Bill Cosby's Appeal Of Conviction Granted By PA Supreme Court

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has agreed to hear Bill Cosby's latest appeal of his sexual assault conviction, raising questions about the admissability of two key pieces of the prosecution's case. How the court decides on these aspects could establish an important legal precedent for the role which other accusers can play in the trial of an individual charged with sex crimes.

Cosby, 82, has been in Montgomery County's SCI Phoenix since Sept. 2018, serving a three to 10 year sentence for three counts of aggravated indecent assault.

An order issued by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Tuesday lays out two parts of Cosby's case which can be reviewed. These aspects involve controversies which were at the heart of Cosby's trial and debate over the legal logistics of his case: the way the prosecutors used the testimony of five women who had previously accused Cosby, and the "immunity" deal which Cosby reached with former Montgomery County District Attorney back when the case first surfaced.

Cosby had sought to have several other aspects of his case reviewed by the Supreme Court, but all other issues were denied appeal.

While Cosby faced accusations from dozens of women over the course of decades, the case of Andrea Constand, a former Temple University employee who Cosby drugged and molested in his Cheltenham home in 2004, marked the first time criminal charges were brought against him.

In court documents, Cosby's attorneys argue that the testimony of five other women used in the trial should be dismissed because they are more than 15 years old and lack "striking similarities" to Constand's case.

Attorneys also argued that Cosby had an immunity deal — they've tried to make this argument as a reason to delay or halt prosecution before — and that testimony given by Cosby in 2004 when he thought such a deal existed should not be allowed to be used against him in his trial.

That 2004 testimony included Cosby's testimony about providing quaaludes to women. When Cosby's legal team at the time tried to block that testimony during the April 2018 retrial, Judge Steven T. O'Neill ruled specifically that jurors could hear it.

Similarly, O'Neill also ruled specifically that the testimony of five accusers was admissable in the trial. The prosecution had asked the judge to allow 19 women to testify, while Cosby's team sought to block all of them.