(Black serial rapist) Bill Cosby in the news

https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2...bid-for-release-pending-appeal-for-new-trial/

Court Rejects Bill Cosby’s Bid For Release Pending Appeal For New Trial

December 15, 2018 at 8:53 am

PHILADELPHIA (CBS/AP) — Bill Cosby won’t be out on bail while he appeals his sexual assault conviction. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has rejected a request from Bill Cosby to be released on bail while he appeals his sexual assault conviction.

Officials did not elaborate on the decision.

In April, a jury convicted Cosby of drugging and molesting Andrea Constand in 2004.

Earlier this month, he filed an appeal for a new trial.

Cosby said Judge Steven O’Neill had a feud with a key pretrial witness, and let five other accusers testify.

The legally blind comedian is housed in a new state prison about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from his Philadelphia-area estate.
 
https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2...-bill-cosby-while-in-prison-spokesman-claims/

Drone Flies Over Bill Cosby While In Prison, Spokesman Claims
January 30, 2019 at 12:50 pm

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Bill Cosby’s spokesman is claiming a drone flew over the comedian while in prison.

Cosby spokesman Andrew Wyatt told USA Today the drone was spotted over SCI Phoenix in Collegeville last week, while Cosby was in the prison yard.

Cosby is serving a three- to 10-year sentence after a jury convicted him of sexual assault.

A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections says flying drones over prisons in Pennsylvania is against the law and it has drone detection systems.
 
https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/new...awsuit-Prosecutor-Philadelphia-505187311.html

Cosby Victim Settles Defamation Suit With Ex-Prosecutor
Published 32 minutes ago | Updated 16 minutes ago
By Maryclaire Dale

The victim in Bill Cosby's criminal sex-assault case has settled a defamation lawsuit against a former prosecutor who said she added details to her story over time.

Andrea Constand's suit against Bruce Castor had been set for trial in April in Philadelphia after a federal judge refused to dismiss it. The case then settled this week, court records show.

Constand's lawyer, Dolores Troiani, said Thursday that the terms are confidential and both sides had agreed not to comment.

Castor had declined to charge the actor when Constand went to police in suburban Philadelphia in 2005 to say "America's Dad" had drugged and molested her a year earlier. In a statement, he said that both parties could be portrayed in "a less than flattering light."

When the criminal case was reopened a decade later, Castor defended the decision to The Associated Press.

"If the allegations in the civil complaint were contained with that detail in her statement to the police, we might have been able to make a case out of it," Castor said. Troiani demanded a public apology, saying Castor had revictimized her client.

"This is outrageous that a victim of a crime could be treated this same way -- twice -- by the same man," Troiani said at the time.

A new prosecutor arrested Cosby in 2015 after documents from her 2005 civil suit against Cosby were unsealed, revealing Cosby's damaging testimony about sexual encounters with Constand and others. He was convicted this year of sexually assaulting Constand and is serving a three- to 10-year sentence at a state prison near Philadelphia.

Castor and his lawyers did not immediately return messages late Thursday.

Cosby settled Constand's civil lawsuit for nearly $3.4 million.
 
https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2019/02/07/bill-cosby-moves-to-general-population-unit-at-prison/

Bill Cosby’s Wife, Children Have Not Visited Him In Prison
February 7, 2019 at 5:30 pm

COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. (CBS/AP) — Bill Cosby has been moved to the general population but hasn’t had any visits from family four months after arriving at a Pennsylvania state prison.

The 81-year-old Cosby, who is legally blind, has been moved out of special housing where he spent time getting acclimated, a prison spokeswoman said. He still has inmates assigned to help him throughout the day, given his age and disability.

Cosby spokesman Andrew Wyatt said he doesn’t expect Camille Cosby or their daughters to visit the prison, which is about 20 miles from a family estate in the Philadelphia suburbs. Cosby is serving a three- to 10-year term for drugging and molesting Andrea Constand there in 2004.

“He doesn’t want to have them in that environment,” said Wyatt, who visits regularly. “Why put them in that position, to make it turn into some form of a circus?”

