Okay, guys. Joke’s over. Let me out. Um… guys?
When comedian Bill Cosby was convicted of sexual assault charges and sent off in handcuffs to take up his new residence behind bars he seemed genuinely angry. His attorneys weren’t making it easy for the press to get very close to him, so I was never sure if it was the anger of a person who felt they’d been unjustly convicted or the outburst of someone who felt they were above the law and couldn’t believe that they’d lost the case. Either way, he’s a had a bit of time to think about it now and his attorneys are moving quickly to try to get him sprung because Cosby apparently isn’t cut out for prison life. (Page Six)
It’s been less than two weeks since Bill Cosby got sentenced and his lawyers are already trying to get him out of prison — and the judge in his case tossed, too.
A defense motion filed Friday outlines his attorneys’ requests, which include the overturning of the actor’s conviction and three-to 10-year sentence on account of errors made in his sex assault case and trial.
“The defendant, William H. Cosby, Jr., moves this Court for a new trial in the interest of justice, or at least for reconsideration and modification of the sentence imposed on September 25,2018,” the motion says, according to Deadline.
Filing an appeal or asking for a new trial is fairly standard practice. His attorneys could be deemed negligent if they failed to at least try. But they’re getting a bit personal in asking that the new trial not include Judge O’Neill. They’re going one step further in saying that the judge was demonstrably biased against Cosby and should have recused himself from the sentencing portion of the last trial. The reasons for this claim of bias seem a bit… vague, to say the least.
They aren’t offering many specifics of how Cosby is doing behind bars. He’s currently being held at Pennsylvania’s State Correctional Institute at Phoenix, which is located a bit to the northwest of Philadelphia in Collegeville. Presumably, they have a senior wing at a facility that size, keeping the comic away from the younger, more dangerous gang members and felons. Also, being legally blind, he’s probably being given special accommodations for the visually impaired.
CNN reported previously that Cosby is initially being kept by himself in a single occupant, ten foot high, 8′ x 13′ cell which is adjacent to the infirmary. That sounds pretty plush by prison standards, but the warden said that the long-term plan was to “eventually” move him into the general population so he can take all of the classes required to secure his eventual release. Even after he finishes three years he’s going to have to satisfy officials that he’s no longer a dangerous sex felon or he may wind up having to do the full ten years of his sentence.
Either way, Cosby is unhappy and would like to go home now. But it doesn’t sound to me like that’s going to be happening any time soon.
