Cosby behind bars
Appeal looming, lawsuits pending
Their famous client behind bars, Bill Cosby’s legal team is readying a long-shot bid to get his sexual assault conviction overturned. They’re also fighting civil lawsuits filed by some accusers that threaten to drain his vast fortune.
The 81-year-old Cosby’s lawyers gave glimpses of their expected appeal as his April retrial crashed toward a conviction. They were dismayed by Judge Steven O’Neill’s weighty decision to let five additional accusers testify and moved for a mistrial when one of the women called Cosby a “serial rapist’’ from the stand.
Cosby’s lawyers again demanded a mistrial when a prosecutor suggested they were wrong to help a star defence witness write a statement outlining how she said Andrea Constand, the woman Cosby was convicted of drugging and molesting, mused about framing a celebrity.
Recently, Cosby’s team — namely his wife, Camille — has been lashing out at O’Neill and accusing prosecutors of using illegal evidence.
Just before Cosby was taken away in handcuffs on Tuesday to begin his three-to-10-year prison sentence, his lawyers alleged that prosecutors had played a doctored audio tape for the jury. They argued that the development was enough to keep Cosby out on bail while he appeals, but O’Neill refused.
Still, legal experts say, Cosby faces long odds of winning on appeal.
Appellate courts give trial judges broad discretion to make decisions affecting how a case is tried, and they overturn only a tiny fraction of convictions. Cosby would stand a better chance, experts say, if he could show that O’Neill made serious errors that violated his constitutional rights.
The prosecutors who tried Cosby say they’re confident his conviction will stand.
“Bill Cosby is out of options,’’ said veteran Pennsylvania prosecutor Jarrett Ferentino, who wasn’t involved in the case. “His only option now is to blame the court system. His attempt to disparage and discredit his victims failed. He has every right to file an appeal. His chances of success are limited.’’
Cosby, once revered as “America’s Dad’’ for playing wise, caring Dr. Cliff Huxtable on “The Cosby Show,’’ is now known as Inmate No. NN7687.
He spent his first night as a prisoner in a single cell near the infirmary at a new state lock up a mere 20 miles from the suburban Philadelphia mansion where, a jury found, he assaulted Constand in 2004.