Camille Cosby made just one brief appearance at each of her husband’s two criminal trials, and their three surviving daughters stayed away. Cosby’s wife of more than 50 years did, however, file an ethics complaint against the trial judge last year, accusing him of bias in the case.

She continues to strategize on her husband’s behalf behind the scenes, Wyatt told The Associated Press on Thursday.

Cosby, after being moved last week, now has a single cell in a two-story unit at the newly built SCI-Phoenix in Montgomery County. Wyatt said he’s in a unit reserved for veterans, something the prison would not confirm. He had earlier been in a private cell and day room near the infirmary.

Cosby believes he is a “political prisoner,” targeted for his social and political views much like heroes Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:, Wyatt said.

“He said, ‘They want to entrap me to say I’m remorseful, or to say I did something I didn’t do.’ I’m not going to fall for it,” Wyatt said.

Inmates at Phoenix are awakened at 6 a.m. and back in their cells by 8:45 p.m.

They can spend several hours a day in the gym or exercise yard, and other time in the library, classroom, day room or visiting area, state prison spokeswoman Amy Worden said. Wyatt said that Cosby gets up before dawn to do leg lifts and crunches in his cell, and has been working on new creative projects.

“He hasn’t stopped thinking about the things that he’s going to do when he gets out,” Wyatt said.

Last month, Wyatt claimed a drone was spotted over the prison, while Cosby was in the prison yard.

A jury at a retrial last year convicted Cosby of three counts of felony sex assault. He is appealing the conviction.

Dozens of women have accused Cosby of sexual assault or misconduct over a 50-year span, including five who testified at the retrial. Cosby and his lawyers and agents have repeatedly called the encounters coonsensual.

Cosby, a Philadelphia native, rose to fame in the 1960s as the first black actor to star in a primetime television drama with the hit show, “I Spy.” He became known as “America’s Dad” for his portrayal of family man Cliff Huxtable on the top-ranked “Cosby Show” from 1984 to 1992, a show that helped his fortune reach an estimated $400 million.
 
https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/new...r-Trying-to-Humanize-All-Races-505774901.html

EXCLUSIVE: Jailed Cosby Says He's a Victim of 'Entrapment'
Published 2 hours ago | Updated 11 minutes ago
By Vince Lattanzio and Erin Coleman

Convicted sex offender and former comedian Bill Cosby said his attempts to showcase equality on television led to his 3-to-10-year prison sentence and fall from grace as "America's Dad." :rolleyes:

In his first message from prison, the 81-year-old sexually violent predator told NBC10's Erin Coleman that he is a victim of "entrapment" carried out by a "low-life District Attorney" and "corrupt Judge." :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Cosby shared his comments with his wife, Camille, after NBC10 aired a two-part interview Tuesday and Wednesday with Andrew Wyatt, his spokesman, about Cosby's life at Pennsylvania State Correctional Institution Phoenix in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. In that interview, Wyatt shared how Cosby washed his meals before eating them and wakes up at 3:30 a.m. to do calisthenics in his cell.

Cosby was convicted in April 2018 of drugging Andrea Constand and sexually assaulting her inside his Cheltenham, Pennsylvania, home in 2004. The judgment came after years of public and private statements by dozens of women who claimed they were abused by the actor best known as the patriarch of the Huxtable family on NBC's "The Cosby Show." More than 60 women accused Cosby of assaulting them over five decades.

Constand, a former women's basketball coach at Temple University, went to police a year after the assault, but the district attorney declined to file charges. A decade later, the case was reopened and Cosby was arrested and charged.

Constand said the conviction allowed her to make peace with the assault. "He needs help and he needs to repent for what he did, not only to me but for a lot of women," she told NBC News' Kate Snow after the trial. "He's a convicted sex assaulter, but I forgive him for what he did to me."

Cosby's conviction was hailed as a victory for sexual assault survivors. Several of Cosby's accusers attended the trial, which had the focus of the nation for weeks, at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pennsylvania.

"It's also a victory for all sexual assault survivors, female and male. It's a victory for womanhood," Lily Bernard, one of his accusers, said at the time.

