Bill Cosby to be sentenced in September, judge rules

Philly.com
Updated
The judge presiding over Bill Cosby's sexual assault case has scheduled two days in September to sentence the 80-year-old comedy icon - a pivotal hearing that will determine how many years, if any, he will spend in prison for his 2004 attack on Andrea Constand.

The judge presiding over Bill Cosby’s sexual assault case has scheduled two days in September to sentence the 80-year-old comedy icon – a pivotal hearing that will determine how many years, if any, he will spend in prison for his 2004 attack on Andrea Constand.

In an order Tuesday, Montgomery County Judge Steven T. O’Neill set aside Sept. 24 and 25 for the proceedings in Norristown, during which Cosby faces up to 10 years in prison for each of the three counts of aggravated indecent assault on which he was convicted. The judge did not specify in his filing why he expected the hearing to take more than one day.

Neither prosecutors nor Cosby’s defense team have publicly indicated yet what sentences they will be pushing for at the hearing or what additional evidence they may present before the court.

Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele could use the forum as an opportunity to present victim impact statements from some of the more than 60 additional women who, like Constand, have accused Cosby of drugging and assaulting them in incidents dating back decades.

Before the hearing can take place, Cosby must undergo an assessment to determine whether he should be considered a sexually violent predator. He eventually will have to register as a sex offender.

For now, he remains confined to his Cheltenham home with a GPS ankle monitor on O’Neill’s orders.

Cosby was convicted last month for his attack on Constand, a 45-year-old Canadian massage therapist and former Temple University employee who first came forward a decade ago to report her assault.

O’Neill has yet to rule on a petition from a coalition of about a dozen media organizations — including Philadelphia Media Network, the parent company of the Inquirer, the Daily News, and Philly.com — to release the names of the jurors who decided the case.

Although juror names are considered public information under state court precedent, prosecutors urged O’Neill days after a May 1 hearing to institute a “cooling off” period due to overwhelming media attention on the case.

O’Neill has remained silent on the issue in the 14 days since that hearing and has offered no indication of when he intends to issue an opinion on the matter.

Keep up with every development in Bill Cosby’s case with our day-by-day recaps, timeline, and explainer on everything you need to know about the case and its major players.

 

 

Most Popular on Philly.com