#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Pa. High Court tosses Cosby conviction; Eviction moratorium to remain; Bob Johnson wants reparations

Episode Date: July 1, 2021

6.30.21 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Pennsylvania Supreme Court tosses Cosby conviction; Eviction moratorium to remain in place; New York Mayoral race still undecided; U.S. Forest Service has first black head. Bob Johnson wants reparations; Crazy a$$ KKK is taking applications+ Essence Fest Throwback presented by Coke with Jill Scott, Chaka Khan, and JuvenileSupport #RolandMartinUnfiltered via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered or via PayPal ☛ https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered#RolandMartinUnfiltered is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Today is Wednesday, June 30th, 2021. Coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, Bill Cosby is at home as we speak. After the Pennsylvania Supreme Court freed him from prison, citing a deal struck with a previous prosecutor that said he was not to be charged.

We're going to break it all down with our stellar legal panel, including Monique Presley, who was a formerly lawyer for Bill Cosby. Also, we'll be joined by Tanya Fields of the Black Feminist Project. Sexual assault advocates are outraged at today's decision. And comedian Joe Torre has long stood by his Omega Psi Phi fraternity brother. He will join us as well. And so, folks, it's a jam-packed show. It is time to bring the funk on Roland Martin Unfiltered.

Let's go. He's got it. Whatever the mess, he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the find And when it breaks, he's right on time And it's rolling, best believe he's knowing Putting it down from sports to news to politics With entertainment just for kicks

He's rolling, yeah, yeah It's Uncle Robo, y'all, yeah, yeah It's rolling Gro-Gro-Yo It's Rollin' Martin Rollin' with Rollin' now He's funky, he's fresh, he's real, the best you know He's Rollin' Martin Rollin' Martin I'm Martel convicted of assault and he was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison. Well, they ruled today that the decision to prosecute him was wrong. Why? Because he previously with another prosecutor agreed, they agreed not to pursue criminal charges against him in exchange for him speaking

in a civil deposition, in a civil trial. What that meant was that in that particular civil deposition, he could not declare his Fifth Amendment rights to self incrimination. The court ruled today that as a result of that agreement, not to prosecute him, which then caused him to give up those rights. That was wrong. And that the new prosecutor who campaigned specifically that he would prosecute Bill Cosby, he should have honored that previous commitment. It was a shocking turn of events. Not only the decision comes down today, Bill Cosby this afternoon was freed from prison. What I want to do right now is I want to bring up our panel. First and foremost, Monique Presley, crisis manager and lawyer.

A. Scott Bolden, of course, a former head of the National Bar Association Political Action Committee. I want to talk with them first. Monique, I'll start with you. Was today's decision by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturning lower courts ruling. Was it a shock to you? You previously represented Bill Cosby in this particular case. You were one of several lawyers. But your thoughts on today's decision by the Pennsylvania State Supreme Court? They did the right thing. And what I said on December 31st, 2015 is the same thing that I have to say today and that the Supreme Court ultimately said. When a prosecutor makes a promise and a defendant

or potential defendant relies on the promise to his own detriment, that cannot stand. The prosecutor, original prosecutor, made a promise, declined to prosecute, and induced the testimony of Mr. Cosby in a civil case because of that assurance. But for that, he would have had the opportunity, and certainly the lawyers then would have advised him to plead the fifth. He would have remained silent because there was the potential out there for a criminal charge in that case. Bruce Castor's decision eliminated that as a possibility, supposedly. And then you fast forward 12 years to a new prosecutor who somehow decides that if the person who's sitting in the seat of government wants to do something different because the calls, the times call for something different,

or because it's an election season and he wants to win, then he doesn't have to honor what a prior prosecutor promised and what a potential defendant relied upon. It was absurd from the outset and should not have occurred. And so what the Supreme Court said about it is that that cannot happen, that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has to adhere to the promises of its officers where its citizens have relied on those promises. And that's what we saw today. There's been a lot of a lot of people who have been commenting, a lot of people who have been saying this is an outrage that Bill Cosby should not have been freed from prison. Scott Bolden, this was a seventy nine page decision rendered by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

Your judgment on today's decision. Scott, we have no audio, so please unmute yourself. Sorry, it was the law and the Supreme Court in a 79page decision, which means they were very intentional about this, said, you know, regardless of what you think about Bill Cosby and the five or six women or the dozens of women who he allegedly was wrongfully acted with, the bottom line is they tricked him into giving up his Fifth Amendment and then tried him years later, that that violated his due process rights. I agree with Monique, it's pretty standard fare. I have a Fifth Amendment right. If I cut a deal to give it up with a prosecutor, another prosecutor 12 years later can't come up and say, I'm not going to honor that deal. The other thing to remember, Roland, about this is that the Supreme Court could have taken a slightly different position. I believe the other issue pending before the court reasoned whether the probative value of those other women being let into the second trial outweighed the prejudicial effect.

I think the court would have ruled that it was too prejudicial, and had they ruled on that second issue, first issue was the violation of the due process, had they ruled on the second issue versus the first issue. They could have sent it back down to be retried. But instead, they intentionally said, we're going to deal with the due process piece, because if he violated his due process rights and you tricked him into giving up his Fifth Amendment and you prosecuted him, then the other women and how the trial went are moot and don't really

matter. And so they chose to attack this case like that so that one, they vacated the judgment, cannot be retried, and then they discharged him. Case over, bottom line. And he's at home at 79 years old. And there are a lot of people who disagree with the court's decision, but the law doesn't serve one side or the other. It just serves the law and the judicial system. And this was the right thing to do. It was the right legal decision to make. And the rest of it on politics and perceptions, people can have their opinions. But this was the right call by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Well, first, Cosby is 83, so I'm sure he would appreciate you shaving four years off of his age there, Scott.

He's a kid, too. He's 83 years old. But, Monique, to Scott's point about how the law works regardless of who you are, the critics say Bill Cosby got a sweetheart deal by this prosecutor, Bruce Castor, choosing not to pursue charges. In reading the 79 page document from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, they laid out where he stated that he did not believe that he could actually get a convention because of inconsistencies. And Andrea Constance testimony. Also, no physical evidence in the time gap between it. And that he he gave many statements where he also said that he wanted to be some measure of justice,

which as a result of this decision required Bill Cosby to to have to answer all questions during this civil during this civil case. There were four depositions he sat for during the civil case. And then at one point, he did answer some questions. They went to the court and the court said, yes, as a result of the previous agreement, you have to answer these questions. And there are a lot of people out there who are saying that this decision vindicated Bill Cosby or that Bill Cosby was declared innocent. That's actually not what this decision rendered actually says, correct? No, it doesn't have to say that. It says he shouldn't be charged in the first place. It says wash it all away as if the trial never happened. Somebody in this country is still

innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. You can't be proven guilty on something you never should have been charged with in the first place. So people can say in language, whatever they want, whatever way they want. But I see a lot of people, even legal folks, calling this a technicality. To me, again, absurd. How is someone inducing you to waive, essentially, your Fifth Amendment right to not be incriminated against?