Cosby Team Talks About Incarcerated ComedianCosby Team Talks About Incarcerated Comedian

Despite the conviction and sentencing of 3 to 10 years behind bars, Cosby said in his message he will "never have remorse" for the crimes.

"My political beliefs, my actions of trying to humanize all races, genders and religions landed me in this place surrounded by barb wire fencing, a room made of steel and iron," the message, passed along to NBC10 from Cosby through Wyatt, read in part.

Cosby has maintained that his encounter with Constand was consensual. He recently settled a civil lawsuit brought by Constand for nearly $3.4 million. He considers himself among "some of the Greatest Political Prisioners" including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela.

"I stand upright as a Political Prisoner and I Smile. The Truth is Strong!"

Here's the message in full:

I heard about Ms. Coleman’s (NBC 10) interview from the residents here. Here’s why I, [Mr. Cosby] have “no” remorse and will never have remorse. I was given a deal; I settled out of court for $3.8 million dollars; I waived my 5th amendment rights; I was declared Not Guilty in 2005 by the Commonwealth - never charged. However, a low-life District Attorney and a corrupt Judge needed me Guilty now. Not for justice, but for their political aspirations. They say, Mr. Cosby you must attend these classes. Why? One word. Entrapment! My political beliefs, my actions of trying to humanize all races, genders and religions landed me in this place surrounded by barb wire fencing, a room made of steel and iron. So, I now have a temporary residence that resembles the quarters of some of the Greatest Political Prisoners - Martin Luther King, Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Randal Robinson, and Dr. Benjamin Chavis. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: I stand upright as a Political Prisoner and I Smile. The Truth is Strong!”

Bill Cosby, Serial Rapist of White Women
 
https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2...suits-women-lying-sex-misconduct-allegations/

Bill Cosby Agrees To Settle Defamation Lawsuits By 7 Women He Accused Of Lying About Sex Misconduct Allegations
April 5, 2019 at 1:52 pm

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (CBS/AP) — Bill Cosby has agreed to settle lawsuits filed by seven women who say he defamed them when he accused them of lying about sexual misconduct allegations. Filings Friday in federal court in Springfield, Massachusetts, show the two sides have negotiated a settlement since Cosby went to prison last fall in a separate Pennsylvania sex assault case.

The 81-year-old comedian is serving a three- to 10-year prison sentence there. A jury found Cosby guilty last September for sexually assaulting a former Temple University employee at his home in 2004.

The federal judge overseeing the defamation case in Massachusetts must still approve the settlement. The terms are confidential.

It’s not yet clear whether Cosby will now drop his counterclaims against the seven women. One of them recently died.

They are among the dozens of women who have accused Cosby of sexual misconduct. He has denied their allegations and is appealing his Pennsylvania conviction.
 
https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2019/04/16/bill-cosby-aig-settling-lawsuit-without-permission/

‘AIG Continues To Act Egregiously’: Bill Cosby Says Insurance Company Settling Accuser’s Lawsuit Without Permission
April 16, 2019 at 12:20 pm

PHILADELPHIA (CBS/AP) — Imprisoned actor Bill Cosby says his insurance company is settling another lawsuit filed by a female accuser without his permission. :rolleyes: Cosby in a statement accuses American International Group Inc. of “egregious behavior.” :rolleyes:

He says he could have proven he was in New York during the alleged 2008 encounter with 18-year-old Chloe Goins at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles.

69-Year-Old Man Sexually Assaulted, Robbed In Center City, Police Say

“AIG continues to act egregiously by settling these heinous claims without my knowledge and/or consent; and AIG continues to show they’re complicit in this scheme to destroy me and my family,” Cosby said in a statement.

Goins says Cosby drugged and molested her. A hearing in the case is set for Wednesday in Los Angeles. Messages were left with her lawyers and AIG officials Tuesday.

The 81-year-old Cosby is serving a three- to 10-year prison term near Philadelphia after a jury last year found he sexually assaulted Andrea Constand, a former Temple University employee, at his home in 2004.

