Cosby appeal will test scope of MeToo prosecutions
PHILADELPHIA — In a decision that could test the legal framework of #MeToo cases, Pennsylvania’s highest court will review the decision to let five other accusers testify at Bill Cosby’s sexual assault trial in 2018.
Cosby, 82, has been imprisoned for nearly two years after a jury convicted him of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman at his home in 2004. He’s serving a three- to 10-year sentence.
The Supreme Court has agreed to review two aspects of the case, including the judge’s decision to let prosecutors call the other accusers to testify.
The court will also consider, as it weighs the scope of the testimony allowed, whether the jury should have heard evidence that Cosby had given Quaaludes to women in the past.
Secondly, the court will examine Cosby’s argument that he had an agreement with a former prosecutor that he would never be charged in the case. Cosby said he relied on that agreement before agreeing to testify in the trial accuser’s lawsuit.
