By Jacksonville Free Press

Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey has been controversial since he entered the NFL.  But the often outspoken all pro does more than talk trash and play football.  Ramsey is also committed to giving to children in need, and this is certainly the season for giving.

Last week, he gifted 50 children from the Boys & Girls Club of Northeast Florida with 50 bicycles and 50 signed footballs for this holiday season.

For many of the boys and girls participating, the bikes received will be their first ever according to Boys & Girl Club staff. Ramsey is not the only Jaguar in the holiday spirit this Christmas.  Fellow cornerback D.J. Hayden took 30 kids from Ramona Elementary on a shopping spree at Academy Sports.

And all pro defensive lineman Calais Campbell sponsored a shopping spree and hosted 40 kids from Northwestern Middle School at Target.

This article originally appeared in the Jacksonville Free Press. 

By Stacy M. Brown (NNPA Newswire Contributor)

Before they convicted Bill Cosby on three counts of aggravated indecent assault last month, some of the jurors were already plotting on how they could cash in on the case.

People familiar with three of the jurors on the case said they had a book deal on their minds, long before evidence was presented in the courtroom.

“The 80-year-old comedian faces up to 10 years in prison on each count, but Cosby is likely to serve them concurrently,” CNN.com reported. “A sentencing hearing with Judge Steven O’Neill has not yet been scheduled, and Cosby remains out on bail.”

Juror No. 11 and juror No. 12, two White males, “specifically talked about how much they could make after they send that old man to prison,” said a Norristown resident, who goes by the nickname, “Deacon Stone.” Stone declined to provide his given name, because he said he feared for his safety, but he was visibly present throughout the trial.

According to Stone, another juror was told, “Dude, do the right thing, get that book deal,” by a close family member.

Asked how he came across the information, Stone and another man, who didn’t want to give his name, said they are “closer than cousins” to one of the jurors.

During the trial, juror No. 12 appeared to talk to Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele’s spokeswoman Kate Delano in a flirtatious manner. At least three individuals regularly complained of the juror raising his eyebrows and winking at Delano, who may have not been aware of the juror’s actions. Juror No.12 was also observed smiling “almost uncontrollable” at attorney Lisa Bloom, who’s client Janice Dickerson testified against Cosby.

“If jurors in the Cosby trial were motivated by the possibility of getting a book deal, then they would have had incentive to find him guilty, guilty, guilty—just like they did,” said famed forensic psychiatrist and expert witness, Carole Lieberman. “Finding him ‘guilty’ made it a landmark victory of sorts, because of the #MeToo [movement] and because it brought down a once-powerful celebrity. If they had found him ‘not guilty,’ there wouldn’t be much of a story there, so people wouldn’t be as interested in reading about it in a book.”

Eleven of the 12 jurors have already joined to hire a publicist.

Juror No. 1, who was observed sleeping throughout the trial, appeared alone on ABC’s Good Morning America after the verdict and said Cosby’s 2006 deposition hurt the comedian.

However, former Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor made a deal with Cosby in which Castor agreed that if the comedian sat for the deposition, his words could never be used against him in any current or future criminal prosecution.

Castor blasted O’Neill in an email last month.

“A judge with an enormous potential bias did not disclose that possible bias to the lawyers to give them the option to seek a new judge,” Castor said.

In explaining why he made the deal with Cosby, Castor said: “I thought making Mr. Cosby pay money was the best I was going to be able to set the stage for. I was hopeful that I had made Andrea Constand a millionaire.”

Constand did reach an out-of-court civil settlement with Cosby worth $3.4 million.

Castor reiterated that he granted Cosby immunity from prosecution and that future prosecutors were bound to honor that deal.

Castor also blasted Steele.

“A sitting prosecutor spent $1 million proving Cosby is guilty in campaign ads, before charges were ever brought,” Castor said. “That’s in direct contravention of written ethics rules which says prosecutors cannot do that. What is happening to Cosby, as bad a man as he undoubtedly is, should never happen to anyone in America. I’m 36 years in the justice system, much of it at a pretty high level and I’m disgusted that any citizen entitled to the presumption of innocence has been treated this way.”

Castor continued: “I didn’t say anything, because it is up to the judge and the lawyers to police their own conduct. I kept waiting for someone to ask me, but it never happened.”

Matt Pinsker, a former prosecutor and magistrate who is now a criminal defense attorney and adjunct professor of criminal justice at Virginia Commonwealth University, said he was appalled when he heard about the jurors in the Cosby case.

“It’s completely inappropriate for jurors to be planning a book deal, and it could result in a mistrial,” Pinsker said. “Jurors should be focused on doing justice, and not profiting from their public service. A prospective book deal is legally and morally problematic because it gives jurors a profit incentive.”

Kimberly Bathgate, a spokeswoman for the Montgomery County Court, said the judge and district attorney would have no comment.

