Page 24 - Florida Sentinel 9-28-18

Entertainment
Bill Cosby Sentenced To 3 To 10 Years In Prison For Sexual Assault
Camille Cosby Hires
Lawyer To Investigate
Judge In Bill Cosby Case
Bill Cosby was sentenced to three to 10 years in state prison at a Norristown, Penn- sylvania, court on Tuesday.
Cosby, convicted in April of aggravated indecent as- sault, declined to speak to the court prior to the sentence. His attorneys have filed an appeal.
He also was ordered to pay a fine of $25,000 plus the costs of prosecution as part of the sentence.
In addition, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Judge Steven O'Neill ruled that Cosby will be classified as a "sexually violent predator," a determination that requires lifetime registration, lifetime mandatory sex offender coun- seling with a treatment provider and notification to the community that a "sexu- ally violent predator" lives in the area. It does not impact the length of the actual sen- tence.
Once a groundbreaking actor, Cosby was accused by dozens of women of drugging and sexually assaulting them over his decades as a power- ful media figure. However, most of those cases occurred outside the statute of limita- tions.
Entertainer Bill Cosby, once known as "America's Dad," was sentenced Tuesday to three to 10 years in a state prison for drug- ging and sexually assaulting An- drea Constand at his home 14 years ago.
The Long Path To Bill Cosby's Guilty Verdict
Cosby was convicted in April of three counts of aggra- vated indecent assault for drugging and assaulting Con- stand at his home in 2004, in the first high-profile celebrity criminal trial of the #MeToo era.
Cosby's spokesperson Andrew Wyatt unleashed on the media, judge and pros- ecutors after the sentence, calling the prosecution "the most racist and sexist trial in the history of the United States." He also said Cosby was doing well because "he knows that these are lies."
Ahead of the sentencing, Constand wrote a five-page letter to the court explaining how Cosby's assault -- and the ensuing legal battle -- had changed her life.
O'Neill cited Con- stand's statement in decid- ing on the sentence.
Prosecutors had asked the judge on Monday to sentence Cosby to five to 10 years in state prison for the assault, saying he had shown "no re- morse" for his actions. How- ever, Cosby's defense attorney, Joseph P. Green, asked for a sentence of house arrest, citing Cosby's ad- vanced age and blindness.
The state sentencing guidelines indicate 22 to 36 months in prison, plus or minus 12 months because of aggravating or mitigating cir- cumstances. However, judges are allowed to issue sentences beyond those guidelines.
Cosby did not testify at the trial and has spoken pub- licly only infrequently since his criminal trial began. But in April, when prosecutors claimed he had a private plane and asked the judge to revoke his bail, Cosby stood up in court and yelled, "He doesn't have a plane, you a**hole," referring to himself in the third person.
In a sentencing memoran- dum, prosecutors said that "extraordinary display of dis- respect" was evidence of "who this convicted criminal defen- dant actually is."
Green, Cosby's attor- ney, asked for a sentence of house arrest and said Cosby was not a danger to anyone.
Though the three charges each carry a maximum possi- ble sentence of 10 years, O'Neill announced Monday that the charges had been merged into one because they all stem from the same event.
Cosby has remained out of prison for the past five months on $1 million bail, and his lawyers said they plan to appeal his convictions. Cosby could have been al- lowed to remain out of prison until his legal appeals are re- solved.
The decision was ulti- mately up to O'Neill, who oversaw Cosby's 2018 re- trial, as well as his mistrial a year earlier that ended in a hung jury.
Camille Cosby has hired a lawyer to investigate the judge sentenced Bill Cosby this week.
The 74-year-old producer and author announced last Friday, that she has retained former prosecutor Brian W. Perry to “facilitate ef- forts to uncover the truth re- garding the longstanding and ongoing feud” between Pennsylvania Judge Steven T. O’Neill and Bruce Castor, the former Montgomery County District Attorney who previously re- fused to prosecute Cosby over a decade ago.
Earlier in the week, Camille filed a request for a full investigation of Judge O’Neill, sighting “continu- ing unethical conduct.”
In her statement, Camille alleges that O’Neill and Castor’s feud dates back to the late ‘90s, when they both ran for the Montgomery County D.A. seat. O’Neill dropped out of the race after Castor al-
CAMILLE AND BILL COSBY
legedly used his ex-girlfriend as a political pawn to throw off the race.
Bill Cosby was tipped off about the “feud,” and planned to expose O’Neill during a two-day hearing. The Cosby Show star sub- poenaed, among others, the “former female DA” in ques- tion who had been “ordered to disrupt” an important de- bate in which O’Neill “per- formed poorly,” subsequently ending his chances at beating Castor for D.A.
Bill Cosby, Now Inmate NN7687, Placed In Single Cell
Bill Cosby spent his first night in prison alone, in a single cell near the infirmary, as he began his three-to-10- year sentence for sexual as- sault.
Corrections officials an- nounced Wednesday that Cosby — now known as In- mate No. NN7687 — will serve his sentence at SCI Phoenix, a new state prison about 20 miles from the gated estate where a jury concluded he drugged and molested a woman in 2004.
The $400 million lockup opened two months ago and can hold 3,830 inmates.
Cosby will meet with prison medical staff, psychol- ogists and others as the staff assesses his needs.
Under prison policy, the 81-year-old comedian will be allowed phone calls and vis- its and will get a chance to exercise.
The prison’s long-term goal is to place Cosby in the general population, officials said.
“We are taking all of the necessary precautions to en- sure Mr. Cosby’s safety and general welfare in our insti- tution,” Corrections Secre- tary John Wetzel said in a statement.
As Cosby began adjust- ing to life behind bars, his family and publicists vowed he will appeal his conviction on three felony sexual assault counts after the first celebrity trial of the #MeToo era.
Calling Cosby “one of the greatest civil rights leaders in the United States for over the past 50 years,” spokesman Andrew Wyatt on Tuesday decried the trial as the “most sexist and racist” in the country’s history.
The judge, prosecutor and jury saw it differently.
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