Bill Cosby Sentenced to 3-to-10 Years in Prison

Cosby sentencing hearing

Bill Cosby, who was convicted of three counts of indecent sexual assault during a second trial earlier this year, has been sentenced to up to 10 years in a Pennsylvania prison. The three counts were merged for sentencing under Pennsylvania law, and the judge sentenced him in accordance with the guidelines, which called for at least 22-36 months. The judge denied the defense request for house arrest, and denied Cosby a bond. Cosby was led from the courtroom in handcuffs and processed into custody.

Bill Cosby

Cosby, known as America’s dad for his reign as the patriarch of the fictional Cosby he portrayed on a top-rated sitcom in the 1980’s, will surely appeal. There are a couple of substantial issues to be hashed out on  appeal. First is the trial judge’s decision to allow the statements Cosby made in the civil case to be presented in the criminal trial. Cosby claimed he had only agreed to testify in the civil case pursuant to an agreement that the state would not prosecute, essentially that he was immune from prosecution. Cosby’s wife has recently indicated she wants to address a possible dispute the judge had with the former prosecutor that allegedly made the immunity agreement with Cosby. Also, among other things, Cosby will challenge the court’s decision to allow five other alleged victims to testify in this case. During his first trial, only one other accuser testified, and the trial ended with a mistrial due to a hung jury. While the decision to allow similar fact evidence before the jury is generally left to the discretion of the trial judge, his change of heart to allow four more accusers will certainly be scrutinized. It appears Cosby will have to remain behind bars unless he scores on his appeal.

Sarah Jones to enter plea

former Ben-Gal Sarah Jones

Reports out of Cincinnati indicate that Sarah Jones and her mother have both reached plea agreements in their cases, and are set for court to enter a plea on Monday.  WCPO reports that her attorney, Eric Deters, has confirmed a plea agreement has been reached, but I haven’t been able to glean any details.  I expect that the charges will be reduced in some way- to a non-sex offense for Ms. Jones, for her to be willing to take a plea offer.  Since the victim has apparently denied the alleged sexual relationship, I would not be surprised if the plea was to a mere misdemeanor and some probation, with a similar reduction for her mother’s case.

Judge Patricia Summe recently ruled that the text messages that the Defense sought to suppress would be admissible at trial.  I agree with Mike Allen who commented for Fox, and said that these text messages alone would not win the case for the Commonwealth.  However, not only are they quite embarrassing, they may have offered a suggestion of corroborating the allegations.  Jones purportedly told the student to ‘deny everything’, which is not an admission but it gives the appearance of a guilty conscience.  I will post updates on Crimcourts as they become available. #sarahjones