AIG earlier this month settled defamation lawsuits filed in Massachusetts by seven other Cosby accusers.
 
https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Bill-Cosby-Legal-Bill-Arbitration-508944571.html

Bill Cosby Fights $1M/Month Legal Bill in Arbitration
Published 4 hours ago
By Maryclaire Dale

A fee dispute between actor Bill Cosby and one in a string of law firms hired to address his legal problems shows the firm was billing Cosby $1 million a month in the run-up to his first sex assault trial.

The imprisoned Cosby is challenging a California arbitration award that trims the $9 million bill from Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan to below $7 million.

Cosby, 81, accuses the firm of elder abuse and "egregious" billing practices, and of fraud for representing both him and the insurance company he was battling in court, American International Group Inc., over his coverage.

The arbitration panel found that Quinn Emanuel told Cosby's personal lawyer and "general counsel," Monique Pressley, of the potential conflict, but not the actor himself, and voided Cosby's 2015 contract with the law firm that included $1 million retainer. However, the panel found the potential conflict never caused Cosby any harm, and the firm did solid work for Cosby.

The Quinn Emanuel team was led by partner Christopher Tayback, the son of the late actor Vic Tayback. Quinn Emanuel lawyers charged about $500 to $1,000 an hour. Cosby is seeking refunds of the approximately $4.3 million he has paid the firm, while the arbitration panel ordered him to pay an additional $2.4 million, for a total of about $6.7 million.

Cosby said that, given his age and blindness, he did not understand the scope of the work or other parts of the contract when he signed it in October 2015. The firm worked on the case, along with local lawyer Brian McMonagle and others, through Cosby's arrest two months later and several key pretrial hearings. They parted ways with Cosby less than a year later, long before his first criminal trial in June 2017 or the April 2018 retrial, when he was convicted of drugging and molesting a woman at his Philadelphia-area home in 2004.

The Quinn Emanuel team was among more than a dozen lawyers to help Cosby defend a dizzying array of legal problems across the country as dozens of women came forward to accuse him of sexual misconduct or defamation. The firm was hired to work on civil cases involving just three accusers, but its work grew to include cases involving 10 women, and 40 "same-act" witnesses lodging similar accusations, across the country, according to the arbitration papers.

Over nine months of work, the firm said it racked up more than 11,000 hours of work by lawyers, along with costs including $300,000 in online searches and $48,000 for a lawyer's work reading two gossip novels and a book about the Playboy Mansion, where one of the alleged Cosby assaults occurred. The retired judges on the arbitration panel rejected those two items.

The law firm did not immediately return a message left late Monday seeking comment. Cosby spokesman Andrew Wyatt said he has not been involved in the fee dispute, which echoes an earlier lawsuit, later settled, that a Philadelphia firm lodged against Cosby over unpaid legal bills.

Cosby is serving a three- to 10-year prison term after he was convicted at a 2018 retrial near Philadelphia. He is appealing the conviction.
 
https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2019/04/29/appeals-court-bill-cosby-bail/

Appeals Court Denies Bill Cosby’s Latest Bid For Bail
April 29, 2019 at 3:18 pm

HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS/AP) — An appeals court has denied Bill Cosby’s latest effort to be released from prison on bail while he fights his sex-assault conviction. Lawyers for the 81-year-old comedian had renewed their bail motion in a filing last week with Pennsylvania Superior Court.

They say Cosby is likely to have his conviction overturned because of trial errors.

The defense complained that Montgomery County Judge Steven O’Neill hasn’t yet issued a post-trial opinion explaining key trial decisions the defense plans to challenge on appeal.

They include O’Neill’s decision to let five other accusers testify.

The appeals court has turned down the bail motion in a one-line order issued Monday. Cosby is serving a three- to 10-year prison term for drugging and molesting former Temple University employee Andrea Constand at his estate near Philadelphia in 2004.
 
https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Bill-Cosby-Judge-Victims-509950511.html

Judge: Cosby Accusers' Testimony Pointed to 'Signature' Crime
Bill Cosby began serving a 3- to 10-year prison term in September at a state prison outside Philadelphia
By Maryclaire Dale
Published May 15, 2019 at 8:18 AM | Updated 5 hours ago

The judge who presided over Bill Cosby's criminal case said he let five other accusers testify at the sex-assault trial because their accounts had "chilling similarities" that pointed to a "signature" crime.

