Bill Cosby's application for a new trial dismissed by the judge

PHILADELPHIA – A Pennsylvania judge on Tuesday rejected Bill Cosby's bid for a new trial and re-examined his sentence of three to ten years in prison, saying it was not necessary to hold a hearing on the issues raised. by his defense team.

Judge Steven T. O'Neill ordered Cosby to appeal to the Superior Court of Pennsylvania for any recourse, which Mr. Cosby's new lawyers have said they intend to do.

"The court has determined that no hearing or argument is necessary on the issues raised," wrote Judge O'Neill, of the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas, in a court order. one page, nearly a month after he sentenced Cosby to sexual assault on Andrea Constand, a former employee of Temple University.

[Read about the lawyers Bill Cosby hired and fired during his brush with the law.]

Joseph P. Green, a former lawyer for Mr. Cosby, had requested the opening of a new trial on the grounds that the prosecution had not proved that the assault had taken place within a twelve-year limitation period and that a tape recording had been presented by the attorneys as evidence. the trial had been altered.

Mr. Green had also asked that the sentence be reconsidered, which he said was severe given his age, 81, and the fact that he was legally blind.

The judge erred, said Mr. Green, basing his sentence partly on the statements of other women claiming to have been abused by Mr. Cosby, and by not allowing their cross-examination at the time of the hearing. sentencing.

"The Court erred in imposing a longer period of detention by finding an" undue risk "that Mr. Cosby" commits another crime "despite the undisputed expert testimony that his actual risk of re-offending is close to zero, "said Green. says in the court papers.

Camille, Mr. Cosby's wife, issued a statement Tuesday in which he called the judge "corrupt" and his new lawyers filed documents with the Superior Court, asking him to consider the Mr. Cosby was released on bail while his appeal was heard.

Montgomery County Attorney Kevin R. Steele declined to comment on the judge's decision. In court documents he had argued that the arguments put forward by Mr. Green were unfounded.

Alan Tauber, a Philadelphia defense attorney, said the judge's decision was not surprising.

"He has taken over his own positions," said Tauber. "Unless a big revelation, he will not confess his own mistake."

In April, Mr. Cosby was convicted of three counts of indecent assault committed after drugging and assaulting Ms. Constand at his home outside Philadelphia in 2004.

Mr. Cosby's first lawsuit in 2017 ended with a suspended jury. In the second trial, this year, Justice O'Neill allowed five more women to testify, claiming that Mr. Cosby had sexually assaulted them while he was at the height of his fame and power as an artist and personality of the television. Mr. Cosby's lawyers indicated that the judge's decision to allow this testimony would be part of their appeal.

In sentencing, O'Neill J. dismissed Mr. Cosby's application for bail. But he said in his order Tuesday that Mr Cosby had the "qualified right" to ask the court for a bail pending appeal.

In his bail application on Tuesday in the Superior Court, Cosby's defense team asserted that Justice O'Neill should have disclosed that he had a "contentious relationship" with a key defense witness. former public prosecutor, Bruce Castor. Mr. Castor said at a preliminary hearing that he had promised the state many years ago not to prosecute Mr. Cosby. O'Neill J. found that such a promise was not binding.

The defense submitted a new affidavit of Mr. Castor on Tuesday stating that the judge had never forgiven him what he had perceived as an unfair tactic on the part of Mr. Castor when the two men were arrested. were candidates for the post of prosecutor in 1999.

"I think Judge O'Neill assigned himself to this case in part because he knew that I had made the decision not to prosecute Mr. Cosby in 2005. and that I was wondering if this case could be tried, "said the affidavit. I said.

O'Neill J. rejected Mr. Castor's bad faith claims earlier this year. "No grudge, animus, prejudice or prejudice can be claimed," he wrote. "Because it just does not exist."