:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/ZJHESJKYKQB7RFJGVG6WAEFIMA.jpg)
The wife of US comic Bill Cosby has called for a criminal investigation into the Philadelphia prosecutor behind her husband's sexual assault conviction, saying the case was "mob justice, not real justice".
Camille Cosby said the case that could put the 80-year-old comedian in prison for the rest of his life was a "tragedy" that must be undone.
She made her first comments on the verdict in a three-page statement sent to the media through a family spokesman, a week after a jury found her husband of 54 years guilty on three counts of aggravated indecent assault.
She said chief accuser Andrea Constand was a liar whose testimony about being drugged and molested at Cosby's home in January 2004 was "riddled with innumerable, dishonest contradictions".
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/3O463GL3OA2KEX6KZYSADBDHXM.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/RIY2BYTTGULSZOMCQKMGKVDMFE.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/K2PP4IV3GXOLGOMT6YCCZIPBS4.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/SAGBPUCJJ5B2NP4SHC72VH4V3U.jpg)
She echoed Cosby's lawyers, who argued Ms Constand framed him to score a big payday.
Ms Constand's lawyer Dolores Troiani bristled at the statement and asked: "Why would any reputable outlet publish that? Twelve honourable jurors – peers of Cosby – have spoken. There is nothing else that needs to be said."
‘Truth prevails’
Ms Constand said in a tweet last week that “truth prevails”.
Ms Cosby compared the dozens of other women who have accused her husband to a "lynch mob" spurred on by the media's "frenzied, relentless demonisation" of her husband.
She compared his treatment to that of Emmett Till, a black teenager who was kidnapped and murdered after witnesses said he whistled at a white woman in a Mississippi grocery store in 1955.
Ms Cosby said her husband’s prosecution was politically motivated, repeating his team’s contention that he had been a pawn in a heated race for the position of district attorney.
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele attacked opponent Bruce Castor in campaign ads over his decision not to charge Cosby in 2005, and announced Cosby's arrest a month after winning the November 2015 election.
She said Mr Steele and his team were “exploitative and corrupt” and their “primary purpose is to advance themselves professionally and economically at the expense of Mr Cosby’s life”.
“If they can do this to Mr Cosby, they can do so to anyone,” she said.
Ms Cosby (74), stayed away from both of her husband’s trials, except for the defence’s closing arguments.
Legally blind
Before the jury came in last week, she went to the defence table and put her arm around Mr Cosby, who is legally blind.
When it was the prosecution’s turn to argue, she left the courtroom, and Ms Constand entered.
Cosby is on house arrest while awaiting sentencing that could put him in prison for the rest of his life.
Ms Cosby’s statement comes as colleges around the country continue rescinding honorary degrees awarded to the comedian. The TV academy said it is reviewing his inclusion in its Hall of Fame.
Colby College in Maine said on Wednesday it was rescinding an honorary degree, while Yale University did the same on Tuesday. – Associated Press