A jury last year convicted Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004, after hearing from her and the five others. Cosby, 81, is appealing his conviction based on the women's testimony and other key rulings by Montgomery County Judge Stephen O'Neill.

Cosby began serving a three- to 10-year prison term in September at a state prison near Philadelphia.

O'Neill, in a lengthy opinion filed Tuesday, said he found "striking similarities" in the women's descriptions of their encounters with the comedian long beloved as "America's Dad." :rolleyes:

"In each instance, (he) met a substantially younger woman, gained her trust, invited her to a place where he was alone with her, provided her with a drink or drug, and sexually assaulted her once she was rendered incapacitated," O'Neill wrote. "These chilling similarities rendered (their) testimony admissible."

O'Neill had allowed just one other accuser to testify at Cosby's first trial in June 2017, when a jury deadlock led to a mistrial. Cosby was retried in April 2018, months after the #MeToo movement burst into view with sexual assault accusations against producer Harvey Weinstein and other powerful men in Hollywood and beyond.

In the ruling Tuesday, O'Neill said the new defense team that handled Cosby's retrial never directly challenged him on the difference in his two trial rulings about the other accusers' testimony. At any rate, he said, judges are not bound by their prior decisions.

The defense, in outlining their appeal issues, have also argued that Cosby had a binding agreement with a former prosecutor, Bruce Castor, that he would never be charged in the case. O'Neill again rejected the claim Tuesday, finding the signed press release from Castor - used to bolster the claim - falls short of an immunity agreement.

Castor had investigated Constand's complaint for about a month in 2005 before deciding not to bring a case, questioning why she waited a year to contact police. Before the year was out, 13 other accusers had come forward to support the lawsuit Constand filed against Cosby. He settled the case for $3.4 million.

When Cosby's deposition testimony from the lawsuit became public in 2015, and the criminal case was reopened, Castor for the first time told his successor about the supposed "non-prosecution" agreement. He forwarded their correspondence to Cosby's defense lawyer and testified as a defense witness at a 2016 hearing, O'Neill noted.

O'Neill also rejected defense efforts to have him step down from the case because of his alleged bias, and outlined the four-year legal process that led up to Cosby's conviction and sentencing.

Cosby's latest team of lawyers has been awaiting the opinion so they can proceed with the appeal in Pennsylvania courts. The lead lawyer, Brian Perry, did not immediately return a phone message on Tuesday.

Cosby spokesman Andrew Wyatt, in a statement, said "O'Neill has a habitual habit of always trying to cover his many errors, which continues to show his hatred towards Mr. Cosby."

The Associated Press does not typically identify sexual assault victims without their permission, which Constand has granted.
 
https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2...mony-from-other-accusers-that-wasnt-relevant/

Bill Cosby Files Lengthy Appeal, Says Judge Allowed Testimony From Other Accusers That Wasn’t Relevant
June 25, 2019 at 4:30 pm

NORRISTOWN, Pa. (CBS/AP) — Comedian Bill Cosby has filed a lengthy appeal of the sex assault conviction that landed him in prison and says the judge allowed testimony from other women accusers that wasn’t relevant. 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. :rolleyes:

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.

“On this date, one of our Great American Treasures [Bill Cosby :confused:]…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,” Cosby spokesman Andrew Wyatt said in a statement.

The 81-year-old Cosby has been serving a three- to 10-year prison term since September at a state prison near Philadelphia.

The appeal also challenges O’Neill’s decisions to air Cosby’s prior deposition testimony about Quaalude use and to preside despite an alleged feud with a pretrial witness.
 
https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2...to-focus-on-other-womens-testimony-quaaludes/

Cosby Appeal To Focus On Other Women’s Testimony, Quaaludes
July 26, 2019 at 9:56 am

NORRISTOWN, Pa. (CBS/AP) – Prosecutors set to defend Bill Cosby’s sexual assault conviction in appeals court next month say the accusations from other women are no coincidence, but “the culmination of a decades-long pattern of behavior.” The 82-year-old comic actor is the first celebrity convicted and sent to prison in the #MeToo era.