And that be called a technicality when it is the direct cause of things that happen later. liberty interest at stake will answer questions that any lawyer would first say don't do it if they thought that there was any possibility of a trial. So what I think about now is that people who understand the law and respect it should replace Mr. Cosby with any given defendant. Replace him with your son, with your husband, with your brother. We try one case at a time, and the obligation in the justice system is to do it when it's right to do it. So imagine your family member being made a promise that they relied on by the government. That promise is supposed to stand. We need justice to apply the same for every single person in every single case, and that's to administer it fairly. To that particular point there, Scott,

as I went through this ruling, again, this 79-page ruling, that was the one thing that the court kept coming back to. They kept coming back to saying the fact that Bruce Castor, as a prosecutor, carries a lot of power, a lot of weight, and that his decision had to be respected that once that once a defendant gets gets this word. And even though there were there were claims that, well, it was actually written down or it wasn't actually formalized. They concluded that as an as an as an agent of the court, if you will, that look, that that carries a lot of weight. When he says we are not going to prosecute you criminally. Therefore, as a part of this agreement, you must testify civilly. What they're saying is that, look, in other words, what Monique said,

that frankly, Bill Cosby did not have that agreement. He's not speaking truthfully when answering all questions in the civil. So if Bill Cosby didn't get that agreement, we would never we actually would not have any testimony of him actually speaking on the record about quaaludes and sex and drinks, things along those lines. And it was an interesting deal. I mean, we've been at this a long time. Monique and I, I've never seen a prosecutor do this type of deal. I mean, we've been at this a long time, Monique and I. I've never seen a prosecutor do this type of deal. But they did the deal, and the court recognized that. But remember why Castor did it this way. He could not prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. He could not, and he announced he couldn't, and that he was going to do this deal where he was going to

allow to say he will never be prosecuted or not prosecuted. And in exchange for that, he will give civil testimony. And ultimately, that case settled for three or four million dollars. It didn't have to be in writing. I'm an officer of the court. Castor was an officer of the Pennsylvania State Court and the prosecutor. That does carry weight. A deal's a deal, as I've been saying on social media, and you can't unwind the deal because you don't like the discretion of that prosecutor. And so here, it's even more egregious because in exchange for him

giving up his Fifth Amendment, he agreed to testify. And that's what Castro wanted because there was going to be a civil settlement the prosecutors cut deals like this all the time vis-a-vis you know they know a civil case is out there here castor structured this deal to get him to give up his fifth amendment he gave it up because castor knew he couldn't prosecute him criminally because what there wasn't enough evidence so on the first trial there wasn't enough evidence. So on the first trial, there wasn't enough evidence. And then the second trial, they brought in these other prior bad acts, allegedly these other women, they let in five or six, and then you get the conviction. That's not due process.

That's not fundamental fairness. And that's just a bad jury verdict based on what's underlying all of this. And there were a lot of people, obviously, Monique, who were also critical of the fact that that deposition that was taken, the four different he sat for four different he said for different sessions. And that position was leaked or inadvertently exposed publicly, which then put it in the public record. If that doesn't happen, then publicly we don't have even that in the trial. Correct. I don't know. Or maybe I know things I can't say. Here's here's my point. First of all, first of all, for anybody who's paying attention, even though she is formerly Bill Cosby's attorney, the attorney client privilege requirement still stands. So that's why there are some things she cannot talk about. Go ahead. Right. And other things that I just will not talk about, because I think there just is an obligation of confidentiality. So anything that I'm commenting is publicly available. It's things I said publicly then, things that were in trial or things that others have already commented on publicly.

To Scott's point, I think it's really important that this Supreme Court had the option to reverse and remand, had the option on the other issue. And I think they would have. I think that the decision by the judge in one trial to not let in that testimony, and then when it hangs, comes back in the second trial and basically opens a barnyard door and says, come one, come all, tell your story, that made the difference in the trial. And the Supreme Court likely would have found that but they decided instead no we are taking it all the way to the beginning before the first trial when

there were charges on December 30th 2015 that is the decision that was wrong and so it's not a decision by Castor that was wrong in making the deal. Prosecutors have all the discretion in the world. It was the decision by Steele to not honor it that was violative of Mr. Cosby's rights. If you just think about the way prosecutors come up with plea agreements and then the court ratifies those agreements, what if the prosecutor 10 years later decides the day before your little brother is supposed to get out of prison on a deal that was 10 out of a 10 to 20 possibility, eh, we shouldn't have offered that. That's too low. We think he did some other things. We can't

get him for the other things. So we're going to stack on more time here. Are you kidding me? No, that cannot be the way that our justice system works. And I am thankful that the Supreme Court sent that message very clearly today. And for the people who don't understand the last line, the last line in the court's opinion is that accordingly, we do not address Cosby's other issue. That other issue they're talking about is the judge allowing other women to testify speaking to his character. That was one of the complaints that Cosby attorneys made that their testimony should not have been allowed in. People also got to remember the first Cosby trial ended in a mistrial.

He was convicted in the second trial. It was in the second trial when the judge allowed those women to actually testify. And so you had lots of different things that were going on here. There have been a number of people who have been responding. We've seen lots of folks on social media commenting. Victims rights advocates have been speaking as well, weighing in. I want to pull up right now, Tanya Fields. She joins us right now with the Black Feminist Project. Tanya, glad to have you on the show. I just want to get your reaction to today's developments of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court regarding the release of Bill Cosby from prison after serving

three years of what was supposed to be a three to upwards of 10 years sentence? You know, I'm certainly not a legal expert. I am a survivor of both domestic and sexual assault. I work closely with folks in the, you know, in this community who deal with, who are support to survivors. And I think we are talking right now, Monique, and I'm sorry, I forget the other gentleman's name. Scott. Scott. Hi, Scott. Are talking very astutely and brilliantly about the legal process and due process. And I don't have much to offer in the way of that. What it brings up for me is that we are ironically talking about justice, but we're talking about justice for someone who

has admitted that they engaged in sexual acts with people who could not consent. That is by very definition rape. And that we have a justice system that continually does not side on the side of those survivors and those victims. And I think that in all of this discussion, that is what is getting lost. That for me is where we need to have deeper conversations, right? I think that it's really interesting that Monique is talking about people's little brothers, right? And people's fathers, and we have seen a justice system that continually has failed Black men, right, and we talk about that. But as soon as we talk about a justice system that is failing women, right, now we want to invoke those images. That doesn't really seem fair. We know that this justice system is not in fact a justice system that works for folks,

and there are certain folks who continually get maligned. Bill Cosby is not somebody's little brother. He's not someone's, you know, poor father in a poor neighborhood. This is a man who had a lot of influence. This is a man who had a lot of money and he used that money and influence to rape women. And now he used that money and influence to be able to use the legal system in such a way that it would benefit him. And I think that we need to call a thing a thing. And that's the thing that's happening right now. And so for me, I feel very sorry for the victims. I feel very sorry for those of us who have been victims and who are survivors and who are thinking about whether or not we can disclose. And they are terrified because we know that there's a justice system

that continues to be on the side of patriarchy, oppressive systems for femmes and femme presenting and women and girls who are victimized. You mentioned in terms of what we're talking about here, there's a reason why I separate the issues. First, for the purpose of the audience, we have to explain to the audience exactly legally what happened. Right. So there have been a lot of people. So, for instance, there have been a lot of people on social media who have been saying that Bill Cosby was exonerated. Well, that's actually not the ruling. They actually laid out specifically what the ruling was. The decision of the Pennsylvania State Supreme Court today was not that he did it, that he didn't do it. What they ruled today was that there should not have been a trial as a result of that previous agreement with the prosecutors. And so now,

the reality is he still testified in a civil deposition in terms of his relationship with Andrea constant and other women and what he did giving Benadryl also in terms of answer question when it comes to quaaludes that's actually on the record Monique wouldn't want to give you an opportunity to respond there because this there's been just so many different feelings they There have been people saying, how dare people celebrate this decision because of the legal ruling by the court. There have been others who say it's bad, others who say law should be changed, all of these different things here. And again, naturally, because people are very emotional about this issue, allegations of sexual assault, we can go down the line.

