Opinion ID: 764769
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Events of December 1996 and early January 1997

Text: 8 In the fall of 1996, Jackson and her then-fiance Antonay Williams were living in California and working for a production company in Burbank, California, headed by Medina. Medina's company, which operated out of his hotel suite, was attempting to produce a children's television show. Jackson, Williams, and Sabas had acting roles in the show; along with cooperating witness Placido Macaraeg, they also had administrative positions. Jackson worked without pay, but she expected to receive a commission when the television show was sold. 9 In December 1996, Jackson reinitiated contact with Cosby. Within a four-day period, she telephoned him seven times and left urgent messages asking him to return her calls. In one instance, Jackson identified herself as Autumn Cosby, a message that Cosby perceived as some sort of threat. (Tr. 850.) When he returned Jackson's call, he reproached her for using his name. Jackson described the project on which she was working, told Cosby that she was homeless, and asked him to lend her $2100. Cosby initially refused and suggested that she instead get an advance from the person for whom she was working. After further reflection, Cosby called Jackson back and agreed to send her the $2100 she had requested, plus an additional $900; he urged her to return to school, and he renewed his offer to pay for her education. Cosby directed his attorneys to tell Jackson that he would pay for her education and related expenses if she returned to school, maintained a B average, and got a part-time job. Bloom sent Jackson a letter dated December 13, 1996, setting out the conditions and requesting, if Jackson agreed to the conditions, that Jackson sign and return a copy of the letter to Bloom. Jackson did not comply. 10 On January 2 and 3, 1997, Jackson spoke with Bloom and Schmitt by telephone and asked that she be sent money for food, lodging, and tuition. Bloom responded that Jackson had not shown that she was enrolled in school. Bloom and Schmitt reiterated that Cosby would not pay for Jackson's support until she enrolled in school and secured employment for eight hours a week; they advised her that her unpaid work at Medina's production company did not satisfy the condition that she get a part-time job. 11 Following this rejection of her request for money, Jackson made a series of calls to business associates of Cosby, threatening to publicize her claim to be his daughter and thereby harm his reputation. For example, on January 6, she left a voice-mail message for an administrator at Eastman Kodak Company, whose products Cosby has endorsed. The administrator testified that the caller said that she was Autumn Jackson, she was the daughter of Dr. William J. [sic ] Cosby, Jr., that she knew that Mr. Cosby had a contract with Kodak, and that it was very important that I call her, she was calling in regards to their relationship and his actions or non-actions, and that she was prepared to go to [a] tabloid. (Tr. 121.) 12 Also on January 6, Jackson left a voice-mail message for Peter Lund, president and chief executive officer of CBS, whose television network currently carried Cosby's prime-time program. Stating that her name was Autumn Jackson, Jackson said: 13 I am the daughter of Doctor William Cosby, Jr. I need to speak with you, um, regarding, regarding [sic ] this relationship, um, that he and I have, and how this will affect CBS if I go to any tabloids.... This is of the ... utmost importance to CBS and his, uh, welfare, so I would, I would [sic ], uh, guess that you would need to call me back as soon as possible. 14 (Government Exhibit 1R1T.) On January 7, Jackson called Lund's office at CBS again, leaving a second message identifying herself as Cosby's daughter and stating that if she were not called back promptly she would go to the tabloids. (Tr. 93.) 15 Later on January 7, Jackson telephoned Schmitt and asked if there was any chance that Cosby would send her money to live on. (Tr. 482.) When Schmitt responded in the negative, Jackson said that if she did not receive money from Cosby, she would have to go to the news media. Schmitt testified that he replied that if Jackson meant that she was planning to go to the news media with what she believed was damaging information and would refrain from doing so only if Mr. Cosby paid her money, that that was extortion, that was both illegal and disgraceful. (Id.) He also told her that extortion is a crime in every state. (Tr. 483.) Jackson stated that she had checked [it] out and she knew what she was doing. (Tr. 482-83.) 16 During the week of January 6, Jackson and Medina discussed ways to intensify the pressure on Cosby and his corporate sponsors. These discussions took place at the evening meetings of Medina's production staff in the presence of Sabas, Williams, and Macaraeg. Macaraeg testified that the discussions resulted in, inter alia, the mailing on January 10 and 11 of company solicitation letters that, without mentioning Cosby by name, included a paragraph referring to Jackson as the daughter of a CBS megastar who was CBS's most prized property, and stating that, contrary to the star's public image as an advocate of parenting, the star had left Jackson cold, penniless, and homeless. (Tr. 968.) Letters containing this paragraph were sent to the President and Vice President of the United States, the Governor of California, the Mayor of New York City, CBS, Eastman Kodak, Philip Morris Company, which was another Cosby sponsor, two publishing companies that had published Cosby's books, and many other companies. Medina explained that the paragraph would affect Cosby's sponsors, put pressure on Bill Cosby, and help Autumn out. (Tr. 956.)