Cosby retrial set to begin and #MeToo will likely make an impact, experts say
Fatima Goss Graves, president of the National Women’s Law Center, said she believes that the #MeToo movement may change the way jurors perceive attempts to discredit Constand. “I think #MeToo has allowed the range of stories to be told so there is a deeper understanding of what sexual assault looks like,” she said. “It is not the stranger in the alley, it may be someone you feel close to and someone you were in a consensual relationship with.” At the first trial, Graves said the tone of the defense attorneys was dismissive of Constand. “There was a flavor of, ‘why were you there in the first place?’ These old ideas that have long been used to discount sexual assault among people who know each other are tightly held myths,” Graves said.