mention the lawsuit.
Cosby lawyer Tom Mesereau, who won an acquittal in Michael Jackson’s 2005 child molestation case, said the jury will learn “just how greedy” Constand was.
In a twist, the judge hinted that he might not allow jurors to hear Cosby’s lurid deposition testimony about giving Quaaludes to women before sex. He said he would rule on it during the trial. Cosby testified in 2005 and 2006 as part of Constand’s lawsuit.
The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they grant permission, which Constand and Dickinson have done.
…
From: MeNeedIt
China’s Foreign Ministry said Monday that trade talks with the United States are impossible under current conditions.
The comment from spokesman Geng Shuang during a briefing with reporters came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump predicted there would be a resolution of the U.S.-China standoff on tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of goods the world’s two biggest economies are threatening to impose on each other.
“China will take down its Trade Barriers because it is the right thing to do,” Trump said, without offering any direct information. “Taxes will become Reciprocal & a deal will be made on Intellectual Property. Great future for both countries!”
Regardless, Trump said that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping “will always be friends, no matter what happens with our dispute on trade.”
The threats Washington and Beijing have lobbed at each other in recent days have rattled world stock markets, with wide swings of hundreds of points in stock indexes.
U.S. stocks plunged more than 2 percent Friday after Trump threatened to impose tariffs on an additional $100 billion worth of Chinese goods beyond the $50 billion worth of products he had already said would be affected.
Beijing responded in kind, saying it would impose tariffs on U.S. goods “until the end at any cost.”
Both countries have published lists of goods they intend to tax, with the U.S. hitting steel and aluminum imports from China, along with aerospace, tech and machinery goods. Other levies would target medical equipment, medicine and educational materials.
China said it would impose tariffs on more than 100 U.S. products, including soybeans, wheat, corn, beef, tobacco, vehicles, plastic products and an array of other items.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CBS News that the threat of higher tariffs posed the risk of a trade war but that he does not expect one to materialize.
“Our expectation is that we don’t think there will be a trade war. Our objective is to continue to have discussions with China. I don’t expect there will be a trade war. It could be, but I don’t expect it at all,” he said.
Mnuchin said that Trump and Xi have a “very close relationship” and that the two countries would continue to discuss trade issues.
A key U.S. lawmaker, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, told ABC News, that U.S. businesses and consumers could inevitably be hurt if China imposes tariffs on U.S. products.
“There is no way for us to address China without absorbing some pain here,” Graham said. “To those who believe that China is cheating, what idea do you have better than Trump?”
Gary Hufbauer, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Peterson Institute for International Economics, told VOA that Trump and his top administration officials recognize that the tariffs from both sides would be “very damaging to both economies.”
“The short-term impact would be highly adverse,” he said. “Both sides have a lot to gain by negotiations rather than actually implementing a tariff war.”
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From: MeNeedIt
Scientists in Antarctica have harvested their first crop of vegetables grown without earth, daylight or pesticides as part of a project designed to help astronauts cultivate fresh food on other planets.
Researchers at Germany’s Neumayer Station III say they’ve picked 3.6 kilograms (8 pounds) of salad greens, 18 cucumbers and 70 radishes grown inside a high-tech greenhouse as temperatures outside dropped below -20 degrees Celsius (-4 Fahrenheit).
The German Aerospace Center DLR, which coordinates the project, said Thursday that by May scientists hope to harvest 4-5 kilograms of fruit and vegetables a week.
While NASA has successfully grown greens on the International Space Station, DLR’s Daniel Schubert says the Antarctic project aims to produce a wider range of vegetables that might one day be grown on Mars or the Moon.
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From: MeNeedIt
Scientists in Antarctica have harvested their first crop of vegetables grown without earth, daylight or pesticides as part of a project designed to help astronauts cultivate fresh food on other planets.
