Judge Steven O'Neill Has Rejected Lawyers' Bid To Get The 81-Year-Old Comedian's 10 Years In Jail Sentencing For Assaulting Andrea Constand Reconsidered.
Bill Cosby's bid for a new trial or a reconsidered jail term sentence in his sexual assault case has been rejected.
Judge Steven O'Neill spurned the disgraced comedian's lawyers attempts to have him retried after he was sentenced in September to serve three to 10 years in state prison for drugging and assaulting Andrea Constand at his Pennsylvania home in 2004.
The judge's decision, which came after an "exhausting review" of post-trial motions filed by Cosby's legal team, prompted the shamed funnyman's attorneys to file an appeal with the state superior court, their next recourse in his attempt to reverse his conviction.
According to Fox News, the ruling led to Cosby's wife Camille accusing the judge of bias against her husband - as Judge O' Neill's wife has worked as a counsellor and advocate for victims of sexual assault. O'Neill rejected her argument, claiming his wife's work had no bearing on his decision.
The Cosby case was the subject of a mistrial last year (2017), but he was convicted at a second trial when additional prosecution witnesses testified as to his alleged predatory habits.
The 81-year-old's defence team argue that he should be retried, or get a new sentencing hearing due to alleged errors in the second trial.
Cosby is currently serving his sentence at State Correctional Institution - Phoenix in Pennsylvania. His lawyers have requested that he be released on bail while he appeals over the alleged trial errors.
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