Bill Cosby granted appeal in Pennsylvania sex assault case

[JonLP24]

Source: Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — In a stunning decision that could test the legal framework of #MeToo cases, comedian Bill Cosby has won the right to fight his 2018 sexual assault conviction in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

The 82-year-old Cosby has been imprisoned in suburban Philadelphia for nearly two years after a jury convicted him of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman at his home in 2004. He’s serving a three- to 10-year sentence.

The Supreme Court has agreed to review two aspects of the case, including the judge’s decision to let prosecutors call five other accusers to testify about long-ago encounters with the once-powerful actor and comedian. Cosby’s lawyers have long challenged that testimony as remote and unreliable. The court will also consider, as it weighs the scope of the testimony allowed, whether the jury should have heard evidence that Cosby had given quaaludes to women in the past.

Secondly, the court will examine Cosby’s argument that he had an agreement with a former prosecutor that he would never be charged in the case. Cosby has said he relied on that agreement before agreeing to testify in the trial accuser’s civil lawsuit.

Read more: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dothanfirst.com/news/national/bill-cosby-granted-appeal-in-pennsylvania-sex-assault-case/amp/

[Roc2020]

1. There are a lot of very powerful

men that are quietly not happy bill cosby is in jail. men from all race financial and social standing that are angry they can't use their influence to manipulate women. Cosby freedom would be a huge knock on #metoo. no doubt.

[RobinA]

26. I Disagree

This is an evidence issue. It doesn't question anything that MeToo would address.

[cstanleytech]

2. I won't be surprised if it's tossed due or partly due to letting those 5 women

testify over something he was never charged or convicted for.

[qazplm135]

10. depends

if was part of an MO, or pattern or some other permissible reason and only used/offered for that reason, then it's fine.

Also FRE 413 allows evidence of prior uncharged sexual misconduct to be used to support a current charge. If the state has a similar rule, then that's also fine.

[MyOwnPeace]

3. Oh, fine................

Just more "case history" that will slow down charges against BunkerBoy once he's out of protection from the office of "President" (some throw-up in my throat for even having to write that).

[cstanleytech]

4. Not necessarily unless the judge screws up and lets someone testify that he did something

similar from years ago that Trump was not convicted on as that could jeopardize the case.
That of course is assuming Trump is ever actually held accountable and or does not flee the country and my money is on him fleeing on his last day in office and it will probably be to Russia and if he brings enough classified information with him Putin will definitely welcome him with open arms.

[MyOwnPeace]

5. Not the response I would have expected!

And yes, I too have entertained the departure of BunkerBoy to places afar where the long arm of the law cannot touch him and his progeny.............

This action, of course, would be SO counter to his own history and background of stand and fight - let money starve them out!

[cstanleytech]

6. Except Trump and many of those in his administration not to mention a number of Republican Senators

have proven to be valuable Russian assets so they could find a home there.
Plus for Trump he also has the fact that his current wife was born in the former USSR going for her so who knows what close ties she might have there.

[sarisataka]

7. Yugoslavia was part of the USSR?

Did anyone ever tell Tito? He wouldn't have been happy about that.

[cstanleytech]

11. Very close allies for awhile though friction later on.

[sheepfarm]

16. Very close?

By 1948 Tito & Stalin were already at each other's throats. The Yugoslav Partizans pretty much defeated the Nazis and their allies (like the Croatian Ustashe) with little help from the Soviets, so had no real reason to be beholden to them.

[cstanleytech]

17. I said for awhile I did not say for decades.

[sheepfarm]

19. In the context of the Cold War...

the sorta-friendly relationship between Tito and Stalin was very brief, and broke down before even West Germany was officially founded in 1949. Even then, as I said earlier, the Partizans largely liberated Yugoslavia on their own. They and Tito were determined not to become a satellite state of the USSR like what many other bordering countries became, like Bulgaria, Romania & Hungary, and that's why relations quickly broke off. For nearly all of it's post WWII life Yugoslavia was a "neutral" belligerent and was never considered to be behind the "Iron Curtain".

[LanternWaste]

20. By that measure, the US and UK were also "Very close allies of the USSR" for awhile.

Kinda losing the mark on this one...

[oldsoftie]

13. Well, part of the Eastern Bloc. They didnt do much without the USSR's approval.

[sheepfarm]

18. Yugoslavia were never effectively part of the "Eastern Bloc"

They were only allied with the Soviet Union for a brief period after World War II, by the end of the 1940's Stalin wanted Tito gone, leading to Tito's infamous retort about how he (Stalin) had failed to successfully send several assassins to kill him, told him to stop it or he'd send one to Stalin himself and he'd only need to do it once.

Yugoslavia was never a part of the Warsaw Pact, was only an associate member of Comecon (and only did so in 1964, 15 years after its founding), was a founding member of the European Broadcasting Union (best known for the Eurovision Song Contest) alongside mostly Western European countries, and was one of the leading countries in the foundation of the the Non-Aligned Movement.

While the early years of Yugoslavia were nearly as oppressive in terms of Soviet authority, it didn't take long for it to "open up" towards a more liberal approach to communism/socialism - there was less central planning and more emphasis on worker co-operatives, Yugoslavs could (largely) freely travel and work abroad while westerners could freely visit the country to holiday there (Split in Croatia, and much of the Adriatic coastline were popular destinations for Western Europeans. One big difference was that the media from neighbouring "capitalist" countries like Italy and Austria was very rarely censored or condemned by the authorities, indeed local newspapers often carried listings for their TV channels!

This is not to say that Yugoslavia was a bed of roses - the ethnic and sectarian tensions within Yugoslavia were kept largely in check by Tito with his authority - it's no surprise that after his death in 1980 (his funeral was attended by then VP Walter Mondale) the cracks between the republics that made up Yugoslavia began to show and descend into the horror of the early to mid-90's.

[burrowowl]

27. Excellent post, the US abetted a non-peaceful break-up

[NNadir]

15. Bunkerboy shouldn't have been protected, but his crime portfolio is pretty thick.

He could spend the rest of his life in trials, there are so many crimes.

[Jarqui]

8. I don't have a good feeling about this ... nt

[NurseJackie]

9. If he lives, he'll be released. I'm thinking he'll probably die first...

If he lives, he'll be released. I'm thinking he'll probably die first... he's in very poor health, isn't he? Or was just an act for the cameras?

[marble falls]

12. Lets put it this way: he lent Harvey Weinstein his walker.

[oldsoftie]

14. HA!

[appalachiablue]

23. Hot today aren't you! That's 2 so far

that have lightened my day.



So the option is paying off the cops to not kill people.

[marble falls]

24. When I was younger I was whacky. Now that I'm older I've gotten droll.

[appalachiablue]

25. Whatever, it works, so keep 'em coming!

[LanternWaste]

21. My guess is Cosby ultimately gets the Dennis Hastert treatment.

12 to 18 months in prison, a small fine and nothing else.

Dennis played up bad health issues almost as dramatically as Weinstein did... but Cosby on the other hand, actually looked pretty ill the last time I saw him camera when all this went down and he was indicted. But then again, he was a pretty good actor and I'm easily fooled.

Still, I'd bet a crumpled ten dollar bill Cosby gets less than a year and a half after all is said and done.

[Calista241]

22. I always did think the prosecutors being able to call witnesses alleging crimes

that he wasn't being tried for, and was never convicted of, was questionable legally.