The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has agreed to review part of of the case that lead to Bill Cosby's 2018 conviction of the aggravated indecent assault of Andrea Constand.
Cosby in January petitioned the state's high court to take up his case arguing his due process rights were violated amid "#MeToo hysteria."
After two trials and multiple bids for reconsideration, the Pennsylvania high court on Tuesday announced it will revisit two issues.
First, it will consider whether uncharged allegations of sexual misconduct and the use of quaaludes from five women should have been admitted as evidence. Just one such prior bad acts witness had been allowed to testify in Cosby's first trial, which ended in a mistrial.
Second, it will look at the larger issue of whether Cosby should have been put on trial given his argument that he had a non-prosecution agreement with the sitting Montgomery County District Attorney when he agreed to give a deposition in Constand's civil suit that eventually lead to these proceedings. The court will also consider whether that deposition testimony, in which he discussed giving women drugs for the purposes of sex, should have been admitted at trial since the comedian likely would have asserted his Fifth Amendment rights in the civil matter if he hadn't felt protected by the DA's assurances.
A spokesperson for Cosby on Tuesday sent The Hollywood Reporter a statement in response to the decision. "We’re extremely thankful to the State Supreme Court of Pennsylvania for agreeing to review Mr. Cosby’s appeal," it states, in part. "The false conviction of Bill Cosby is so much bigger than him — it’s about the destruction of ALL Black people and people of color in America. We’re extremely thankful to our attorneys (Brain Perry, Jennifer Bonjean & Barbara Zemlock) for their tenacious efforts in fighting for the vindication of Mr. Cosby."