It's really causing a lot of conflicted feelings among people, men and women. You know, Roland, I'm here today as a legal analyst, not as an advocate for any client or a spokesperson for any person. So I don't really feel led to run down the litany of the million things I've already said. I don't take any of them back, but I don't feel the need to say them again. What I will say is that women matter in the justice system. Men matter in the justice system. Men matter in the justice system. Black women and black men are mistreated in higher numbers in the justice system. They are wrongfully convicted more. They are abused more. Black women's cases are not taken as seriously. We are viewed differently than our white counterparts. All of those things are no more or less true

because the Supreme Court today decided that in order for our government to function, when prosecutors make a promise, they have to keep it. That is what this is about. This is about something that should not have happened. So as emotional as people may be, and as emotional as people are going to be, the fact of the matter is from the person who is innocent and has never done a single thing wrong to the person in the United States of America, at least, the person who blows up buildings, they both are under the same justice system,

and they are supposed to have the same rights, and they are supposed to be treated in the same manner, regardless of color, creed, sex, wealth. It doesn't matter about any of it. This is about what our government is supposed to do. So I believe that all of those other issues are valid. I have factual disagreements, but I think that there is a factual record out there that supports itself. But what today is important is that we know that whether you are older, young, or black or white, at least in Pennsylvania with that Supreme Court, they will hold their very powerful prosecutors to the same standard, no matter how much the times change and no matter how much the characters change tanya then scott what uh what exactly am i responding to here well well again that what

you're dealing what you're dealing with here is again distinctions you're dealing with legal distinctions uh you're dealing with distinctions of others who say you must always believe and support women. And then you have those who say Cosby was exonerated. Others who say, no, he was not. I mean, that's the reason this. I mean, we are talking about legal process here. Right. That's the conversation that that Monique and Scott are having, right? And that I'm being brought into. And much like Monique just said, I am not, you know, I will concede that I am not an expert in those things. So I will not speak to that. But what I can tell you is that from my lay person's understanding of what happened here, it is,

and she can talk about all the factual stuff she wants. There's factual stuff that victims' rights and survivors' rights can lay out as well. We know that the justice system, and I'm very uncomfortable even talking about that, right? Especially when we talk about the intersections, and we cannot talk about these things without talking about the intersections. We can talk about what the law is supposed to do. And we can talk about what the law actually does do, right? And we know, yes, that women do not disclose. We know that you look at the intersection of that black women do not disclose, black trans women do not disclose, gay men do not, you know, disclose a lot of the times and that when they do, that they are treated with certain

disparities, right? What I am merely speaking to here is that what I am seeing is a failing of the law on the side of the victims in the criminal case, right? Because from what I can see, what Castor did previously was that he made a deal and he made a deal so that there would be some compensation in the civil space. Maybe he did not anticipate that this would come here, right? Because when you look at it from that perspective, I do agree with Scott. I do agree with Monique. You cannot make that kind of deal as an officer of the law and then come back 12 years later and some new person comes here and says, we're going to do something different. You're all acting on behalf of the state and so in that in in when you look at it from that perspective then then a decision was made that a lot of people from a legal perspective believe

was the right decision what i'm saying is a survivor what i'm saying is someone who works in a community of people who have been victimized, right? At higher rates and then do not disclose and do not have access. And when they do disclose are treated unfairly or not believed. We don't believe women, right? We don't. And we have a law, a legal system that reflects that. And so again, my point is, and it's the point I'm going to continually make, is that this was not this was this was a failing for the for for for the victims in this case. And there is enough blame to go around. Right. You know, one can argue that Castor should have never made that deal. And then somebody else will argue that he made the deal so that some person in the civil case could get some compensation, right?

We could argue that after that deal was made that, yes, that this case, you know, this could have been – the conviction could have been vacated, but then there should have been a new trial, right? And certainly people have made that. One of the judges who was in dissent said that, yes, we should have a new trial, but we should not be vacating this and making it so that it didn't happen at all. So even from the legal standpoint, there is some dissension on what the outcome should have been once it was decided

that the deal that was previously made should not have brought the disposition into the criminal case, that that was previously made should not have brought the disposition into the criminal case, that that was the wrong legal decision. That's what we're talking about. Right now, we are not talking about how the survivors are getting justice. And so that is why I am here, to make sure that we keep that at the forefront of our minds, that we do, in fact, need to work on this legal system. We need to have a legal system that does look at how do we have transformative and rehabilitative justice for those who are the victims of sexual assault and sexual violence. Scott, but in this case here, Scott, the jury did believe the women and all of the courts when it was appealed, it went through and through. And we went to the state Supreme Court.

And so to the point that Tanya makes, when you talk about justice, when you talk about justice for these women, how do we reconcile that with this decision by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court? Let me talk directly to Tanya, because as a former sex crimes prosecutor, I know I can never empathize with you because I'm not a survivor, but I can sympathize with you. This hurts. This is disappointing to all the survivors and all the advocates out there. But let me give you a perspective that hopefully I don't get too legal because I want you to honor this decision and respect it. You can feel the way you want.

But the reason I think you've got to honor and focus on your position and respect this decision is because the irony of this conversation is when we talk about due process rights, when we talk about hearsay violations and prior bad actors coming in, you're right, the criminal justice system doesn't work. And it usually works against us, people that look like us, right? And so today, the reason I think you have to find a way to respect and honor the Supreme Court decision, not because it's a technicality, but the law is imperfect. Yes, but it worked today because it said, I don't care who you are.

You've got to respect the due process rights. A deal is a deal. And you cannot renege on a deal simply because of new leadership. Otherwise, you violate the fundamental fairness and the goals and objectives and principles of the very criminal justice system that our system is based upon. And it is imperfect. But today it worked. And you want that system to work. You're never going to get justice for victims and get justice for people that look like us. You've got to continue to believe it's the best system we have,

but it is highly imperfect. You're going to get results like this, but if you honor those principles of the criminal justice system, we're going to make it better, because we want it to work for black folks, white folks, victims as well as defendants, because we've all bought into a social contract that we're going to accept rule of law,

and we're going to accept how the Supreme Court of this country implement it. We may not always like it, but it's one of the best things we've got. And I hope you can find a way to respect and honor this because hopefully this will make a difference in the lives of Black people and all people who come before the criminal justice system. Another thing that is getting overlooked in terms of government officers and agents with a good deal of discretion and discretionary authority is that this judge could have chosen to send Mr. Cosby home pending the appeal because he knew, like everybody in the legal community knew, that at least two of the decisions that he had made were going to make for an immediate appeal and highly controversial, and that's being the 404B evidence of the testimony of the other women and the decision

to not honor the promise made by former prosecutor Bruce Castor. So what happened instead is that Dr. Cosby was in prison for almost the entirety of the low end of his sentence for a case now that has been completely thrown out with a decision that there should not have been charges at all. So this, to me, should point to how much power our government agents have, upon their desire to adhere to their own rules and do what is fair across the board. Because there is no doubt in my mind that when we have different people, different race, different sex, we get different outcomes. And that is not what our Constitution is supposed to be about. Robert Petillo, attorney out of Georgia, you join us. I just got to get your thoughts on today's decision of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court regarding Bill Cosby. Well, Roland, I think what's important for people to remember is that when you hear lawyers giving an analysis of the facts, it's not personal opinion.

It is not a Scott or Monique or Robert are defending Cosby and they're against rape victims. It's not they are against men. They're not. We're telling you what the law is and what the law should be. And the reason that these cases are important is you have to put yourself in that situation if you were in a uh in a criminal proceeding where you were made assurances by the prosecution that your testimony would not be used against you and then they decided to use that exact testimony against you uh that is the dispassionate legal response that people have to understand this is a due process question it is a an integrity of the legal system question. And while in the instant case, it may not provide the most closure to the victims, we should understand that in order for our system to maintain any legitimacy, we have to have apparatuses to cure those defects in the law

and understand that though this is a technicality, it is important that if it was you, that you would want to have a court system that will be able to overturn an unjust verdict against you, whether it's on a technicality or not. It's about the integrity of the system, not the particulars of the instant case and your personal feelings about guilt or innocence, but whether or not the system can function correctly. Farhaji Muhammad, there's been a lot of conversation. This blew up on social media real quick. I just want to get your immediate thoughts to the reaction of this decision by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Yeah, I mean, I'm listening to everybody, Brother Rowling.