Cosby’s spokesman Andrew Wyatt could not immediately be reached for comment.

In April, Cosby, 80, was found guilty on three counts of aggravated sexual assault stemming from a 2003 or 2004 incident involving Andrea Constand at his Elkins Park home.

He’s scheduled to be sentenced later this summer and faces up to 30 years in prison.

Ryan Babcock, a trial lawyer who owns a firm in Brunswick, Ga., said juror misconduct can be a serious problem at trial, particularly with technological advances made in the last decade.

“The parties are entitled to jurors who don’t have their minds made up about a verdict before the trial starts, and jurors who are not influenced by third parties outside of the courtroom trial,” Babcock said. “That can be especially challenging in a high-profile case like Bill Cosby’s. The comment about [the book deal] alone would not amount to juror misconduct. In any event, juror misconduct could result in a new trial or reversal on appeal, but should not impact the sentence itself.”

This article was originally published at BlackPressUSA.com.

By Stacy M. Brown (NNPA Newswire Contributor)

NORRISTOWN, Pa.—Convicted comedian Bill Cosby will remain on house arrest until he’s sentenced this summer following his conviction on three counts of aggravated indecent sexual assault.

Judge Steven T. O’Neill ordered Cosby to get written permission from adult probation officials, if he wants to leave his Philadelphia area home to visit his doctor or to meet with lawyers.

Those are the only movements he’s allowed, and they must be within a five-county radius of Montgomery County. Cosby has been fitted with a tracking device, so that court officials can monitor him.

“This was a man who had evaded this moment for far too long,” Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said after the verdict.

Steele said that Cosby had “shown his true colors,” when the legendary actor called the prosecutor an “a—hole” after Steele argued that he should immediately be locked up following the verdict.

O’Neill ruled that Cosby could remain free on the same $1 million bail he posted when he was arraigned in December of 2015.

“We still believe that Mr. Cosby is innocent of these charges,” lead defense attorney Tom Mesereau said. “The fight isn’t over.”

About an hour after the verdict and before Cosby left the courthouse, several of his defense team members huddled, including attorneys Jaya Gupta and Rachael Robinson, both sobbing.

An emotional Andrew Wyatt, Cosby’s chief spokesman, said the trial was reminiscent of Emmett Till, the 14-year-old Mississippi African American whose lynching after he was accused of whistling at a White woman, ignited the Civil Rights Movement.

“This became a public lynching,” Wyatt said. “What Gloria Allred was able to do, she took a salt and pepper shaker. She [shook] out a lot of salt and sprinkled in a little black pepper and the South came east.”

Ebonee Benson, who joined Wyatt on morning television shows after the verdict, said the comparison to Emmett Till is real.

“We can take a look at Emmett Till,” she said. “Since when are all women honest?”

Several television analysts questioned the verdict.

Lawyer and famed CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson, who before the verdict said the case should have been declared a mistrial, said after the decision that Cosby’s team has “many grounds for appeal.” He said he was stunned by the verdict as well as the swiftness in which the jury delivered it.

“Certainly, the prosecution put up vigorous case … but I thought the defense did a significant job of discrediting Andrea Constand giving the jury an indication that there was a number of lies she told over a period of time,” Jackson said.

Jackson continued: “The first trial took them 52 hours and they were hung. This time it took 15 hours and they convict, so here we go. I think the most significant grounds were the five accusers. In the first trial, there was one and when you have five, they just have such prejudicial value and I think it just overwhelmed the jury. That’s probably the biggest point in attempting to get Bill Cosby a new trial.”

Jackson called the issue “significant” and one that might allow Cosby, whose facing 30 years in prison, to remain free through the appeal process.

This article was originally published on BlackPressUSA.com.

By Stacy M. Brown (NNPA Newswire Contributor)

NORRISTOWN, Pa.—In a powerful closing argument at the Bill Cosby trial, defense attorneys Kathleen Bliss and Tom Mesereau pointed out more than a dozen “lies” in alleged victim Andrea Constand’s statements to police and prosecutors.

Bliss also reminded jurors of past “lynchings,” and “mob-style prosecutions.”

As a woman, Bliss said she could relate well to the #MeToo movement, and she even began telling a personal experience before District Attorney Kevin Steele objected and Judge Steven O’Neill attacked her for the inference.

Perhaps conjuring up memories of his mentor, the late Johnnie Cochran—who famously told jurors “If the glove doesn’t fit, you must acquit” during the 1995 O.J. Simpson trial—Mesereau in very deliberate fashion took the jury through telephone and flight records for every single day in January 2004, when Constand said she was drugged and assaulted by Cosby.

The inference was clear—Constand had claimed that she called Cosby from a Temple University-issued cell phone the night of the incident. She also claimed that it happened before her cousin came to visit from Canada on January 22.

