Disgraced actor and comedian Bill Cosby, now serving a prison sentence of 3 to 10 years for sexual assault, showed no remorse in a recent interview from prison in Pennsylvania — a fact which won’t help him when the time comes to consider early parole.
“When I come up for parole, they’re not going to hear me say that I have remorse,” Cosby said. “I was there. I don’t care what group of people come along and talk about this when they weren’t there. They don’t know.”
Cosby has long declared his innocence, despite the many claims against him of sexual assault.
He was arrested in December 2015. After his first trial ended in a hung jury, he was convicted in 2018 in Pennsylvania of 3 counts of aggravated indecent assault. The crime involved his drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004.
First high-profile #MeToo era trial
Cosby’s trial is considered to have been the first high-profile celebrity criminal trial of the so-called #MeToo era — an era in which women are encouraged to come forward with sexual abuse and sexual assault claims, even if they’re made many years after the fact.
Cosby, 82 years old, has filed an appeal in his case. If his appeal fails and he does reach a point at which he is eligible for a parole hearing in Pennsylvania, Cosby’s declared lack of remorse may hurt any chance he has.
Cosby seems to be aware of this and says he expects to serve his full sentence if he is not successful in his appeal.
“I have 8 years and 9 months left,” Cosby told BlackPressUSA.com in a series of brief telephone interviews, compressed due to limits on prisoners’ phone time. He is serving his sentence in SCI Phoenix, a state prison close to Collegeville, PA.
As CNN reported, Cosby was a trustee of his alma mater, Temple University, when he gave Temple employee Andrea Constand a drug to incapacitate her, and then he sexually assaulted her. She informed police, but prosecutors didn’t press criminal charges and the case was settled a year later in civil court.
A decade later, however, dozens of women came forward to claim Cosby had similarly drugged and sexually assaulted them during his many years as a celebrity. The particular case involving Constand was the only one which had happened within the state’s statute of limitations, allowing a criminal trial to proceed in that case only.
Remorse can help in a Texas parole hearing
Showing a lack of remorse or contrition for the crime for which you were convicted will not serve you well in seeking such a parole.
By contrast, showing remorse during a parole hearing, while also showing an intent to avoid committing the same crime, can be instrumental in gaining parole in Texas.
For parole to be granted in Texas, the offender must have adhered to and observed the rules of the prison, must have obeyed local, state and federal laws, must have avoided promoting disrespect for the law and the criminal justice system, and must not pose a threat to public welfare and safety.
Anyone facing parole in Texas needs a strong criminal defense lawyer to advocate for them in their parole hearing.
Contact the Neal Davis Law Firm for your consultation.