He is serving a three-to-10-year prison term for drugging and molesting former Temple University employee Andrea Constand at his Philadelphia-area home in 2004.

Cosby’s lawyers are raising a long list of alleged trial errors on appeal. They include the judge’s decision to let five other accusers testify and references to Cosby’s possession of Quaaludes and other drugs.

Montgomery County prosecutors in a filing late Thursday say the women’s testimony is allowed under Pennsylvania law because it points to a “signature” crime.

Arguments in Cosby’s appeal are set for Aug. 12.
 
https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2...kinson-settles-defamation-lawsuit-bill-cosby/

‘Measure Of Justice’: Model Janice Dickinson Settles Defamation Lawsuit Against Bill Cosby For ‘Epic’ Amount
July 25, 2019 at 4:35 pm

GettyImages-1040039040.jpg


LOS ANGELES (CBS/AP) — Model Janice Dickinson calls settling a defamation lawsuit against Bill Cosby a “victory” that brings a “measure of justice” but says nothing can erase her assault by the now-imprisoned comedian. Dickinson spoke to reporters Thursday at the office of her attorney (((Lisa Bloom))).

“In reality, nothing can erase the experience and memory of an assault,” Dickinson said at a news conference. “Jail is where he belongs. There are not enough years left for him to pay for what he has done to so many, many women.”

Bloom said the case was settled for an “epic” amount, though the terms of the agreement keep the exact figure confidential.

“Janice will be fully and fairly compensated for being branded a liar,” Bloom said.

The deal allows Dickinson to continue to speak out against Cosby, which she said she intends to do.

“Sisters, my advice to you is never, ever give up ever, tell your story and stand up for your rights,” Dickinson said.

She also urged lawmakers to extend the existing statutes of limitations on sexual assault that have forced her and other Cosby accusers to sue the comedian for defamation.

Cosby insurer American International Group Inc. settled the case against his will, as it has with at least eight other women who filed similar lawsuits.

“AIG’s settlement of this lawsuit has no bearing whatsoever on the merit of Ms. Dickinson’s claims,” Cosby’s spokesman Andrew Wyatt said in a statement Thursday. He said Dickinson’s case is another example of “AIG robbing Mr. Cosby of the opportunity to clear his name in a court of law, where evidence and truthfulness are supposed to be elevated above headlines and gossip.”

Cosby has repeatedly denied both Dickinson’s allegations and the defamation allegations, saying that they were statements by his former attorney that he had no part in.

AIG declined comment through a spokesman.

The settlement, which Cosby’s spokesman first confirmed Wednesday, brings a long list of litigation involving sexual misconduct and defamation accusations lodged against Cosby around the country near an end. Only a single California claim remains.

Dickinson was among the first for whom the term “supermodel” was used in the 1980s and has become a reality TV regular in recent decades on show’s including “America’s Next Top Model” and “Celebrity Big Brother.”

Cosby was convicted in April 2018 for sexually assaulting former Temple University employee Andrea Constand at his home in 2004. The actor and comedian was sentenced to three to ten years in prison.
 
https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2...urt-seeking-new-trial-on-sex-assault-charges/

Bill Cosby’s Lawyers Return To Court Seeking New Trial On Sex Assault Charges
August 12, 2019 at 8:54 am

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Bill Cosby‘s lawyers will fight to overturn his sexual assault conviction Monday as the 82-year-old comedian serves a three- to 10-year prison term in Montgomery County. Cosby was the first celebrity tried and convicted in the #MeToo era. He insists the sexual encounter with a young woman seeking career advice was consensual.

A jury last year found Cosby drugged and molested her at his Montgomery County estate in 2004.

Defense lawyers contend the trial judge erred in letting five other accusers testify to bolster the prosecution’s case.

The three-judge Superior Court panel includes two women jurists. The panel is not expected to rule for several months.