But one of the big questions I'm asking is, what is the impact that this is going to make on the culture? What is this impact that this is going to make on the conversations around sexual assault, especially to women of color. And so when we have these conversations, I think that, and I'm hearing Monique, I'm hearing Scott, I'm hearing Robert, and I'm saying to myself, I understand all of those things. But when we are living in a time where the conversation, where the culture is necessitating much larger

and bigger conversations about sexual assault, whether it's to women, whether it's to, you know, within the LGBTQIA plus communities or wherever, then we have to look at this and say, okay, what is it that we can take away from this moment to ensure both the victims as well as the legal folks that there is going to be some level of justice one of the things that I'm not hearing is the fact of okay so what happens to the women that did make a statement not Andre constant okay there was some discrepancies with her her story her her recollection of the event but But what about the other one?

And are we saying that, and I think this is going to be, this kind of case makes it a little bit harder for women to be believed. And Momik, you can certainly correct me on this, but I've read a piece of data that says that most women are victims of sexual assault. Only about 4% of those who go through the process to try to get there, the rapist or the assault person convicted,

only about 4% of those cases actually lead to a conviction out of 100. So you mean 96% of those cases aren't being, you know, thrown out because of various legal issues or the victims are not speaking out and all of those cases aren't being thrown out because of various legal issues or the victims are not speaking out and all of those things. So this case, even though that it is because of a previous agreement between prosecutors, there is a cultural milestone that this case carries because it still speaks about women's voices. It still speaks about victim rights. It still speaks about women's voices. It still speaks about victim rights. It still speaks about the power of celebrity. It still speaks about the fact that you have a man who is not, quote unquote, punished because of the wrong thing he's done.

Now, are we saying that Mr. Cosby never did anything wrong in regards to using drugs to get sex from women? Because if that is the question, I think we have to ask ourselves that question. And I'm not saying we can answer it today. But if we have to ask ourselves the question, if we don't ask that question, are we saying that he has no victims at all? Because, OK, it might not be Andrea Constand, but it could be somebody else. And if it is even just one person, should he not be punished for that and for that violation?

I want to bring in right now comedian Joe Torre. First of all, Tanya Fields was with us. She had another meeting, and so we lost her And we're still having some technical issues on my end Hopefully y'all can still hear me The video is problematic, but we'll figure that out

Joe Torre You have been one of the few comedic voices Who remain steadfast By Bill Cosby's side Attending trial as well Your reaction to Today's developments in Pennsylvania? I mean, today, to me, because really listening to everything that went on, and that's why I went,

and I was invited to go see the trial. And I think a lot of stuff is distorted. If you wasn't really in there sitting hours, watching them find people lying uh finding that whatever bill said and whatever's in that deal which is you know you had the privilege to be there that he was truthful he was truthful from day one now how the public how the media wanted to distort that and put it out like oh he dropped the man no i was there to hear detail by detail what went down. And just on that particular case, the other 50, 60 women they're talking about, no, I was just there to hear that particular case so I can have the truth for myself. So if I'm ever, or any of my friends, or anybody's ever caught in a situation where the justice system is not on their side, or it can be a little bit misconstrued,

or if somebody has the power, because you're missing the point. People say Peele Gosby had a lot of power. Well, look at the power that the people had to do that to him. Make people lie, online, really in court, and the media to cover it up over and over again. Because if you were there to read and hear exactly what went down, and I was actually there, I went to the estate and watched. You just looked at the area for yourself to see it went down. It was a consistent thing. I was there for two days to hear the trial for my own recognizance. You can call it whatever you want to, supported Bill Cosby, my frat brother, a black man, a brother, a legend, a king, or just to hear for the victims, just to hear from the other side of people that

been through it. I just want to hear for my own self-determination, my own confirmation of, if I ever talk about this, I'd have the truth to talk about it. I was there to really hear, well, why did they have to lie? And why did three people, why did they get kicked out? And why if you, you know, why aren't you reporting what actually happened? People actually think that Bill Cosby snuck a drink or stuck something in your drink and forced you to do this. No, everything was conceptual. Everything was, you want this? I got it. You beat this, you need this, boom. People knew, okay, you know, they tried to make it seem like he was actually out there doing something to her. And this was like a little relationship they had. Now, this is only speaking on this case.

I can't speak on any other case that was done or any other event that they said happened. But this particular trial, which I think should have been thrown out because of the fact that if I if I told you on paper everything that happened and now you want to go through there and make your own story and make it seem like I was a monster. Then it was on me for telling you the whole story. And that's how I perceived that, which was in faith and in good faith. He told everything that happened and he felt like a dirty old man. But it just ran its course over the years and an opportunity perceived itself and people used it to use him as an advantage or as a message. And I think all of this is a learning tool for everybody. No matter what situation you're in, you have to think about who you are, where you're going and what the world or what society can do to you. And if you don't have enough money, you don't have enough props, or whatever you did in the past,

sometimes it can come back on you. And if you don't have the right team, and it's not the right time, you can get really screwed in the wrong way. Now, what they did mention is the fact that, yes, he didn't have to go to jail, but he did serve at least a lower time of that tenure, almost three years, which for an 80-something year old man, it has to be like 20. And I just felt for, okay, whatever it did, I mean, to imprison him and him to accept everything they gave him. I mean, what else do people want? What else do you want to see him do? Admit it. I did the time. I'm out here, but I did a whole lot good for whatever you said I did bad. Now, can you balance that? No, but it is a, I think it's a learning lesson for everybody. No matter how big you are, how big you think you are, how small you think you are, you have a chance to fight.

You have a chance to make yourself the hero, the victim, or be victorious and all. But what are we all walking away from? At least the system is working. At least the system works for somebody like us at this particular time. And not, you know, I'm telling you, not sliding anybody that's a victim and then a victim of any of these discs, because I would never, ever do that. And I never condone the fact that somebody would do this to somebody just for sex and to gain any upper hand on whatever their demonic situation is or whatever their mood was. It goes both ways. And I just pray that everybody gets a piece or a sense of mind that, OK, if I do have

a voice that can be heard and if I was wrongly confused, I mean, convicted or something, then, you know, I can be set free. Well, the point there that that he is making, that Joe is making there, Scott, is not what you're seeing. You are seeing a much different reaction. And the reality is whether or not Bill Cosby was free today or not, in the eyes of many, he is he is a rapist. He is a sexual assaulter. And that is not going to go away regardless of today's decision. Yeah, but he certainly is not a sex offender in the eyes of the law. And he does not have a criminal record in the eyes of the law. I think, Roland, you got it right early on in this broadcast when we first started talking about this, is you've got these two buckets,

right? You've got the law and the implementation of the law that usually works against people that look like you and me, but it worked today, and you've got to honor and respect that. The other bucket is those who feel like somehow he cheated the system, but Bill Cosby didn't cheat the system. He's the subject of the system, and if they want to cast aspersions or anger towards someone, it's that second prosecutor who decided not to do the deal that Castro put on the table. And again, I go back to, you can't be angry at Castro because Castro determined there wasn't enough evidence to criminally prosecute him. And so as a result, he said, I'm not going to prosecute you, but because I'm not, you can waive your Fifth Amendment.

