United States v. Cosby

T.L., a 15-year old, told S.B. that she had problems at home and was into drugs. S.B. took T.L. to Cosby’s Hammond, Indiana apartment. T.L. told Cosby that she was a 15-year old runaway. Cosby gave T.L. drugs and alcohol and told her that she had to repay him by prostituting herself. Cosby took pictures of T.L. and posted them on the website Backpage to find individuals who would pay for sex. Cosby did not show T.L’s face because she had been reported as missing. T.L. thereafter had sex with five individuals in Cosby’s apartment. Cosby drove T.L. to a Lansing, Illinois motel, where T.L. had sex with many individuals. Hammond police eventually found T.L. and arrested Cosby, who was charged with knowingly transporting a minor in interstate commerce with the intent that she engage in prostitution, 18 U.S.C. 2423(a). The court denied Cosby's request for a sixth continuance after the case had been pending for almost two and a half years and rejected Cosby’s to suppress evidence seized from his cell phone pursuant to a state warrant. He argued that the police exceeded the warrant’s scope by extracting, downloading, and reviewing the phone’s contents. The Seventh Circuit affirmed his conviction, upholding the denial of his continuance and suppression motions and of a motion for a mistrial based on allegedly false testimony. The court rejected an argument concerning failure to take appropriate precautions for a government witness’s dual-capacity testimony. View "United States v. Cosby" on Justia Law