Key question in Cosby appeal: Does defendant's past matter?

FILE - In this April 26, 2018 file photo, Bill Cosby, center, leaves the the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pa., after being convicted of drugging and molesting a woman. The actor has spent more than two years in prison since he was convicted of sexual assault in the first celebrity trial of the #MeToo era. Now the Pennsylvania Supreme Court is set to hear his appeal of the conviction on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020.

Investigators say it can be crucial to show a signature crime pattern, but defense lawyers say it often amounts to character assassination. But District Attorney Kevin Steele believes the similarities in their accounts were no mere coincidence. But the following year, at the 2018 retrial, the judge let five other accusers take the stand to describe encounters with Cosby in the 1980s. Each believed they had been drugged and sexually assaulted.

This shouldn't even be brought up in the first place.

Trump had just as many!

Yes it matters! If a woman is charging a man with rape and he’s raped before, how could anyone think that the past doesn’t matter? That’s relevant, not character assassination! JoshShapiroPA please let our SC know not to let him get away with this because he’s a celebrity!

It should be heard in crimes like this showing clearly there is a pattern or no there isn’t a pattern.

Hell yes it is relevant ..... Predatory behavior Would you say the same for a child molestor? - No you wouldn't Another slimy weasley lawyer excuse... to get paying client to keep paying -anything for a paycheck

That should be called a landmark.

Most prosecutors are not permitted to introduce 404(b) prior bad acts into rape cases and it’s UNFAIR! If I rob a grocery store three times the jury can be privy to that info but serial rapists’ past acts prejudice the jury. Ok. 🙄😤

who would of thought

This could make it harder for sexual assault victims

Using past actions to discredit a victim is almost has harmful as the trauma itself. Its a gross practice that needs to stop. A victim is a victim is a victim.

No. There ya go, solved that legal mystery for you, AP.

I never really liked Bill Cosby & sensed that he was a fake in many ways. Especially when he was so critical to Eddie Murphy’s way of humor. Justice should allow for a person’s past to be revealed so that a jury can try to formulate a better picture of character and intent.

I have a lot of faith in the Pennsylvania court system to clear things up.

Don't they have more important things to do? Election2020 The taxpayers would rather a speedy remedy for this predator's repeated offences than keep draining their resources. GetItDone

Nothing will ever change what he is.

nice

I would say if it shows a pattern of unchanged behavior, regardless of when, then absolutely it should be heard.

Is this an opinion or news article?

Why isn’t trump pardoning him? I mean, he fits the sleaze bill. Oh, he’s not white. Sorry Bill! Not sorry Bill.

This man should spend the rest of his life in prison. End of story.

Congratulations!!!Very well done!!! Best Wishes God blessing you all🇮🇳💕💥

Wait, is he still alive?

Free Cosby

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Key question in Cosby appeal: Does defendant's past matter?In 2016, as Bill Cosby's legal team prepared for trial in his stunning sexual assault case in Pennsylvania, the state Supreme Court quietly heard a death row inmate's appeal. Lawyers for Charles Hicks questioned whether three women who said he had beaten and choked them in Texas should have testified at his trial in a fourth woman's death in the Pocono Mountains. The seven Supreme Court justices issued five separate opinions on the use of the 'prior bad act” testimony. Maybe yes, maybe no but nothing accompolished by keeping him in jail.
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Trump's Impeachment Attorney, Bruce Castor, Once Allegedly Promised to Never Prosecute Bill CosbyThe shitbag currently arguing that Donald Trump did not contribute to the deadly January insurrection despite the fact that it happened immediately following Trump’s rally to steal the election perhaps unsurprisingly once argued that since Bill Cosby said he didn’t rape anyone, the court should probably take him at his word and leave the man alone.\n Shoulda called
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Documents Show How Hard Ex-DA Bruce Castor Worked To Help Bill Cosby Avoid ChargesAs more and more women spoke out saying they, too, had been drugged and then sexually assaulted by Bill Cosby, one question that remained unanswered was how the hell one of the most powerful men in Hollywood avoided prosecution until so very recently. An answer has begun to emerge, thanks to a legal document filed by lawyers for one of the first women to speak out, Andrea Constand. Those documents include a portion of a deposition in which former Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor—who originally decided not to prosecute Cosby—manages to get basic facts about the case wrong, as well as an email that shows him providing guidance to Cosby’s defense team on why he felt Cosby still shouldn’t be charged. Did he ever win a case or is he just tired now? rulajebreal Who cares....the country is now ripped apart. A soft Civil War seems to be over the nation. A hard Civil War is surely on the horizon. One must weigh the wisdom of stoking the fires. Why did you repost a story from 2017 with no updated information and tryin to represent it as something new from someone who was unceremoniously fired from the company a year and a half ago?
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'Cosby Show' star Keshia Knight Pulliam is engaged to actor Brad JamesFormer 'Cosby Show' star Keshia Knight Pulliam is engaged to actor Brad James Aren’t they so cute! Congratulations! Congrats to them both They're both beautiful
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Phylicia Rashad accused of enabling Bill Cosby by Twitter troll, fans rush to her defensePhylicia Rashad fans jumped to her defense after a Twitter user accused her of enabling her former co-star and convicted sex offender Bill Cosby. Fox411 Twitter trolls are headline worthy apparently. Fox411 Free bill Fox411 Tmz can't do any real journalism themselves so they look to twitter to quote someone living in their parents basement lol
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