Bill Cosby has been denied parole after he refused to take part in a state-mandated rehabilitation program for convicted 'sexual predators' since doing so would be an admission of guilt.
Cosby was rejected for parole after failing to convince the state parole board of his suitability in a review conducted earlier this month, DailyMail.com has learned.
The disgraced actor was up for consideration after serving three years in Pennsylvania’s SCI Phoenix following his 2018 conviction for drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004.
Cosby, now 83, was sentenced to three to ten years for his crimes but has always maintained that he would rather live out his final days in prison than take part in the Sexually Violent Predator rehabilitation program which he sees as an acknowledgement of guilt.
Now, newly released documents seen by DailyMail.com show that his stubborn refusal to cooperate with authorities may well see him get his wish.
The image above shows Cosby taken out of the Montgomery County Courthouse to state prison in shackles after being sentenced to three to 10 years in prison for a sexual assault conviction at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pennsylvania on September 25, 2018
Cosby was sentenced after he was convicted of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004
Cosby was denied parole after he refused to take part in a state-mandated rehabilitation program for convicted 'sexual predators' since doing so would be an admission of guilt
Cosby appeared before the State of Pennsylvania Parole Board on May 11 and the denial was issued following that interview.
The board members told him, ‘You need to participate in and complete additional institutional programs’ and stated that the reasons for their denial included ‘the negative recommendation made by the Department of Corrections [and] your failure to develop a parole release plan.’
This decision will be reviewed ‘upon completion of programming as indicated by recent doc assessment.’
They will reconsider his eligibility according to whether or not he has successfully completed a treatment program for sex offenders and violence prevention; whether he has received a favorable recommendation for parole from the Department of Corrections; and only if he has maintained a clear conduct record.
Reacting to the decision, Cosby’s spokesman, Andrew Wyatt, said that it came as no surprise to his family, friends or legal team.
‘It was brought to our attention by Mr Cosby that over the past months, members of the PA State Parole Board had met with him and emphatically stated, “If he did not participate in SVP (Sexually Violent Predator) courses that his parole would be denied”,’ Wyatt said.
‘Mr Cosby has vehemently proclaimed his innocence and continues to deny all allegations made against him as being false, without the sheer evidence or any proof.’
Cosby’s first trial for drugging and sexually assaulting Constand, 48, ended in a mistrial when the jury found themselves ‘hopelessly deadlocked’ due to one holdout juror.
But Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele and his team were successful a second time round and the actor once known as ‘America’s Dad’ was found guilty on all counts in 2018.
He has always maintained his innocence, refusing to show a shred of remorse or to cooperate with the prison programs on which successful parole application depends.
Cosby poses with a mask under his chin in a photograph taken at State Correctional Institution (SCI) Phoenix in Skippack Township, Pennsylvania on September 4, 2020
As far as Cosby and his supporters are concerned he ‘never had a fair shot’ at the trial that, his lawyers have argued, ‘laid waste to the presumption of innocence’ by allowing five prior victims to testify and using the actor’s words – given on promise of immunity – against him.
Cosby’s appeal to the Supreme court was heard in December when his lawyers argued that Cosby’s ‘entire life’ was put on trial in what amounted to a series of ‘five mini trials’ that saw him suffer ‘unquantifiable prejudice.’
According to his lawyers, ‘the prior bad acts evidence overwhelmed the trial and converted it from a trial of a specific offence to a trial of his character.’
This was just one of the grounds on which they are seeking to have his guilty verdicts overturned.
They also argued that a deposition given by Cosby during a civil suit brought by Constand and settled in 2006 was inadmissible as it had been given on the promise of immunity from criminal prosecution.
Today Cosby remains defiant in the face of the parole board’s denial.
According to Wyatt, ‘He remains hopeful that the Pennsylvania State Supreme Court will issue an opinion to vacate his conviction or warrant him a new trial.’
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