Bill Cosby Ordered To Return To Court In May, May Face Up To Ten Years In Prison
Bill Cosby has been ordered to return to court in May. Cosby, who currently faces criminal charges for allegedly drugging and assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004, was told by a Pennsylvania judge that his next court date is set for May 24 at 9:30 a.m., which means this case will not be thrown out.
As Deadline Hollywood reported, Cosby’s appeal was rejected by the Superior Court and the case will go forward through the justice system. This case is unique because this is one of the only accusations against Bill Cosby that can be tried in court. Over 50 women have accused Bill Cosby of misconduct in the form of rape, drugging, and other forms of abuse, but this is one of the only cases that can be tried in court because of when it took place.
One of the most famous accusers is model and actress Beverly Johnson, who accused Cosby of drugging her coffee while she was in his New York City home in the 1980s. Johnson came forward after many women in a tell-all piece for Vanity Fair. Up until then she was the only African-American woman to come forward. Since then there have been several.
Bill Cosby: A 50-year timeline of accusations and accomplishments https://t.co/xEAgCrZUfY pic.twitter.com/fttCTGZg30
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) April 26, 2016
District attorney Kevin Steele said of Judge O’Neill’s decision on Cosby’s appeal, “We did not believe that the defense had a right to appeal at this stage, and are gratified that the Court came to the same conclusion. The effect of both of these orders is that we can now hold a preliminary hearing. We are ready for that hearing and look forward to the Court setting a date so we can present our case.”
If Bill Cosby is found guilty in a court of law, he faces up to 10 years in prison, which is basically a life sentence, seeing as how Cosby is 78 years old.
The accusations against Bill Cosby have been heavily documented in news reports, but none of them have been weaved together like the New York Times piece. The New York Times piece featured 35 women telling their accounts with Bill Cosby. It was such a well-put-together piece that Cosby wanted to use the reporter’s notes to defend himself. Unfortunately, the comedian learned today that he was denied the right to force the publisher with a subpoena for the notes taken by the reporter.
U.S. Judge Paul Gardephe said that the request “bordered on frivolous” and was “wildly inconsistent” with “New York’s press shield law.” He also said that the subpoena is a “fishing expedition.”
Bill Cosby’s request for reporters’ notes from interviews with six of his accusers shot down https://t.co/fkHA2L9c1Z pic.twitter.com/mj1VW4Gvw1
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) April 26, 2016
It’s said that Cosby wanted to use the reporter’s notes so that he can determine whether or not there were any inconsistencies in the stories of the women that were interviewed. At the time, New York Media’s lawyer David Korzenik said that the protection of these notes is, “what the First Amendment that drives this privilege calls for.”
Since these accusations have come to fruition, Bill Cosby has been stripped of his many academic titles, and has seen backlash in the form of social media. Although he has not been found guilty in a court of law yet, many on social media already see him as a guilty man. When accusations started piling up, Cosby’s show The Cosby Show was pulled off of networks, and he lost out on a pretty lofty deal with Netflix, as well as a new show on NBC which was supposed to go forward.
That said, the Inquisitr reported that Cosby’s items are still set to stay at the Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History and Culture. It was questioned whether or not his items would be removed because of the allegations against the famed comedian.
[Photo by William Thomas Cain/Getty Images]