Researchers at Germany’s Neumayer Station III say they’ve picked 3.6 kilograms (8 pounds) of salad greens, 18 cucumbers and 70 radishes grown inside a high-tech greenhouse as temperatures outside dropped below -20 degrees Celsius (-4 Fahrenheit).
The German Aerospace Center DLR, which coordinates the project, said Thursday that by May scientists hope to harvest 4-5 kilograms of fruit and vegetables a week.
While NASA has successfully grown greens on the International Space Station, DLR’s Daniel Schubert says the Antarctic project aims to produce a wider range of vegetables that might one day be grown on Mars or the Moon.
…
From: MeNeedIt
U.S. President Donald Trump predicted Sunday there would be a resolution of the U.S.-China standoff on tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of goods the world’s two biggest economies are threatening to impose on each other.
The U.S. leader said, without offering any direct information, that “China will take down its Trade Barriers because it is the right thing to do.”
Trump said that “taxes will become Reciprocal & a deal will be made on Intellectual Property. Great future for both countries!”
Regardless, Trump said that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping “will always be friends, no matter what happens with our dispute on trade.”
The threats Washington and Beijing have lobbed at each other in recent days have rattled world stock markets, with wide swings of hundreds of points in stock indexes.
U.S. stocks plunged more than 2 percent Friday after Trump threatened to impose tariffs on an additional $100 billion worth of Chinese goods beyond the $50 billion worth of products he had already said would be affected.
Beijing responded in kind, saying it would impose tariffs on U.S. goods “until the end at any cost.”
Both countries have published lists of goods they intend to tax, with the U.S. hitting steel and aluminum imports from China, along with aerospace, tech and machinery goods. Other levies would target medical equipment, medicine and educational materials.
China said it would impose tariffs on more than 100 U.S. products, including soybeans, wheat, corn, beef, tobacco, vehicles, plastic products and an array of other items.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CBS News that the threat of higher tariffs posed the risk of a trade war but that he does not expect one to materialize.
“Our expectation is that we don’t think there will be a trade war. Our objective is to continue to have discussions with China. I don’t expect there will be a trade war. It could be, but I don’t expect it at all,” he said.
Mnuchin said that Trump and Xi have a “very close relationship” and that the two countries would continue to discuss trade issues.
A key U.S. lawmaker, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, told ABC News, that U.S. businesses and consumers could inevitably be hurt if China imposes tariffs on U.S. products.
“There is no way for us to address China without absorbing some pain here,” Graham said. “To those who believe that China is cheating, what idea do you have better than Trump?”
…
From: MeNeedIt
U.S. President Donald Trump predicted Sunday there would be a resolution of the U.S.-China standoff on tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of goods the world’s two biggest economies are threatening to impose on each other.
The U.S. leader said, without offering any direct information, that “China will take down its Trade Barriers because it is the right thing to do.”
Trump said that “taxes will become Reciprocal & a deal will be made on Intellectual Property. Great future for both countries!”
Regardless, Trump said that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping “will always be friends, no matter what happens with our dispute on trade.”
The threats Washington and Beijing have lobbed at each other in recent days have rattled world stock markets, with wide swings of hundreds of points in stock indexes.
U.S. stocks plunged more than 2 percent Friday after Trump threatened to impose tariffs on an additional $100 billion worth of Chinese goods beyond the $50 billion worth of products he had already said would be affected.
Beijing responded in kind, saying it would impose tariffs on U.S. goods “until the end at any cost.”
Both countries have published lists of goods they intend to tax, with the U.S. hitting steel and aluminum imports from China, along with aerospace, tech and machinery goods. Other levies would target medical equipment, medicine and educational materials.
China said it would impose tariffs on more than 100 U.S. products, including soybeans, wheat, corn, beef, tobacco, vehicles, plastic products and an array of other items.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CBS News that the threat of higher tariffs posed the risk of a trade war but that he does not expect one to materialize.
“Our expectation is that we don’t think there will be a trade war. Our objective is to continue to have discussions with China. I don’t expect there will be a trade war. It could be, but I don’t expect it at all,” he said.
