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The lawyers of the former US television star Bill Cosby, Sentenced in 2018 to at least three years in prison during a symbolic trial of the #MeToo movement, pleaded Monday before judges in Pennsylvania hoping to get his conviction overturned.
Bill Cosby, 82, previously adored and considered the ideal father's embodiment, was convicted in April 2018 of a Pennsylvania judge for raping and sexually assaulting a woman, Andrea Constand, 15 years earlier.
The actor, a figure in the struggle for the emancipation of blacks, was found guilty after a second trial in which five women, besides Andrea Constand, claiming to have been abused by the actor, could testify.
Certificates questioned
The first trial, where only one defendant other than Ms. Constand was allowed to testify, resulted in a reversal: jurors could not reach unanimous agreement on a verdict.
On Monday, the plaintiff's attorneys – who did not attend the hearing – pleaded before a panel of three appellate judges meeting in Harrisburg, according to several U.S. media outlets. They argued, in essence, that the judge should not have allowed the testimony of these five women, as their experience was not quite comparable to that of Mrs. Constand, reported in particular by the "Philadelphia Investigator."
They also tried to argue that a Montgomery County attorney decided in 2005 not to prosecute Bill Cosby for lack of evidence, and that this decision should have prevented his successors from re-starting the lawsuit. But judges have repeatedly questioned the plaintiff's lawyers, according to several media outlets.
No decision was given on Monday, and the judges did not say when they would return it.
Bill Cosby's conviction was seen as a big win for #MeToo, though the actor's allegation dates back to 2015, two years before the start of the motion launched by the revelations of alleged sexual abuse by Harvey Weinstein cinema. The latter, who has been charged in New York with sexual assault and rape of two women, is due to appear in court in Manhattan from 9/11. (AFP / NXP)
Created: 13.08.2019, 02:34
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