Appeals court denies Bill Cosby's latest request to be released on bail pending the appeal of his guilty conviction for the 2004 sexual assault of Andrea Constand
- Cosby's spokesperson said his legal team was not surprised at the denial
- The motion for bail was filed to call attention to the fact that Montgomery County Judge Steven O'Neill hasn't yet issued a post-trial opinion
- That opinion is required before Cosby, 81, can pursue an appeal in the case
- Cosby could serve up to 10 years for drugging and molesting Andrea Constand in 2004 at his Pennsylvania mansion
An appeals court denied on Monday Bill Cosby's latest effort to be released from prison on bail while he fights his sex-assault conviction.
Lawyers for the 81-year-old sexual predator had renewed their bail motion in a filing last week with Pennsylvania Superior Court.
His attorneys claim that Cosby is likely to have his conviction overturned because of trial errors.
Andrew Wyatt on Cosby's defense team said he wasn't surprised by the order denying the bail motion.
An appeals court has denied 81-year-old sexual predator Bill Cosby's latest effort to be released from prison on bail while he fights his sex-assault conviction in Pennsylvania Superior Court. Cosby is pictured on September 25 being taken out of the Montgomery County Courthouse to state prison in shackles after being Sentenced to 3 to 10 years in prison for the 2004 sexual assault of Andrea Constand
Cosby's (pictured) defense team isn't surprised by the order on Monday denying the bail motion, which his spokesperson said was filed to point out that Montgomery County Judge Steven O'Neill hasn't yet issued a post-trial opinion explaining key trial decisions. That opinion must be entered before Cosby can pursue his appeal
The filing was largely intended to point out that Montgomery County Judge Steven O'Neill has not yet issued a post-trial opinion explaining key trial decisions, Wyatt said.
Judge O'Neill's decision to let five other accusers testify at last year's trial is among those that will be addressed in the opinion.
The opinion must be filed before Cosby can pursue his appeal.
There is no deadline for judges to file their opinions, and some spend many months on them in complex cases.
Cosby is serving a three- to 10-year prison term for drugging and molesting Andrea Constand in 2004 at his Pennsylvania mansion.
Cosby was found guilty in April last year of administering an intoxicant, rendering his victim unconscious and penetrating her without consent, each of which amount to aggravated indecent assault.
It was the only criminal case to arise from a barrage of allegations from more than 60 women who said Cosby drugged and molested them over five decades but whose stories were often disbelieved or ignored years before the #MeToo movement put a spotlight on sexual misconduct by powerful men.
Cosby was found guilty in April of last year of drugging and molesting Andrea Constand (pictured) in 2004 at his Pennsylvania mansion. At his sentencing in September he was officially designated a sexually violent predator
It was accusations against disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein that broke in October of 2017 that preceded a social media campaign using the hashtag #MeToo, which gave impetus for women to share their own stories of sexual harassment and assault.
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Before that, the 'Me Too' movement was initiated offline by Tarana Burke, a New York City-based civil rights activist, who first used the term in 2006 in her work to raise awareness of the pervasiveness of sexual abuse and assault in society.
Cosby was officially designated a sexually violent predator at this sentencing in September.