The decision will be closely watched by both sexual assault victims and lawyers for Harvey Weinstein and other high-profile men accused of similar misconduct.
 
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bill-c...n-legal-fees-after-losing-dispute-2019-09-24/

Bill Cosby owes $2.75 million in legal fees after losing dispute

September 24, 2019 / 8:45 PM

Bill Cosby has been hit with a $2.75 million legal bill as he marks the end of his first year in prison. The 82-year-old had challenged a California arbitration award that upheld nearly $7 million of a $9 million bill submitted by just one firm in the run-up to his first sexual assault trial in Pennsylvania in 2017.:D

A judge sided Friday with the Los Angeles firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart and Sullivan, rejecting Cosby's claim that the bill was "egregious."

Cosby spokesman Andrew Wyatt isn't commenting on the fee dispute. But he says the actor is holding up well in a suburban Philadelphia prison, mentoring other inmates as he marks a year in prison Wednesday.
 
https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/new...egal-Bill-After-Losing-Dispute-561265991.html

Bill Cosby Hit With $2.75M Legal Bill After Losing Dispute
Cosby is serving three to 10 years for drugging and molesting a woman in 2004
Published Sep 24, 2019 at 6:39 PM | Updated at 8:47 PM EDT on Sep 24, 2019

Bill Cosby has been hit with a $2.75 million legal bill as he marks the end of his first year in prison.

The 82-year-old Cosby had challenged a California arbitration award that upheld nearly $7 million of a $9 million bill submitted by just one firm in the run-up to his first sexual assault trial in Pennsylvania in 2017.

A judge sided Friday with Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, of Los Angeles, rejecting Cosby's claim that the bill was "egregious."

Cosby spokesman Andrew Wyatt isn't commenting on the fee dispute.

But he says the actor is holding up well in a suburban Philadelphia prison, mentoring other inmates as he marks a year in prison Wednesday.

Cosby is serving three to 10 years for drugging and molesting a woman in 2004. The Pennsylvania Superior Court is weighing his appeal of the 2018 conviction.
 
https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/ent...pects-to-Serve-10-year-Maximum-565430021.html

Bill Cosby Vows No Remorse, Expects to Serve 10-year Maximum
Legal experts say sex offenders typically must show remorse to be considered for parole
Published Nov 25, 2019 at 12:31 PM | Updated at 1:16 PM EST on Nov 25, 2019

Bill Cosby says he’s prepared to serve his 10-year maximum sentence for sexual assault rather than show remorse for a crime the comedian says he didn’t commit.

Cosby is serving three to 10 years in a state prison near Philadelphia after a jury last year convicted him of sexually assaulting a Temple University employee in 2004. The 82-year-old says the Pennsylvania parole board is “not going to hear me say that I have remorse.” :mad: He thinks it’s therefore unlikely he’ll be released early. :)

He made the comments in a phone interview on Sunday with BlackPressUSA as he appeals his felony conviction and sex offender status.

Legal experts say sex offenders typically must show remorse to be considered for parole.

Cosby is best known for his 1980s-era sitcom, “The Cosby Show.”
 
https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/new...ses-appeal-of-sex-assault-conviction/2257194/

Bill Cosby Loses Appeal of Sex Assault Conviction

The 82-year-old Cosby is serving a 3- to 10-year prison term for the 2004 encounter at his suburban Philadelphia home.
Published 51 mins ago • Updated 42 mins ago

A Pennsylvania appeals court has rejected Bill Cosby’s bid to overturn his sexual assault conviction.

The ruling Monday was being closely watched as Cosby was the first celebrity tried and convicted in the #MeToo era.

Defense lawyers say the trial judge improperly allowed five other accusers to testify. But the state Superior Court says the testimony is lawful and shows Cosby had a pattern of drugging and molesting women.

