Bill Cosby‘s lawyers filed a motion seeking to overturn the actor’s sexual assault conviction and prison sentence.
The defense team are arguing that trial judge Steven O’Neill made a mistake in declaring the comedian a sexually violent predator and sentencing him to three-to-10 years in prison, the Associated Press reports.
Cosby’s lawyers claim that the sentence is more punitive than necessary, and state that the fact that the actor is 81 years old and blind as a reason to overturn his conviction.
As previously reported, Cosby was found guilty in April of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand. He was sentenced in September on three felony sex assault counts, denied bail and immediately transported to state prison.
In a victim impact statement, Constand said that the assault had changed her life.
“The man I had come to know as a mentor and friend drugged and sexually assaulted me,” she said of Cosby. “Instead of being able to run, jump and pretty much do anything I wanted physically, during the assault I was paralyzed and completely helpless. I could not move my arms or legs. I couldn’t speak or even remain conscious. I was completely vulnerable, and powerless to protect myself.”
“After the assault, I wasn’t sure what had actually happened but the pain spoke volumes,” she continued. “The shame was overwhelming. Self-doubt and confusion kept me from turning to my family or friends as I normally did. I felt completely alone, unable to trust anyone, including myself. … Bill Cosby took my beautiful, healthy young spirit and crushed it. He robbed me of my health and vitality, my open nature, and my trust in myself and others.”
The Cosby Show star’s team claims that trial evidence never proved that the encounter took place in 2004, not 2003, or that he was arrested within the 12-year time limit.
The Associated Press reports that Cosby has been in a single cell near the infirmary at State Correctional Institution — Phoenix in Schwenksville, Pennsylvania, since September 25.
Montgomery County prosecutors say they will file a response to his lawyers’ motion.