Mnuchin said that Trump and Xi have a “very close relationship” and that the two countries would continue to discuss trade issues.
A key U.S. lawmaker, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, told ABC News, that U.S. businesses and consumers could inevitably be hurt if China imposes tariffs on U.S. products.
“There is no way for us to address China without absorbing some pain here,” Graham said. “To those who believe that China is cheating, what idea do you have better than Trump?”
…
From: MeNeedIt
When Bill Cosby’s retrial on sexual assault charges begins on Monday, the man once known as “America’s Dad” will face the same judge and district attorney in the same Pennsylvania courtroom as he did last June when a hung jury failed to reach a verdict.
But the familiar trappings cannot disguise the reality that Cosby’s second trial on charges that he assaulted a former friend in 2004 will have significant differences from his first.
Cosby’s second trial will also play out against the backdrop of the #MeToo movement, which last autumn prompted a wave of sexual assault and misconduct accusations against dozens of powerful men in Hollywood, business and politics.
The movement has also stirred a national dialogue about the way society treats people who step forward to tell stories of sexual abuse.
More than 60 women have accused Cosby of sexual assaults dating back decades. The entertainer, now 80, has denied all of the accusations, saying any sexual encounters he may have had were consensual.
The Pennsylvania case, brought by Andrea Constand, a former administrator at Temple University, Cosby’s alma mater, is the only criminal prosecution to result from the accusations, most of which are too old to allow for charges.
At the second trial, five other Cosby accusers are expected to take the stand under oath and detail their accusations against him. Their testimony could bolster the prosecution’s argument that the celebrity best known for his role as the benign patriarch on “The Cosby Show” was a serial predator who preyed on vulnerable women.
The trial judge, Steven O’Neill, allowed prosecutors to call only one of the other accusers to the stand during the first trial. She told jurors that Cosby drugged and assaulted her in1996, in much the same manner that Constand testified Cosby did to her in 2004 at his home.
This time, prosecutors had sought to call as many as 19 other accusers, while defense attorneys objected to allowing any to appear, arguing that they would unduly prejudice the jury.
O’Neill ruled that prosecutors could call up to five women from a group of eight accusers that includes former model and television personality Janice Dickinson.
Such “prior bad act” witnesses are typically barred for fear jurors will be more likely to convict a defendant based on past behavior, rather than the specific charges before them. In rare cases, judges have permitted such testimony to show a defendant engaged in a pattern of behavior, using a particular modus operandi.
“It’s not a good day for the defense whenever a judge allows these types of witnesses to be called,” said Douglas Sughrue, a Pittsburgh-based defense lawyer. “You’re obviously now not just fighting one victim.”
Studies have shown that mock juries are far more likely to convict defendants after hearing from multiple prior accusers, particularly in sexual crime cases, according to Aviva Orenstein, a law professor at Indiana University and an expert in trial evidence.
“Even if he were able to discredit each individual woman, at a certain point, the jury is going to think, where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” she said.
The #MeToo movement has also stressed a need to be more receptive to accusers’ accounts.
“There’s no doubt the environment is more sensitive,” Sughrue said. “Your audience is maybe more sensitive to it, they’re maybe more aware of it.”
The defense case will also have some major differences, starting with the lawyers. Cosby’s new attorney is Los Angeles-based Tom Mesereau, best known for successfully defending singer Michael Jackson at his 2005 child molestation trial.
The defense has said it would seek to portray Constand as a liar motivated by a desire to get a piece of Cosby’s fortune.
That strategy got a boost this week when the judge said he would allow testimony from a woman who claims Constand mused aloud about falsely accusing a famous man to get money.
He also said the defense could introduce evidence of Cosby’s payment to Constand to settle her civil lawsuit, a detail that has been kept from public view, including the jury from thefirst trial.
This story was written by Reuters.
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From: MeNeedIt