The 82-year-old Cosby is serving a 3- to 10-year prison term for the 2004 encounter at his suburban Philadelphia home. He can now ask the state Supreme Court to consider his appeal.
 
https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/new...-a-hollywood-slave-for-snl-monologue/2265076/

Bill Cosby’s Publicist Slams Eddie Murphy, Calls Him a ‘Hollywood Slave’ for ‘SNL’ Monologue
Bill Cosby's publicist had harsh words for comedian and actor Eddie Murphy, calling him a "Hollywood slave" for his comments on Cosby during his "SNL" monologue
By David Chang • Published December 22, 2019 • Updated at 4:43 am on December 23, 2019

Comedian and actor Eddie Murphy’s return to "Saturday Night Live" after 35 years has garnered mostly positive reviews. One person who was not a fan, however, was the publicist for jailed comedian Bill Cosby.

During his opening monologue, Murphy spoke about Cosby, who is currently serving a three to 10-year prison sentence for drugging and sexually assaulting a woman in 2004.

“My kids are actually pretty much my whole life now,” Murphy said Saturday night. “But if you would have told me 30 years ago that I would be this boring, stay-at-home house dad and Bill Cosby would be in jail, even I would have took that bet.”

“Who is ‘America’s dad’ now?” Murphy asked as he did an impression of Cosby.

The bit drew plenty of laughs from the audience, but Cosby’s publicist, Andrew Wyatt, was not amused. Wyatt took to Cosby’s official Instagram page Sunday night to slam Murphy for his comments.

“It is sad that Mr. Murphy would take this glorious moment of returning to SNL and make disparaging remarks against Mr. Cosby,” Wyatt wrote. “One would think that Mr. Murphy was given his freedom to leave the plantation, so that he could make his own decisions; but he decided to sell himself back to being a Hollywood Slave.”

Murphy has talked about Cosby throughout his standup career. During his popular 1987 standup special, “Raw,” Murphy talked about criticism he received from Cosby due to his raunchy humor.
 
https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2...ppeal-blames-metoo-sexual-assault-conviction/

Bill Cosby’s Latest Appeal Blames #MeToo Era For Sexual Assault Conviction
January 9, 2020 at 3:13 pm

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Comedian Bill Cosby filed an appeal Thursday of a court decision last month that upheld his conviction for drugging and sexually assaulting a woman at his home. The latest appeal — filed with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which does not have to take the case — focuses on four key trial issues, including the judge’s decision to let five other accusers testify and to send Cosby to trial despite what he called a binding agreement with an earlier prosecutor that he would not be charged in the case.

Cosby, 82, is serving a three- to 10-year prison term at a maximum-security state prison in Pennsylvania. His lawyers called the 2004 encounter consensual, but a jury found otherwise in April 2018, convicting him on all three felony counts in the first celebrity trial of the #MeToo era.

The appeal was filed as jury selection gets underway this week in the case that launched that national movement of people coming forward with accounts of sexual assault or harassment. Movie mogul Harvey Weinstein has been charged in New York with raping one woman sexually assaulting another. Several other women are expected to testify about similar experiences with Weinstein.

Cosby had been a mentor to the accuser whose allegations formed the basis of the case against him. Andrea Constand at the time was on the staff of the women’s basketball team at his alma mater, Temple University.

In the filing, Cosby’s lawyers said the rulings upheld by the state Superior Court last month would have “far-reaching consequences for all future criminal proceedings, including those that proceed outside the national spotlight.”

They include the judge’s decision to let jurors hear portions of Cosby’s deposition testimony in a related civil suit Constand filed. In the deposition, Cosby acknowledged giving Constand three pills before the sexual encounter and spoke of giving quaaludes in the 1970s to another accuser before engaging in sex with her.

Given the current cultural context, lawyer Brian W. Perry wrote that allowing other accusers to testify in a sex assault case “flips constitutional jurisprudence on its head, and the ‘presumption of guilt,’ rather than the presumption of innocence, becomes the premise.”

Cosby’s lawyers, in the appeal, also challenge his classification as a sexually violent predator subject to lifetime supervision when he leaves prison.

Cosby, asserting his innocence, has said he will never express remorse to the parole board and therefore expects to serve the entire 10-year sentence.

The Associated Press typically does not name people who say they have been victims of sexual assault without their permission, which Constand has granted.
 
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