William H. Cosby, Jr., popularly known as Bill Cosby, has lodged an appeal on Thursday to the US Supreme Court over a Superior Court's denial on quashing a writ of habeas corpus. The American stand-up comedian actor has been repeatedly trying to delay a scheduled Pennsylvania preliminary hearing on a trio of felony second-degree aggravated indecent assault charges. The noted actor may have to serve a decade behind bars, if the trial holds him guilty.
The Cosby Show creator has allegedly assaulted a the-then Temple University employee Andrea Constand sexually. The US Supreme Court has accepted his appeal prayer for further hearing.
Cosby claims in his appeal petition that the trial court's order has raised substantial questions of criminal procedure and constitutional law that qualify for immediate appellate review. The Superior Court lacks jurisdiction in this regard and hence its consideration over those question is erroneous, reports Deadline citing suit documents as the source. The comedy actor is free on $1 million bail. His appeal prayer is based on a previous promise from a D.A. in Montgomery County of Pennsylvania. The D.A. has committed for not prosecuting him back in 2005 and hence the current D.A. has no right for prosecuting him. The petition continues saying, Mr. Cosby enjoys a constitutional right to meaningful appellate review and prosecution cannot be enforced now due to the commonwealth's commitment, according to a report published in FosterGem. Getting unsuccessful in a bid to close the case in early February, Cosby and his lawyers have filed a direct appeal against appeal Judge Steven O'Neill's ruling of February 3. The appeal has been filed with the Keystone State's Superior Court on February 12. Meanwhile, the current D.A. Kevin Steele has filed paperwork asking the higher court to reject Cosby's appeal attempt until a trial gets completed, reports IMDb. More than 50 women across the US accuse Cosby for drugging and assaulting them over the decades. Getting elected, Steele has laid the first criminal charges against him at the end of 2015 to beat Pennsylvania's 12-year statute of limitations for such crimes. Following his initiative, Cosby has got arrested on December 30 and later on released on bail. Constand and Cosby have reached to a settlement in a civil case a decade earlier. However, Cosby now intends to retrieve the settlement following alleged breach of confidentiality agreement by Constand and her attorneys.
