Judge: Bill Cosby must wear GPS monitor
NORRISTOWN » Clarifying bail conditions for Bill Cosby, a judge said the entertainer must wear an electronic monitoring device while he remains free awaiting sentencing for sexually assaulting a woman at his Cheltenham mansion in 2004.
Montgomery County Judge Steven T. O’Neill, in an order filed on Friday, said county probation officials “shall fit the defendant with a GPS monitor,” which essentially is an electronic ankle bracelet that will monitor Cosby’s whereabouts.
The judge added Cosby “shall not leave his home” in the 8200 block of New Second Street in Cheltenham.
Only when permission is granted by probation officials can Cosby be “permitted to travel within Montgomery County and the surrounding counties of Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Philadelphia, solely for the purposes of medical treatment or consultation with his legal counsel,” O’Neill wrote in the court order.
“The defendant shall not travel outside of this five county area,” O’Neill said, adding Cosby’s passport shall remain in the possession of county detectives.
On Thursday, a jury, after 14 hours of deliberations over two days, convicted Cosby, 80, of three felony counts of aggravated indecent assault in connection with sexually assaulting Andrea Constand, a former Temple University athletic department employee, after plying her with “three blue pills,” at his Cheltenham home in January 2004.
At that time, the judge rejected District Attorney Kevin R. Steele’s request for Cosby’s bail to be revoked pending sentencing. The judge ruled Cosby could remain free on his current bail, 10 percent of $1 million, to await his sentencing hearing later this year, adding, “I’m not going to simply lock him up now. At this stage, this bail has been sufficient.”
O’Neill received assurances from Cosby’s lawyers that Cosby’s passport previously
was surrendered to authorities.
The order issued by O’Neill on Friday clarified that Cosby was to be placed under GPS monitoring and specifically outlined the actor’s travel restrictions.
Cosby faces a possible maximum sentence of 15 to 30 years in prison on the charges. However, state sentencing guidelines could allow for a lesser sentence.
With its verdict, the jury found that Cosby sexually assaulted Constand while she was unconscious and without her consent.
It was the second Cosby.
Cosby’s first trial last June ended in a mistrial when a trial for
jury selected from Allegheny County couldn’t reach a verdict. Montgomery County residents were selected for the most recent trial.
The names of those county residents are now a hot commodity for media outlets.
Lawyers for several news organizations, including the New York Post, The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, ABC Inc., The Associated Press, The Washington Post, CBS and CNN, joined forces on Friday and filed a petition seeking “immediate access to discharged juror names.”
The judge has not yet responded to the request and it’s unclear if he will hold a hearing on the matter.