A police detective testified for prosecutors that he pulled Department of Homeland Security records that show the cousin crossed the U.S. border that day. However, Mesereau showed jurors that there was not a single call from Constand to Cosby in Philadelphia in January.

“This was a con. Bill Cosby got conned,” Mesereau said.

Mesereau told jurors that if they reviewed the records and determine that the incident didn’t happen in January, then they must automatically return a not guilty verdict simply, because Pennsylvania’s 12-year statute of limitations would have expired if the incident occurred any time before January 2004.

When asked during a deposition whether Constand had visited his Pennsylvania home in January 2004, Cosby said that date was “ballpark.”

Cosby, 80, faces up to 30 years in prison, if convicted. He’s facing three counts of aggravated indecent assault stemming from a 2003 or 2004 encounter between he and Constand.

Still, the hostility toward Bliss in courtroom hasn’t been lost on observers.

“[DA Kevin] Steele and the judge are so nasty toward her and this is supposedly a crime about women,” said Larcenia Best, one of the many spectators who jammed the courtroom for closing arguments. “The crime is how bias and how disrespectful they’ve been toward Bliss and the other female attorneys, especially O’Neill.

During a previous argument made by one of Cosby’s lawyers who appears to be of Middle Eastern-descent, Steele’s media rep Kate Delano and staff members appeared to mock the attorney.
Delano and others openly laughed at an argument made by another female defense lawyer, Becky James.

While Cosby’s wife, Camille, kissed her husband and sat through the defense’s closing arguments, prosecutors brought Constand back for theirs.

They rejected the records presented by the defense even though a Federal Aviation Administration expert authenticated the files. They also said Constand’s inconsistencies should be overlooked, because as a victim, it’s common to get confused by some facts and dates.

Meanwhile, undaunted by what observers have called bullying, Bliss remained calm.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” she told jurors. “You’re about to make one of the most important decisions you’ve ever made in your life. I respectfully say to you that the only decision to make, based on the evidence, is not guilty.”

This article was originally published at BlackPressUSA.com.

By Stacy M. Brown (NNPA Newswire Contributor)

NORRISTOWN, Pa.—Andrea Constand was hooked on mushrooms and marijuana and she came to America to try and become a millionaire, according to a possible defense witness in the Bill Cosby sexual assault trial, who prosecutors want barred from taking the stand.

Robert Russell, who said in a sworn statement that he, Constand and her mother, Gianna, were close friends in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He was expected to take the stand late Friday, April 20, to detail his relationship with the woman who has accused comedian Bill Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting her.

“The prosecution is trying to say that [Constand] is some innocent babe in the woods,” Cosby’s lead defense attorney, Tom Mesereau said. “They’ve painted the idea that’s she’s naïve, pure and holistic and that she was naïve in accepting pills from Bill Cosby.”

Russell has said that Constand wasn’t “this holistic person” she portrayed herself to be and that she obviously had a plan to get $1 million.

As has been the case throughout this two-week old trial, Judge Steven T. O’Neill has repeatedly rejected defense motions and has already prohibited defense lawyers from questioning Russell in front of jurors about Constand’s desire to become a millionaire.

O’Neill also indicated that he’s unlikely to allow them to question Russell about Constand’s alleged drug use.

It’s alleged that Russell may have also used drugs with Gianna Constand.

“If somebody does drugs in 2001, does that make it relevant in 2018?” O’Neill queried, blatantly disregarding that defense attorneys are referring to her motive and that Cosby’s alleged assault occurred in either 2003 or 2004.

Mesereau said that, “The persona painted here of Andrea Constand is false.”

The bombshell comes, as two defense witnesses appeared to have successfully raised the issue of statute of limitations. Cosby’s tour manager Debbie Meister and his former executive assistant, Kimberly Harjo, both testified and presented documents showing that the comedian could not have been in Pennsylvania in January 2004, when prosecutors claim the alleged assault occurred.

Prosecutors filed charges against Cosby on December 30, 2015 and, because the statute of limitations is 12 years in Pennsylvania, if the alleged crime happened before 2004, it cannot legally be prosecuted.

Harjo said she spoke with Constand on the telephone in February 2003 and records produced by the prosecution during testimony by Temple University employee Marguerite Jackson, also reveal a February 2003 date.

Further, Cosby’s former personal chef testified that he cooked dinner for Cosby and Constand five times before he left his position in May of 2003.

“The commonwealth has the burden of proof in this case and they must prove that there was a crime and when it happened,” Cosby spokeswoman Ebonee Benson said. “They have not done this. They rested their case and they failed to prove this. The defense has produced evidence that the defendant was not in Pennsylvania the night in question.”

Benson continued: “We have no burden of proof, yet we have proved there was no crime. We also established this morning that the alleged incident, which is not a crime because it’s a consensual relationship, did not happen within the statutory limit of time.”

This story was originally published at BlackPressUSA.com.