The Superior Court of Pennsylvania ruled against convicted sexual predator Bill Cosby in his attempt to appeal a lower court decision that found him guilty of sexual assault.
Cosby, 82, was found guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault without consent, while unconscious or unaware that penetration is occurring, and while intoxicated or drugged in April 2018. The comedian drugged and molested Andrea Constand, a Temple University employee, at his home in 2004 when he was in his 60s and she was 30. He was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison for his crimes.
Cosby appealed his conviction on the grounds that the judge had improperly allowed five women to testify, but had no success. The court claimed additional witnesses were allowed to testify if it showed a pattern of wrongdoing. Several women had accused Cosby of doing the same thing: slipping them drugs and sexually assaulting them while they were unconscious.
In the ruling, the court said, “Here, the (prior bad act) evidence established appellant’s unique sexual assault playbook.”
“Not only did the (prior bad act) evidence tend to establish a predictable pattern of criminal sexual behavior unique to appellant, it simultaneously tended to undermine any claim that appellant was unaware of or mistaken about victim’s failure to consent to the sexual contact that formed the basis of the aggravated indecent assault charges,” the panel of judges added.
Constand, 46, celebrated the ruling, saying, “This decision is a reminder that no one is above the law.”
Cosby’s spokesman Andrew Wyatt condemned the court’s decision, saying, “We’re not shocked because it shows the world that this isn’t about justice, but this is a political scheme to destroy America’s Dad; however, they will not stop us, and we will prevail in the State Supreme Court. Mr. Cosby remains hopeful and he stands behind his innocence.”
Superior Court Judge John Bender defended the ruling, writing, “The reality of it is, he gives them drugs and then he sexually assaults them. And in four out of the five, those were in mentor situations.”
In total, Cosby was accused of similar crimes by around 60 women, though he only served time for Constand’s case.
