Judge denies Bill Cosby’s bid for new trial

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Oct. 23, 2018 / 6:01 PM GMT

A Pennsylvania judge on Tuesday denied Bill Cosby’s bid for a new trial and reduced sentence, stemming from the disgraced comic’s conviction for sexual assault.

Cosby’s defense had asked Montgomery County Judge Steven O’Neill for a do-over, arguing that evidence against Cosby was old and unreliable and shouldn’t have been allowed at trial.

The defense also argued that Cosby’s sentence was unnecessarily harsh, at more than twice minimum guidelines.

But O’Neill, in a simple one-page ruling, said he found no reason to grant a new trial or lessen the sentence.

Cosby was sentenced to three years to 10 years in prison for drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand at the actor’s home in suburban Philadelphia in 2004. At the time, Constand was a women’s basketball administrator at Temple University, Cosby’s alma mater.

Cosby, 81, is best known for playing wholesome dad Dr. Cliff Huxtable on NBC’s “Cosby Show” from 1984 to 1992. Constand is one of dozens of women who have accused Cosby of sexual misconduct.

He’s now locked up inside a state prison in Collegeville, about 30 miles northwest of Philadelphia.