There's a civil justice system that we all forget about, whether it's police brutality cases or not, that criminal justice system isn't going to change what happened. Civil justice isn't going to change what happened. But in another civil justice system, you can certainly get paid, and that's what the complaining witness in this particular case did, got paid. And so if anyone's going to be angry at anyone, they ought to cast their anger at the second prosecutor who decided to go forward and ran his campaign on prosecuting Bill Cosby. And I think Joe Torre is right also. If you really get into this, you will see that it was not him being this predator that the press has made him out to be. There's ample evidence whereby he either had prior relationships

or that they were aware that they were doing these drugs or that he had access to these drugs and what have you. I'm not saying that makes him right. I'm saying in certain cases, right, the prior relationship, which is tough to prove in sexual harassment cases or criminal cases where there's a prior relationship or whether women even want to go forward. But when there's a prior relationship it gets really really difficult to convict anyone it just does because of the facts Monique I know you have to go soon and

so I want to go to you you know on here and this is the thing that often happens because what you're dealing with here is you're dealing with celebrity. You're dealing with a rich man. You're dealing with, again, when things go to the appeals process. I think about Klaus von Bulo. I think about other cases where somebody was convicted. And then once it goes to appeal, it's a different sort of standard. That is that that that that is. But the reality is this year, there is the court, there's the court of law and there's the court of public opinion.

And in the court of law, Bill Cosby's free is sitting at home. You still have the court of public opinion. And what Tonya was talking about, what Faraji was talking about. All of those things are still happening in the court of opinion. And to Robert's point, which you made and Scott made, is that the reality is when you're a lawyer, look, you operate in both worlds. You live in the real world, but you also or you abide by that legal world? Yes. What I have been struggling for a number of years, not just regarding this case, but others as just a career criminal defense attorney and trying to really get people to understand is that it's not good for anyone, for someone, no matter what they did or what you think they did, for someone to be punished and convicted for something they did not do. It's not, as your

other guest was referencing, shouldn't there still be some punishment, even if it wasn't Andrea Constant? Well, I mean, the trial was Ms. Constant. And so we should not want to be able to swap out justice or favor or punishment or consequences, because, you know, I mean, which one of us hasn't sinned? That simply doesn't work. Am I saying that everyone is a murderer?

Everyone is a child abuser? Everyone is a racist? That all people commit those kinds of crimes? No, what I am saying is that in our system, we depend on things being proven, and the Constitution for a reason requires the highest burden of proof. In the Constitution for a reason, and state legislation requires that things be done in a certain amount of time so that it is fair to the person who's being accused. So the notion that justice in a legal sense can work when any person who has not been

rightfully convicted serve out a sentence, I believe that we should detach ourselves from that in terms of our emotions and our desire to see justice done. If what we truly want is for our system to work, then, and I know this is my 15,000 times saying it, it has to work the same for everybody. Amen. But the reality of us, so again, Monique Presley, we appreciate it. Thank you for joining us on today's show.

Faraji, I'm gonna go to you then, I'm gonna go to Faraji, I'm gonna go to you, then Joe, Tori, then Robert. Faraji, the reality is, that's not how it works in the court of public opinion. And I think this is going to play out. You already see what is happening right now where lots of criticism being leveled at Felicia Allen Rashad, who played Bill Cosby's wife on the Cosby show. You've got people who are demanding that she be fired as the dean of the College of Finance at Howard University because she sent a tweet out saying, finally, a terrible wrong is being righted. A miscarriage of justice is corrected.

That sent out five hours ago. Two hours ago, three hours after her first tweet, she then sent this out. I fully support survivors of sexual assault coming forward. My post was in no way intended to be insensitive to their truth. Personally, I know from friends and family that such abuse has lifelong residual effects. My heartfelt wish is for healing. Now, that first tweet that she sent out, retweeted 32,000 times, like

11,800 times. That second tweet, retweeted 2,905 times, like 2,802 times, and now, again, people are demanding, how university? What are you going to do? And so it's a lot of stuff

that's going on. And this is why I talk about the court of public opinion. Let's break it down. That message, the first tweet is going to be the message that people get from her. It's unfortunate. It's not fair, but that's the

message that people are going to get from Felicia Rashad. Now, should she step down because she supported Bill? She supported Bill Cosby before she became dean. So that's that's nothing new. She was she has worked with him for many, many years. She's known him. They're personal friends. This is this nothing new.

So I don't think she should be punished for support. Otherwise, we can go down the litany of people that we have that may not be looked upon favorably in a court of public opinion. And some of us can you know, we shouldn't be held liable for supporting somebody. But I think that that's the that's the problem, that this type of situation. And again, this is a legal matter. This is a legal process. But at the same time, it's a cultural process. It's a cultural conversation. It's a conversation about victim rights. It's a conversation about celebrity.

And I'm not asking, I know Monique has stepped away, so I can't, I'm not going to address that, the point of how she said that we can't swap it out. You're right. We can't swap it out. But what I do want us to keep in mind is that this this type of case is triggering on many, many levels. And I'm sorry, I just cannot fully see, quote unquote, victory. You know, Scott, I respect your your your your knowledge as an attorney. I have to disagree with you on saying that this is a victory for us because many of us, we grew up watching Bill Cosby. He served as a role model. So regardless of whether you agree or disagree or where you stand on this particular case, the fact is we are all disappointed because this man who served as a role model for many of us and for some of us who may not have had a father

figure in our life and all of those things. We came to see him when he spoke, we listened. I mean, this is just a disappointing situation all around from the supporters and to those who don't support Bill Cosby from the victims. It's all of it. It's all of it. So there, I personally, it might be a victory for law, but I'm saying that in terms of the people, this is not a victory. I don't see this as a victory. What I do see is that this is an opportunity for us to go deeper. As much talk that we have about sexual assault policies in this country have not caught up to the top. So we don't have legal protection for the protection of women's bodies. We don't have any type of social protection. Women are put on display. The agency of their body has been removed from women. They can't make choices about having children and not. I mean, we are still far beyond or still way behind, rather, victory because women are oppressed.

Women are and I'm speaking of in America, women are not given the right to make decisions about their own bodies. Whereas men, we can do that. So there's still a lot of work to be done. And I'm saying that at the end of the day, this case has to open up different conversations. Yes, Bill Cosby can go home today as he has done, but will the victims find healing? Yeah. Scott, Scott, Scott, then Robert. And, and, and, and, and also folks, uh, let me real clear, uh, just understand, Tanya Fields, who was on earlier, she hit the drop. Monique Presley hit the drop. So don't think for a second that I'm not cognizant of the fact that we got six black men who are having this conversation.

No, I'm not. Two of our female guests dropped off, but I want to make that point. Scott, go ahead. Yeah, Faraji, I completely agree with you. You're absolutely right. My terminology for victory was clearly in the legal space. But here's the deal, Roland and Joe and Faraji. Maybe these buckets that we keep talking about, the victim rights and how they feel and this public court versus, you know,

opinion and legal opinion, maybe they're irreconcilable. Maybe they'll be debated for the rest of time we have on this earth. Certainly, and I'm not comparing the O.J. Simpson trial to this case, but it comes to mind in regard to a lot of other dynamics, but it comes to mind where people still probably debate the issue of guilt or innocence in that case. They will certainly continue to publicly debate, because the court has ruled, publicly debate whether Cosby was guilty or innocent or whether this was some type of justice done by the courts. Let's not forget, he served three years. Time served, if you will. It's not like he walked away scot-free.

And while you call it a technicality or just true justice because his due process rights were violated and the court elected to cure that wrong, maybe this is the dialogue, Faraji, you're talking about. And maybe from this dialogue of these two buckets comes some resolution. I don't think we'll get it on this show. I don't think we'll get it in the next 30 days or so. But maybe at some point, this dialogue can merge or reconcile these two buckets, and we can move forward in a better way, protecting young women, protecting their bodies, protecting their rights when they are sexually assaulted or sexually abused. Robert, then Joe.

