Whoopi Goldberg learns of statute of limitations in Cosby cases, asks TV viewers to lobby lawmakers
Whoopi Goldberg. lev radin / Shutterstock.com
One of Bill Cosby’s staunchest supporters, as some two dozen women recently came forward with public accusations of long-ago rape and assault, is now backtracking.
Talk-show host Whoopi Goldberg had said the famed television actor and comedian should be considered innocent until proven guilty. But after ABC News legal analyst Daniel Abrams explained to her Tuesday on The View that the applicable states’ statutes of limitations likely would bar any effort to prosecute Cosby as untimely, co-host Goldberg refocused her concerns, according to the Associated Press and CNN.
Saying that she had no idea a deadline for pursuing such claims existed, Goldberg is now calling on viewers of the daytime television talk show to lobby lawmakers to lift the time constraints on prosecuting sex cases.
“I always thought that rape cases were open-ended,” Goldberg said. “What we have learned is, there’s no recourse for these women except what they’re doing.”
Cosby has maintained his innocence.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Civil suit accuses Bill Cosby of sexual battery of 15-year-old girl at Playboy Mansion in 1974”
See also:
ABAJournal.com: “Retired lawyer sues Bill Cosby, says claims she lied about alleged sexual assault were defamatory”
