Following an effort to overturn his sexual assault conviction, a Pennsylvania appeals court has rejected Bill Cosby’s request.
In the initial appeal, according to the Hollywood Reporter, Cosby’s lawyer stated that the suburban Philadelphia judge had improperly allowed the five women to testify at last year’s retrial after allowing only one woman to testify during the first trial back in 2017.
However, the Superior Court said Pennsylvania allows the testimony regardless if it follows Cosby’s “signature” pattern of drugging and molesting women.
The panel stated in its ruling that “Not only did the (prior bad act) evidence tend to establish a predictable pattern of criminal sexual behavior unique to appellant, it simultaneously tended to undermine any claim that appellant was unaware of or mistake about the victim’s failure to consent to the sexual contact that formed the basis of the aggravated indecent assault charges.”
In an attempt to overturn his conviction, Lawyers for Cosby argued eight issues on appeal. Cosby’s lawyers fought against the judge’s decision to let prosecutors use portions of a deposition he gave in the accuser’s related civil suit and that he had a promise from a former prosecutor that he would never be charged in the case.
However, despite Cosby’s legal teams’ efforts, the appeals court rejected each argument and upheld the judge’s classification of Cosby as a ‘sexually violent predator.’
Cosby may have another chance to appeal his conviction, as he may now as the state Supreme Court to consider his appeal.
The 82-year-old disgraced actor & comedian is currently serving a three- to 10-year prison sentence after being found guilty of sexual assault.
