(According to PHILADELPHIA CBS) — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has granted Bill Cosby the opportunity to appeal his 2018 sexual assault conviction. The 82-year-old is nearly two years into a three to a 10-year prison sentence for drugging and sexually assaulting Temple University employee Andrea Constand at his home in 2004.
Constand called Cosby a sexually violent predator and has asked the Supreme Court to give this decision the proper weight. But in speaking Tuesday, her focus has moved beyond her case.
The Supreme Court agreed to review several aspects of the 2018 trial, including whether the jury should have heard Cosby’s own testimony about the use of quaaludes as it stemmed from a separate civil case where Cosby’s lawyers have argued their client was promised criminal immunity.
Before speaking with Eyewitness News over Zoom, Constand released a statement on Twitter regarding the court’s decision.
It read in part: “While everyone deserves their cries and appeals to be heard, even convicted criminals, if anyone’s cries matter most right now, it’s the women who have lifted their voices and have selflessly put themselves in harm’s way, such as prior bad act witnesses in my case.”
— Andrea Constand (@ConstandAndrea) June 23, 2020
Cosby’s team released a statement of their own, which read in part: “As we have all stated, 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.”
The Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office has said that they are confident that previous decisions dismissing these appeals will be upheld.