Of these issues into one space and the court system is just in the in our proposed venue to handle these conversations. Well, what the court system is supposed in the inopportune venue to handle these conversations. Well, what the court system is supposed to do is call balls and strikes to make sure that the statutes and the laws are carried out and the way that they are intended to provide justice within the framework of our system. So lawyers are not the people you want to talk to about making moral judgments upon the system. Judges are not the people you want to talk to about uh curing the harms of society and legislative issues it's reason we have three branches of government uh hold on robert hold on you're saying we can't put that responsibility on on judges no i mean i mean why can't we hold on just make more decisions listen to what i. Laws are made by the legislature. You take those issues up in the legislature because

that is a co-equal branch of government which is there to create law. You do not want judges judging by judicial fiat on the bench because then you have arbitrary decision making which means that there's a different decision made for me because I have a purple shirt on versus you because you have a white shirt on because you give the judges that power.

This is why I'm saying that we're in different venues. You have an executive branch. You have a legislative branch. You have a judicial branch. Within the judicial branch, you have the prosecution. You have the defendant. And you have the judges. Those buckets cannot – it's like Ghostbusters.

You can never cross streams on those things because then you end up with inaproposal results. So we're looking to the judges to do what the state legislature or the city council or the governor or the Congress should be doing to fight out these battles. So when you understand the proper venues for these things to take place in, then you can understand, then it gets us to a place where we're having the proper conversation, which is on this question of due process. Lawyers can often be disconnected from the emotions of things because you see them all the time. I've had this happen to clients before, where a junior prosecutor or assistant district attorney will make a plea agreement with you. You'll sign off on all the paperwork. You'll make all of your attestations. Then the senior district attorney will come in and say, no, I don't believe I don't agree with any of that. And then they will change the agreement at the last minute.

And then there's very little you can do if you do not have the resources of someone like a Bill Cosby to be able to fight it through the appeal system. Many people are sitting in jail right now because they were had a public defender trial or their grandma put up the house in order to get a trial attorney to try to save the grandbaby, but then they did not have money to fight it on appeal. They did not have money to take it all the way to the Supreme Court. So when we're talking about perfecting the judicial system from the inside out, we have to look within the lines on the playing field. There's a reason. How about we try this, Robert? How about we try this? We often say, let's fix the system. How come we can't fix the attitudes that create the policies that serves as the foundations for the system? That's why we don't start with people. How come we don't start with people before we start with institutions and systems?

That is a great discussion to have. That is not the discussion to have in a courtroom. That is not a discussion to have with the judges. That is not a discussion to have with the lawyers. That is a discussion to have at the ballot box. That's a discussion to have with your state legislature by lobbying and making sure you have politicians in place that can change state laws

so you can change municipal policies so you can make sure you have a police chief that has a specific department that deals with sexual assault cases so you can change the municipal policies so you can make sure you have a police chief that has a specific department that deals with sexual assault cases so you can change employment uh employment uh laws to make sure that women can complain about sexual harassment work that is the venue to do that what i'm saying is that in the in this particular discussion within the four walls of the decision that was made today is a question of whether or not somebody has due process rights and whether or not those are respected by prosecutors or prosecutors are using deceitful tactics in order to get confessions out of people and then using that to convict them down

the line and contravention of their right to confront the testimony and their right to defense and those sorts of things. Those are the rights that are defended in the courtroom. So I'm not diminishing anything you're saying. I'm simply saying that the rights that are defended in the courtroom. So I'm not diminishing anything you're saying. I'm simply saying that you have to fight it in the right venue. I do want to get a final comment from Joe Torre here. Joe, obviously

Bill Cosby is free, but the reality is he is he will be labeled and branded a serial sexual assaulter for the rest of his life. That will be a part of what his legacy is. Do you do you think that Bill Cosby, now that he's free, have to spend some time at home? Do you think he returns to the comedy stage? I mean, basically, you know, and I love it. I appreciate everybody that's been on this panel today for women that are not here and everybody that participated in doing this and everybody that's watching.

People have to understand that the most powerful thing you own is your own mind. What you believe and what you don't want to believe, what you are addicted to and what is your fantasy and what is your hate and your pain for the day? And we kind of live in a system where we either offer relief from that or we pour fuel on that. I think Beal is one of those situations where as a king in the business and in life, you're going to have chapters that are you know, they're not going to be so good for you. You know, nations and you have some type of generations that come for you. At the end of the day, I only came here for the truth and everybody wants the truth. And unless you was really in that trial room, you didn't hear the truth. You only heard the

edited versions of what somebody else's narrative would be. So if that would be you, you would want 100% respect and support from everybody that believed in you. The first thing I did was, you know, I go back to the Bible. Where were you when I was sick, when I was at my worst, when I was in jail? Were you there for me? Because we know everybody was there when you're at your best. So I'm at my worst. Where are you? And the system sometimes, if you're caught up in it, no matter what color you are, whenever you believe in, it's all in your own mind whether you believe they're free, you're free, or somebody's a victim. I knew that that trial was thrown out because it was made up.

A lot of people were lying. And I was there for the truth, and I got the truth. Now, if that's not what they're putting out there, you can hate Bill all you want to. He did his time. You can hate me for being here and everybody on this panel is giving our opinion. I have three sisters. I have one that was raped. The guy that did it, he's dead now. So my thing is, hey, anybody tell me you raped them and I'm in the family, I'm coming for you. Not 40 years later, not 30 years later, not two weeks later, tonight, next week, whenever you tell me. So whatever this is to protect the black queen, women, and this is not even about just women. This is about anybody being subdued to be raped, a man, a pig, a dog, anybody. Anybody put in situations where the crazy mind think that they can take advantage of you should be punished.

And I don't condone that. But there's no reward. There's nothing you can give me if you did something that gross to me, that I want to be drug out in a court or I want the public to say, okay, now I'm relieved of that. There's nothing you can do for me. I'm saying there's not a bill you can pay. You know what I'm saying? And I know the bill that you can pay for that. And that's what I'll do, but that'll be my own personal business. So I say, I hope everybody learns something from all of this, because it's a learning tool. That's why we have this great new field of this, you know, internet where everybody can talk and feel and get their own points across. So if you're in any situation, you know, are out in any level because everybody's

here and it can be in that same situation. On the other side is microphone, on the side of that camera. And you would hope that somebody would hear your truth. Is Roland still there? I think Roland might be frozen. We still have some issues here. Joe Torre, I appreciate it, man. Thanks a lot. Thank you. Do you hear me? I'm out. Yep, we hear you. Thank you so very much.

Folks, if you missed earlier, there was a news conference outside of Bill Cosby's home where his representative spoke and we want to show that to you Here it is Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We love you, Mr. Conce. We love you, sir. We love you, sir. We know it. We know it. We know it.

So we're going to move it. We knew it. We knew it. Just move over just a little bit. Don't miss me. Don't miss me. Can you take the pole? Don't miss me. Don't miss me. Can you take the pole inside? You can take this inside if you want. Right here. 204. 222. Okay everybody.

We want to thank the Pennsylvania State Supreme Court for reviewing Mr. Cosby's appeal, but also seeing the Navy, but he served our country in so many different ways through his celebrity, him and Mrs. Cosby. Mr. Cosby has always used his celebrity, his name, his likeness, to uplift women. This is a man who refused to perform at the White House with Nixon. Nixon put him on a copy a communist list in the 60s along with so many other great names like Dick Gregory,

Jane Fonda. How could a man who was being watched by the FBI every day be raping and drugging women in the 60s and 70s, especially a black man? Today, innocence came to Mr. Cosby with the help of these wonderful attorneys.

