Commentary

News Outlet Plans Lawsuit to Obtain ‘Incriminating’ Emails Linked to Cosby Accuser’s Lawyer and Prosecutor

NNPA NEWSWIRE — YC News reported that the host of unreleased emails could shed light on any unsavory dealings between Troiani and Steele, including information that would suggest that Constand admitted to lying about the Cosby assault.

Published

5 years ago

February 19, 2019

Oakland Post

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

Prosecutors who won a conviction against Bill Cosby have refused a request from the owners of YC News for emails between Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele, who led the criminal prosecution against Cosby, and Delores Troiani, an attorney who represented Andrea Constand in her civil proceedings against Cosby. YC News is a Philadelphia-area news organization that covered both of the convicted comedian’s trials.

In an alert posted on its Facebook Page, YC News claimed the emails were so incriminating that they “could void Cosby’s sentence.” YC News’ parent company, Original Media Group Corporation, plans to file a federal lawsuit to obtain the emails.

YC News has said that it seeks the emails in order to gain additional insight into any prior relationship and/or information exchanged between Steele and Troiani that may have impacted the course of Cosby’s trial proceedings.

YC News pointed to a May 2016 federal hearing in which Troiani admitted under oath that she had worked with Steele when he was the acting Deputy District Attorney of Montgomery County, supplying his office with documents stored in her basement.

It’s unusual for a civil attorney to work alongside detectives and prosecutors during an ongoing and active criminal investigation, the news outlet argued. “It’s even more peculiar that Steele relied on information provided by a civil attorney representing Constand, who had used that information in a civil suit against Cosby.”

Troiani told Judge Eduardo C. Robreno that Steele visited her in July of 2015, asking for a copy of the Cosby file that had been used in the 2005 criminal investigation and civil suit.

Troiani stated that she had approximately ten boxes in her basement and that she handed them over to Steele.

Troiani didn’t know exactly what the boxes that she handed over to Steele contained, according to her court statements. “Can I recreate what I gave the D.A.’s Office? No.,” Troiani told Judge Robreno. “I have no idea.”

A few months later, and just ten days before the 2015 election that would determine Montgomery County, PA’s next District Attorney, a federal suit was filed against Steele’s opponent Bruce Castor. Castor was the District Attorney that declined to criminally charge Cosby in 2005.

A primary focus (some would say “the” primary focus) of Steele’s campaign messaging was Castor’s “poorly run” investigation of Cosby. The message was fueled by an ad campaign at least partially financed via a timely $45,000 donation from Steele’s brother.

YC News reported that the host of unreleased emails could shed light on any unsavory dealings between Troiani and Steele, including information that would suggest that Constand admitted to lying about the Cosby assault.

The emails were said to be a central part of dueling lawsuits between Castor and Constand, both of whom sued each other alleging defamation.

“[My] well-reasoned decision to not prosecute Cosby, based upon their client’s marked inconsistencies and behavior, would, apparently, serve to compromise Troiani’s …goals,” Castor said in court filings. “That Steele used evidence from a civil suit to build a criminal case, with Troiani’s help, is usually tough to do because of the different burdens of proof.”

YC News’ filing suggests that it was for that reason, the first jury in the 2017 Cosby trial failed to reach a verdict after 10 days of deliberation.

Quoting Troiani’s testimony that she provided material from other accusers to Steele for what would become two criminal trials of Cosby, YC News questioned why the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office lost portions of their own Cosby files.

The lost files caused them to rely on the records of Troiani, who was actively representing the accuser, Constand, in a separate civil suit against Castor, and the 2005 civil suit against Cosby.

Troiani stated in court filings that the files were returned to her at a later date “in far better shape than I had it — when I had it.”

Neither Steele’s office nor Cosby spokesman Andrew Wyatt returned messages left for comment.

Attempts to reach Troiani were unsuccessful.

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Commentary

Opinion: Lessons for Current Student Protesters From a San Francisco State Strike Veteran

How the nation’s first College of Ethnic studies came about, bringing together Latino, African American and Asian American disciplines may offer some clues as to how to ease the current turmoil on American college campuses over the Israel-Hamas war. After the deadline passed to end the Columbia University encampment by 2 p.m. Monday, student protesters blockaded and occupied Hamilton Hall in a symbolic move early Tuesday morning. Protesters did the same in 1968.

Published

5 days ago

May 3, 2024

Oakland Post

iStock Photo

By Emil Guillermo

After the deadline passed to end the Columbia University encampment by 2 p.m. Monday, student protesters blockaded and occupied Hamilton Hall in a symbolic move early Tuesday morning.

Protesters did the same in 1968.

That made me think of San Francisco State University, 1968.

The news was filled with call backs to practically every student protest in the past six decades as arrests mounted into hundreds on nearly two dozen campuses around the country.

In 1970, the protests at Kent State were over the Vietnam War. Ohio National Guardsmen came in, opened fire, and killed four students.

Less than two weeks later that year, civil rights activists outside a dormitory at Jackson State were confronted by armed police. Two African American students were killed, twelve injured.

But again, I didn’t hear anyone mention San Francisco State University, 1968.

That protest addressed all the issues of the day and more. The student strike at SFSU was against the Vietnam war.

That final goal was eventually achieved, but there was violence, sparked mostly by “outside agitators,” who were confronted by police.

“People used the term ‘off the pigs’ but it was more rally rhetoric than a call to action (to actually kill police),” said Daniel Phil Gonzales, who was one of the strikers in 1968.

Gonzales, known as the go-to resource among Filipino American scholars for decades, went on to teach at what was the positive outcome of the strike, San Francisco State University’s College of Ethnic Studies. It’s believed to be the first of its kind in the nation. Gonzales recently retired after more than 50 years as professor.

As for today’s protests, Gonzales is dismayed that the students have constantly dealt with charges of antisemitism.

“It stymies conversation and encourages further polarization and the possibility of violent confrontation,” he said. “You’re going to be labeled pro-Hamas or pro-terrorist.”

That’s happening now. But we forget we are dealing not with Hamas proxies. We are dealing with students.

Gonzales said that was a key lesson at SF State’s strike. The main coalition driving the strike was aided by self-policing from inside of the movement. “That’s very difficult to maintain. Once you start this kind of activity, you don’t know who’s going to join,” he said.

Gonzales believes that in the current situation, there is a patch of humanity, common ground, where one can be both pro-Palestine and pro-Israel. He said it’s made difficult if you stand against the belligerent policies of Benjamin Netanyahu. In that case, you’re likely to be labeled antisemitic.

Despite that, Gonzales is in solidarity with the protesters and the people of Gaza, generally. Not Hamas. And he sees how most of the young people protesting are in shock at what he called the “duration of the absolute inhumane kind of persecution and prosecution of the Palestinians carried out by the Israeli government.”

As a survivor of campus protest decades ago, Gonzales offered some advice to the student protesters of 2024.

“You have to have a definable goal, but right now the path to that goal is unclear,” he said.

About the Author

Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator. A veteran newsman in TV and print, he is a former host of NPR’s “All Things Considered.”