Bill Cosby continues to fight for his freedom. The embattled comedian filed a new appeal on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2020, according to CBS Philly.
Cosby was appealing a decision issued by a Pennsylvania court that upheld his conviction of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman at his home in the early 2000s. This time around, Cosby and his legal team filed with Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
His case focuses on key trial issues which include the judge’s decision to let five other accusers testify against Cosby. The accusers shared their alleged experiences, but Cosby maintained his innocence and was not charged in any of the other cases.
Cosby also claims the trial was illegal since he had a binding agreement with an earlier prosecutor who said that he would not be charged in the case. In return, Cosby provided a deposition testimony that was to be sealed.
In Cosby’s 2018 trial, the judge unsealed the deposition and allowed jurors to hear portions of Cosby’s 2004 testimony. In the deposition, Cosby acknowledged giving Andrea Constand three pills, but he said the pills were an over-the-counter drug for pain and headaches. At some point during their 2004 meeting, Cosby and Constand had a sexual encounter. Cosby said it was consensual; Constand said it was not. The two continued to have a working relationship after the encounter until Constand sued Cosby and settled out of court.
Cosby’s lawyers also contend that he faced bias from the “Me Too” movement, which led to dozens of accusations from women who said they were abused or harassed by men. Cosby was the first celebrity to be convicted after “Me Too” became a popular news headline.
In the latest appeal, Cosby’s lawyer, Brian W. Perry, wrote that allowing accusers to testify “flips constitutional jurisprudence on its head, and the ‘presumption of guilt,’ rather than the presumption of innocence, becomes the premise.”
In the appeal, Cosby’s lawyers also challenged his classification as a sexually violent predator subject to lifetime supervision when he leaves prison.
Cosby, 82, is currently serving three to 10 years in prison after he was convicted in 2018.
