Bill Cosby’s lawyer believes that the state of Pennsylvania has given the embattled comedian a death sentence. During an interview with African Diaspora News, Andrew Wyatt said that Cosby could be forced to live out his last days behind bars due to the COVID-19 crisis.
“Mr. Cosby wasn’t given a death sentence, but what they’re trying to do is execute him,” Wyatt said. “Let him get COVID-19, that’s the goal. They want to execute him. They want to get rid of a guy like Bill Cosby. He’s in his right mind, I’m his only visitor.”
Wyatt said Cosby often tells him stories about his history with iconic figures, such as Redd Foxx and Sammy Davis Jr., but he insists the former star is being treated inhumanely.
“They wouldn’t allow him to take braille,” Wyatt said of Cosby, who is legally blind. “They are trying to do everything they can to prevent him from staying mentally strong in that facility. They know COVID-19 is in that prison. He can’t practice social distancing because he depends on inmates to get around. They’re not even giving him hot food. He stays in his cell 23 hours out of the day, like a death row inmate.”
In April 2020, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections revealed that Cosby did not qualify for an early release.
“Based on the criteria exempting sex offenders and knowing his highly publicized case, he would not qualify,” a rep from the Pennsylvania DOC said, according to Page Six.
The early release program “applies to state prison inmates who have been identified as being nonviolent and who otherwise would be eligible for release within the next nine months or who are considered at high risk for complications of coronavirus and are within 12 months of their release.”
Once COVID-19 began to spread in March, Cosby’s lawyers filed a motion requesting that the comedian be released from prison.
