Bill Cosby’s attorneys asked a Pennsylvania judge for a new sexual assault trial or to reduce his sentence, citing new evidence.
In court papers filed on Friday, Cosby’s attorneys said Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas Judge Steven O’Neill should have recused himself from handling the case, reports Reuters. They also said O’Neil; did not consider the 81-year-old comedian’s age when sentencing him to up to 10 years in prison. Cosby’s attorneys are also not happy with O’Neill’s wife being a psychiatrist whose patients are sexual assault victims.
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The attorneys said O’Neill violated sentencing rules for not taking into account Cosby’s age and his failing eyesight.
According to Deadline, the filing also listed other complains about O’Neill during last year’s trial, which ended in a mistrial, and the 2018 trial. The attorneys claim one piece of taped evidence was “not authentic” and suggested the statute of limitations for the crime Cosby was convicted of may have expired.
“For the reasons detailed in Mr. Cosby’s previously-filed motions for recusal (which are incorporated here by reference, without being repeated and set forth at length), and for all the foregoing reasons, a reasonable observer could question the impartiality of the judge who imposed the September 25, 2018, sentence,” the filing reads. “Accordingly, Judge O’Neill should have recused himself from imposing sentence.”
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said a response will be filed, but offered no further comment, a spokeswoman said.
On Sept. 25, Cosby was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison after he was convicted of sexual assault against Andrea Constand, a former Temple University staffer. Cosby was also designated a “sexually violent predator.” He is also facing civil lawsuits from many other women who have accused him of sexual assault and misconduct. More than 60 women have accused Cosby of assault, but the Constand case was the first time he faced criminal charges.
“Bill Cosby took my beautiful, healthy young spirit and crushed it. He robbed me of my health and vitality, my open nature, and my trust in myself and others,” Constand wrote in a five-page letter released after Cosby’s sentencing. “We may never know the full extend of his double life as a sexual predator but his decades-long reign of terror as a serial rapist is over.”
As a “sexually violent predator,” Cosby will have lifetime counseling and has to report to authorities four times a year. His name will also be on the sex-offender registry, reports CBS News.
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