Bill Cosby‘s legal team filed a massive appeal on Tuesday of the sexual assault conviction that put him behind bars. The appeal, 348 pages in length, was delivered to the Pennsylvania Superior Court. Cosby thanked his “millions of supporters ” on his official Twitter account, calling today a “beautiful” and “delicious” day.
“This is a beautiful day and it’s delicious. You’re seeing it as it was described to me by Mrs. Cosby — a photo showing the ‘Wheels Of Justice’ delivering my appeal to the Superior Court of Pennsylvania,” Cosby said. “Thank you to my millions of supporters (the freedom fighters)…”
https://twitter.com/BillCosby/status/1143586877410349058
Cosby’s long-expected appeal claims that he was not given a fair trial because the judge in the case allowed testimony from other accusers that was not relevant. Cosby was convicted in April 2018 of sexually assaulting Andrea Constand. Per NBC Philadelphia:
Cosby’s lawyers say the accounts from the five other women were “strikingly dissimilar” to that of trial accuser Andrea Constand and too remote in time to her 2004 encounter with Cosby.
The appeal Tuesday comes after Pennsylvania Judge Steven O’Neill in a post-trial memo said their testimony showed “chilling similarities” that pointed to a “signature” crime.
Cosby’s first sexual assault trial ended in mistrial because of a hung jury. The second trial began in March 29, 2018 and ended just about one month later. He has been in prison in since September, when he was sentenced to 3 to 10 years in prison.
Cosby spokesman Andrew Wyatt called the appeal an “important step.”
“On this date, one of our Great American Treasures [Bill Cosby]…was finally awarded the opportunity to file his appeal with the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. This filing is an important step in ensuring that Mr. Cosby receives a hearing from a fair and impartial court. The Constitution guarantees that right to Mr. Cosby—and to all Americans—and he looks forward to securing justice in the court of appeal,” he said.
Cosby’s team has made similar complaints of unfairness before.
In Dec. 2018, the defense said five prior “bad act witnesses” should not have been allowed to testify. The defense said that their claims were “too remote in time and too dissimilar to the Constand allegations” to be included. The attorneys also alleged that according to a prospective juror, “juror 11” made up their mind about Cosby’s guilty before the trial.
Cosby’s wife Camille Cosby previously filed a complaint against Judge O’Neill that the prosecution called a “desperate, 11th-hour” attempt to delay sentencing. Cosby filed the complaint with Pennsylvania’s Judicial Conduct Board regarding Judge O’Neill‘s alleged bias.
In a statement, Cosby claimed O’Neill would “compound his unethical behavior” by sentencing her husband.
“My husband was improperly prosecuted in a trial presided over by an unethical judge who seeks to compound his unethical behavior by sentencing Bill Cosby, now 81 years old and unsighted, for a charge that the former DA and the judge’s rival, Mr. Castor, determined was unwarranted and would never be prosecuted,” she said.
[Image via Mark Makela/Getty Images]
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