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Who is Nicolle Rochelle aka Nicole Leach, what was the Bill Cosby topless protest about and was she on The Cosby Show?
Topless Nicolle Rochelle, 39, leaped over a barricade and made for Bill Cosby at his retrial in Philadelphia
A TOPLESS protester caused quite a storm outside the Philadelphia courtroom as Bill Cosby's sexual assault trial got underway earlier this month.
But who was demonstrator Nicolle Rochelle - and what point was she trying to make?
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Who is Nicolle Rochelle and what did she do?
Nicolle Rochelle - also Nicole Leach - is an actor and prominent member of European feminist group Femen, known for staging topless protests.
The 39-year-old leaped over a barricade and made for Cosby, 80, and a bank of TV cameras at the start of his retrial in April 2018.
Dramatic images showed Rochelle being taken down by sheriff's deputies before she was charged with disorderly conduct.
"The main goal was to make Cosby uncomfortable," Rochelle, of Little Falls, New Jersey, told reporters. "That is exactly what he has been doing for decades to women."
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Rochelle guest-starred on several episodes of "The Cosby Show" more than 25 years ago.
She says she did not have any bad experiences with Cosby when she was on the show - nor did she intend to physically hurt him on Monday.
"I wanted him to feel something, she said. "I wanted him to feel what he did and have it be in his face.
"I wanted to approach him, but I didn't want to touch him at all."
Speaking to after the incident, the former Cosby Show guest star said: "This was especially personal to me... I thought he was a great man. But if I had just been a little older that could have been me.
“This had nothing to do with calling attention to myself. I’ve been called a liar and a whore so many times now."
"But they called Cosby’s victims liars and whores, too. People never want to believe women."
What is Femen?
Femen, which got its start in Ukraine a decade ago, regularly stages topless protests against religious institutions, far-right politicians and other targets seen as oppressing women.
The group has been re-energised by the #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct and claims to have a presence in eight countries.
Femen activists target their unauthorised protests which have been staged at the Vatican, in front of Russian President Vladimir Putin and elsewhere to attract maximum media attention.
That media obsession, and the members' use of their breasts as a protest tool, has drawn criticism from feminist groups and others who see Femen protests as a distraction.
Femen argues that its actions are more effective than officially sanctioned protests.
"When a woman is nude, it usually attracts attention, and that was definitely the goal," Rochelle said. "To attract attention to the fact that women are not laying down peacefully and taking this kind of treatment, and that people are against Cosby."
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What was Bill Cosby accused of?
Cosby, 80, was charged with drugging and molesting Andrea Constand, a former employee of Temple University's basketball program, at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004.
Constand says he gave her pills that made her woozy but the comedian claims the encounter was consensual and has always denied any wrongdoing.
In May 2016, District Judge Elizabeth McHugh ruled there was sufficient evidence to bring Cosby to trial after dozens of women raised similar claims.
The first trial began on June 5, 2017, but it ended less than two weeks later with the jury "hopelessly deadlocked".
What happened at the retrial?
The retrial began at the start of April 2018 with a bombshell allegation that Cosby had paid Ms Constand £2.4million in a 2006 civil settlement.
"The question that I'm sure we’re going to hear a lot about is, why would an innocent man pay £2.4million for something he didn't do?" said Dennis McAndrews
But, as the Chicago Sun Times reports, Cosby's lawyers argued that Ms Constand falsely accused him to land a big payoff.
On April 26, 2018, Bill Cosby was convicted of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constrand.
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A jury outside Philadelphia convicted the Cosby Show star of three counts of aggravated indecent assault.
The guilty verdict came less than a year after another jury was deadlocked on the charges.
Cosby could get up to 10 years in prison on each of the counts.
On April 27, on house arrest at his Philadelphia mansion, ordering him to be outfitted with a GPS ankle bracelet to monitor compliance.
Until sentencing, Judge O'Neill ruled the 80-year-old comedian may leave his house only to meet with his lawyers or go to the doctor, and he must get permission first.
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