Pa. judges hit Cos case
Prosecutors quizzed on use of deposition, old accusations
As the Pennsylvania Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday in Bill Cosby’s attempt to throw out his 2018 sex assault conviction, the seven-judge panel repeatedly questioned the prosecution’s use of allegations and a salacious civil deposition at the high-profile trial.
The actor’s appellate lawyer, Jennifer Bonjean said her client was unfairly tried for his character, not for a single incident, as prosecutors “bombarded” the jury with decades-old accusations of sexual misconduct that were not directly connected to Andrea Constand, the woman he was found guilty of drugging and molesting.
“While the public and the media were free to judge Mr. Cosby’s guilt based on those factors, his criminal jury was not,” Bonjean told the court during the hearing, which was held virtually and livestreamed.
Bonjean argued that the 83-year-old comedian (photo) “suffered unquantifiable prejudice” when five accusers shared a series of sexual misconduct claims dating back to the 1970s. She also said prosecutors should not have been allowedto use Cosby’s damning deposition from an earlier sex abuse lawsuit against him, which included an admissionthat he used Quaaludes to drug women he wanted to grope.
The disgraced actor, who did not participate in Tuesday’s hearing, claims he agreed to testify in the civil suit under a promise from a prosecutor that he would never be charged in the case.
The high court repeatedly quizzed Deputy District Attorney Adrienne Jappe over her office’s decision to use the lawsuit filings anyway.
“Why did you need this evidence?” Justice Christine Donohue asked. “You had the complainant who is capable of testifying and did testify.”
Justice David Wecht questioned whether the decision hurts the “reliability” of prosecutors as they make numerous plea deals, immunity agreements and other promises on a daily basis.
“What is the lesson that emerges from beyond this case and all cases going forward in Pennsylvania?” Wecht asked.
Prosecutors noted that the promise was simply “announced” in a press release and should not be relied upon for prosecutorial immunity.
Jappe said the deposition and the five accusers who testified helped prove Cosby’s pattern of “isolating and intoxicating young women for the purpose of sexually assaulting them.”
Constand, a former Temple University employee, accused him of drugging and sexually assaulting her in his mansion in 2004. She went to the police in 2005, but the district attorney declined to pursue the case. A different prosecutor reopened the investigation about a decade later.
Cosby’s conviction is considered a precedent-setting moment for the #MeToo era as he was the first celebrity to go to prison since the movement began.