To his right, you will see Ms. Jennifer Blondine. She argued to appeal. To my left, you see Brian Perry. To Brian's left, Ashley Cohen. And then you have these are women and men from all walks of life. As I said earlier, James Brown made a song. It's a man's world. There would be nothing without a woman, a girl. Mrs. Cosby was that one. 57 years, the queen, the matriarch of the Cosby family, who fought for his vindication, who said he would be vindicated.

And today, on this hot day, this is a hot verdict for us that we will forever cherish because we got one of the greatest or the greatest entertainer alive today, Mr. Bill Cosby, this great American citizen, this American treasure, this icon with us today. I'm going to allow Ms. Bungeen to say a few words. Ms. Bungeen? Yes. Obviously, we are thrilled to have Mr. Cosby home. He served three years of an unjust sentence.

Too long, too long. And he did it with dignity and principle, and he was a mentor to other inmates. He was really, as I say, doing the time. The time was not doing him. He's a classy man. And I want to say this about the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. They demonstrated that they were impervious to the court of public opinion, which frankly, the lower courts were not. Mr. Cosby, we knew all along he never should have been prosecuted for this.

He had every right to rely on the prosecutor's word. And they pulled the rug out from underneath him because of politics, because of the court of public opinion. And that is not how our system should operate. When that happens, there cannot be a just sentence. And if there had been a just verdict and a just sentence, we wouldn't be here fighting. But there was not a just sentence and not a just verdict. And I think it's really important that we keep our eye on the ball, that our Constitution is sacred,

and that we need to uphold it at all times and i'm glad that the pennsylvania supreme court saw the video right up here i'm very proud of the team that we put together uh very proud to be part of this case uh we always thought that eventually this is where it would end up mr cosby and i had many many talks over the last couple years i predicted it and we're here it's a good day for the Cosby family. Mr. Cosby, how does it feel to be home? Well, he is extremely happy to be home. He looks forward to reuniting with his wife and his children. And obviously this has been a hard three years for this entire family. And it's really a blessing for him. And he says his heart is just beating really fast, and he's happy to be here. And we have Ashley here who works on the case.

Ashley, say a few words. Ashley Cohen. I'm just honored to be part of such an amazing team. These lawyers did an incredible, incredible job. And I was so thankful to be a part of it and to help Mr. Cosby. And I'm just proud to be here and watch him get released. And this wonderful attorney Haley, you see right here, I'm sorry, her father was in prison with Mr. Cosby and he sent a message to Mr. Cosby before he left today for her. Say a few words.

He did. He said that he loved me very me very much. What's your father's name? Richard. Richard. I in return love him very, very much in return. And I was glad that Mr. Cosby and got to know each other while we were together. And I'm blessed and so grateful to be here to see Mr. Cosby be released. And in closing, this was a unwanted three year vacation that Mr. Cosby never actually. But in hindsight, we're happy that he got it because he was able to pull the covers off of the corruption in Montgomery County with the crooked DA, with the crooked judge, stealing O'Neal. These same people fined this man, this American citizen. I don't know how a DA has that much time on his hands to fine him $2,010 for not cutting his yard. I was on the way to pay that fine when I got a call from Nick DeHatt.

And Nick told me that they had vacated the conviction. You know, what we saw today was justice. Justice for all Americans. Mr. Cosby's conviction being overturned is for the world and all Americans who have been treated unfairly by the judicial system and some bad officers, because all officers are not bad. So we want to thank this entire team. We want to thank Mrs. Cosby, her family.

I want to thank my family and just thank you all for those who decided to tell the truth and allowed us to tell the truth when we had the opportunity. Thank you. How are you feeling? Give us a few words. Do you have anything to say? Mr. Cosby, how are you feeling? Are you happy to be out?

Great. Great. Nick, you better do right by him when you make this video. I'm telling you. And let the white people do it. You better do it right, Nick. I'm not playing with you, Nick. You better tell the real story, Nick.

Don't play around. I mean it. You better not do this for money, Nick. You better tell the real story, Nick. I'm not playing with you, Nick. You better tell the truth. All right, folks. That was the news conference a little bit earlier. Bill Cosby speaking there. I want to get final comments on this.

Final thoughts on this story for you first. Yeah, I think the final comment is this whole this whole situation has put black people and has put women in a crossroads. I mean, you want to believe that the system will continue to work. You want to believe in justice. I mean, we've had multiple conversations about justice in this country because of everything from George Floyd to this situation. But at the same time, it also has caused us to kind of stop and figure out, okay, what is the next step? What is going to be the best course of action for people? And as much as we talk about, and I heard Mr. Cosby's attorney often talking about, he's being an American citizen, an American citizen. Black folks still, we still want to believe that America, the American judicial system has something to offer to us by way of right decisions and right judgments.

And I just want to say that it's a hard place for us to be when we get a little victory here and we don't see victory in other places. It's a hard place for us to be. and it's like a form of social schizophrenia because we want to believe but sometimes the reality won't allow us to believe and so this is this is where we are right now but the best course of action is for us to help people to empower themselves so that way we can create better policies that will undergird these corrupt policies and the judicial system and other systems well i think it's important for us to understand that if there are unjust laws, the best course of action is to change those laws. So that means to turn out in elections.

Make sure you're concentrating on who is being elected to judge, who's being elected to DA, and also to work in your state legislature. Well, very often we get a lot of excitement around national elections, around the presidential elections or the congressional elections. We have to concentrate on who your state representative is, who your county commissioner is, who your state senator is, your alderman, your wardsman, because they're the ones who are going to be making those laws on the state and local level that will really be impacting you. And I think this is a great place where you can concentrate on judicial reform and reforms on the criminal justice system to ensure that if you feel this was an injustice on either side, that you create laws and procedures where it cannot happen again. The United States judicial system is something that is always a work in progress,

and the way that it progresses is by the people being involved. Scott Bolden. Yeah, you know, I was listening to the press conference and um you know as you know i'm a former new york prosecutor and i've been doing white collar criminal defense for the last 30 years every one of my clients i ask before they go in and when they come out i ask this one question roland what are you going to do with the rest of your life? Because this is just a segment. This is just a photograph of where you are right now. And prison has a way of making everyone reflective. Some join religions like a lot of people do when they go in and come out of prison. But Bill Cosby has a lot to do with this narrative that's going to follow his vacated criminal judgment, what he says and what he does with the rest of his life. I don't know what that narrative is going to be. He's had a lot of time

to think about it, but he'll have a lot to say, I think, and his actions will have a lot to say about women's rights and victims' rights and kind of the Me Too movement. I think his reflections will be powerful. I hope they don't disappoint because solitude and prison and these moments you have, I believe the higher being gives us those moments to be reflective and to figure out what's next and to really listen to him and what he wants us to do. I think it'll be interesting to watch Bill Cosby and what his first interview is, what his next steps are. And I think that'll have a lot to do with what we pull from those two buckets we've talked about, the criminal case and the social reaction and the public opinion.

All right, folks, I got to go to a break. I'm having some still some issues. You can hear me. You can't see me. I have no idea what the hell is going on. But we're going to go to a break. We'll be back on Roland Martin Unfiltered in a moment. You want to support Roland Martin Unfiltered?

Be sure to join our Bring the Funk fan club. Every dollar that you give to us supports our daily digital show. There's only one daily digital show out here that keeps it black and keep it real. As Roland Martin Unfiltered, support the Roland Martin Unfiltered daily digital show. There's only one daily digital show out here that keeps it black and keep it real as Roland Martin Unfiltered. Support the Roland Martin Unfiltered daily digital show by going to RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. Our goal is to get 20,000 of our fans contributing 50 bucks each for the whole year. You can make this possible. RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. I believe that people our age have lost the ability to focus the discipline on the art of organizing. The challenges, there's so many of them and they're complex.

