PHILADELPHIA (CelebrityAccess) — Attorneys for Bill Cosby have asked a Pennsylvania court to overturn the actor’s conviction and prison sentence over what they claim are a series of errors in his trial.
According to a report by the Associated Press, Cosby’s defense team argued that trial Judge Steven O’Neill erred when he declared that Cosby was a sexually violent predator and must be imprisoned.
Attorneys for Cosby also contended that the state never proved that the sexual assault of Andrea Constand took place in 2004, and not in 2003, which would have placed it beyond the statute of limitations in Pennsylvania. They also challenged the application of Pennsylvania’s sex offender laws, which have been revised several times amid challenges they are unconstitutionally vague.
Cosby’s lawyers also took issue with the sentence of 3-10 years which Cosby received for the rape, which his defense team characterized as overly harsh, particularly in light of Cosby’s health and age.
As well, they challenged the authenticity of an audio recording of a damning 2005 telephone call to Andrea Constand’s mother which was played to jurors during the trial. In the recording, Cosby conceded that he had engaged in “digital penetration” with Constand after giving her pills, which he refused to identify. During the call, he offered Andrea money to attend Graduate school, according to testimony from her mother Gianna Constand.
Cosby’s lawyers told the court that they discovered the tape was “not authentic” when an expert reviewed the recording after the trial.
The motion was filed for Cosby by lawyer Peter Goldberger, a top appellate lawyer in the region, and Joseph P. Green Jr., the latest in a series of attorneys who have represented Cosby in the legal proceedings.
A former appellate lawyer on the case is suing Cosby over claims that he is owed more tha $50,000 in unpaid bills.
