Sentencing for Bill Cosby begins

The nearly four-year effort to jail Bill Cosby as a convicted sexual assailant reaches the end of its first phase on Monday when a two-day sentencing hearing gets underway in Pennsylvania.

That's when Cosby, 81, will learn his fate following his April conviction on three counts of aggravated felony sexual assault for drugging and molesting a former friend, Andrea Constand, at his home in Montgomery County outside Philadelphia in January 2004.

Whatever happens, will not be the end of the matter. Cosby is expected to appeal his conviction, which could be overturned at some future date.

Here's a primer on the hearing itself and what comes next:

Why will it take two days and who will be allowed to speak?

When Judge Steven O'Neill scheduled two days for sentencing, he built in enough time for multiple accusers to make "victim impact statements" about what they say Cosby did to them and how it affected them.

At the time, it was thought he might allow testimony from any of the 60 women who say Cosby sexually assaulted them, including allegations that were never charged as crimes in Pennsylvania or anywhere else.

But on Thursday, O'Neill narrowed that field to just six: Constand and the five other women who testified at the retrial. He also offered Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele the alternate option of incorporating their testimony into the prosecution's statement.

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