And we need to be moving to address them. But I'm able to say, watch out Tiffany, I know this road. That is so freaking dope. the power and the backbone to keep you standing through it all. I'm running for Congress because you deserve a leader who will stand up fearlessly on your behalf. Together, we will deliver Medicare for all. Good jobs that pay a living wage and bold justice reform. I'm Nina Turner, and I approve this message. George Floyd's death hopefully put another nail in the coffin of racism. You talk about awakening America. It led to a historic summer of protest.

I hope our younger generation don't ever forget that nonviolence is soul force, right? Nonviolence is Tim Story, director of Shad. You're watching Rolling Martin. What up, y'all? This is Method Man, Mighty Mutant Clan. You're watching Uncle Rolling Martin and the show is unfiltered. Make sure y'all tune in. Mark Ingram, you suck! Once when I'm bareheaded But you're dying this place And your memory erases Oh say us this true hope That the truth will come anyway Oh, take us this true hope True love Thank you. Yeah!

That was solid everybody! Here we go! Let's go. I love you, it's all in me Anything you want, baby, it's a natural thing I love you, it's all in me I need you all the time, every little thing you say Oh yeah! so so I'm born and raised in Houston. Well, your show is in D.C. I'm watching, baby. I'm paying attention.

I love what you do for the brothers. I appreciate it. I like how you defend the Democrats. Well, you know, but when they wrong, I'm going to baby. I'm paying attention. I love what you do for the brothers. I appreciate it. I like how you defend the Democrats. Well, you know, but when they wrong, I'm going to get in that behind. You don't take no sides, but you hold it down. And I appreciate you for that. Well, somebody got to swing on. Thank you.

Swing on. Keep swinging. All day. Thank you. All right, folks. The 2021 Essence Festival of Culture taking place. You can watch it Friday, Saturday, Sunday, July 2nd through the 4th. Please do so. All right, y'all.

The University of North Carolina board of trustees has just voted, actually a little bit earlier today, to grant tenure to Nicole Hannah-Jones, a 9-4 vote. Remember, they sort of chose not to do so. That led to a huge uproar. Donors began to say, I'm good. We out. Well, now it's nine to four. No word if she's going to actually take the job. Scott, this was a big brouhaha. White folks, conservatives are really upset with the 1619 Project. They're a little mad that we now get an opinion about how America was created. And so they tried to smack her down, offering her this other sort of job.

She said, I ain't taking that one. Y'all got tenure. I would I would dare say this nine to four vote. The grand tenure is also a result of them not want to get their asses sued. Well, that's probably true. She is a terrific lady. Morehouse just gave her an honorary degree, I believe in humane letters. I serve on the board of Morehouse. And had time, had chance to spend time with her. She is just terrific. She knows herself. She is true to herself. And I'm not surprised that she turned them down and hopefully will accept the tenure. We'll wait to see that. But that's the

truth. You're talking about 1619 and white folks not wanting to talk about slavery and the reality of America. Somehow white people think that talking about slavery and racial oppression, which is part of our American culture and the history of this country, right? And failed promises to people who look like you and me, somehow they lose something by telling the truth. And yet in 2043, we're going to be a country of color, which are the very people that they want to suppress telling the truth about. It's undeniable. They can't outrun it. And so this whole critical race theory nonsense is just that. All we want to do is tell the truth and the whole truth and nothing but the truth. So help me God. Faraji.

I totally agree with Scott on this one. Absolutely. I mean, she deserves it. The project was groundbreaking, especially for it to be carried in a major national publication. But I think even more so than that, it got the conversation started once again about our history from our perspective. And I agree with what Scott on the whole critical race conversation. will never get to a progressive state if it can't even confront the reality of white supremacy, of racism, of the transatlantic slave trade. It will never get to any place. And I think that part of it, because of a cultural perspective, part of it seems like since we are having these conversations on social media since somebody whether it's the president or any other person may acknowledge it that it's done with i remember roland um reading

a piece of last year when uh and i forgot the publication but it was mentioned that when we have used the term racial reckoning and describing the protest of 2020, the author was making a point, there is no reckoning until something is actually being done. And I think that that is the big part of this as a community organizer, as one that has worked with various communities. It's, you know, the acknowledgement is only the beginning. But if there are policy changes, if there are some something substantial that people can hold on to, that our children will be able to benefit and gain from, then we can say there is a reckoning. But just acknowledging it, just saying, oh, it's white supremacy. Oh, we need to we need to disrupt systemic racism. That's not enough because look at where the country is. I mean, look at where the institutions are. We can say all of those things.

But for example, we could talk about bad policing. But unless there is you, you know, you push for what the George Floyd Justice for Policing Act, then what are we talking about here? Absolutely. Well, we'll see what happens on that one. I do want to go ahead and give a shout out. Some history was made. The first black head of the U.S. Forestry Service. That announcement was made. His name is Randy Moore.

He will lead the Forestry Service, overseeing the 193 million acres of public land. He previously served as a regional forester in the california-based pacific southwest region uh he was responsible for 18 national forests in california and hawaii he's been leading the response to the increase in catastrophic wildfires in california and he will collaborate with the outgoing head of the department to combat the upcoming severe wildlife season in the west so we certainly certainly want to shout out Randy Moore, the new U.S. Forest Chief,

the first U.S. Forest Service Chief, the first African-American serving in that position. Again, folks, earlier today, we had a total system meltdown, but it's all good. So here's what's happening. Today's our last day in our old offices. Tomorrow we move into our new space. We're getting everything all straightened out. And so I can't wait for us to begin to broadcast from our new location. It's going to be fabulous. And so I can't wait to get to see it as well. So I'm going to cut the show short today. It's a bunch of people I want to thank.

I want to thank, obviously, Scott Faragi. Faragi, first time being on our panel here. I'm rolling my own filter. The course was on TV One News One Now. You're going to be seeing a lot more of him on the show. So I certainly appreciate it. I want to thank Monique Preston for joining us, Tanya Fields, Joe Torrey, being with as well. All talking about the Bill Cosby case.

Folks, that is it. If you want to support what we do, please join our Bring the Funk fan club. Every dollar you give goes to support this show. You can join us, of course, Cash App, Dollar Sign, RM Unfiltered, PayPal.me, 4 slash, or Martin Unfiltered, Venmo.com, it's 4 slash, RM Unfiltered. Zelle is rolling at

rollingsmartin.com or rolling at rollingmartinunfiltered.com. Folks, we certainly appreciate it. Thank you so very much. Sorry for all the technical issues. Don't know what all the bugaboos were all about, but again, we're using StreamYard because we're not in studio. The entire show

is virtual, which is normally not how we do it. Our control room is down. Hopefully by Monday, hopefully by tomorrow, but I really think by Monday we'll have our control room completely back up, but we're not gonna be here Monday We're gonna have the day off and so I'm gonna see you guys tomorrow right here on Roland Martin unfiltered y'all. Take care you say you'd never give in to a meltdown never let kids toys take over the house and never fill your feed with kid photos.

You'd never plan your life around their schedule. Never lick your thumb to clean their face. And you'd never let them leave the house looking like less than their best. You say you'd never put a pacifier in your mouth to clean it. Never let them stay up too late. And never let them run wild through the grocery store. So when you say you'd never let them get into a car without you there, no, it can happen.

One in four hot car deaths happen when a kid gets into an unlocked car and can't get out. Never happens. Before you leave the car, always stop, look, lock. Brought to you by NHTSA and the Ad Council. I know a lot of cops. They get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This kind of starts that a little bit, man. We met them at their homes.

We met them at their recording studios. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an iHeart Podcast.