Judge: Cosby’s actions 'distinctive,’ became ’a signature’

NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) — The Pennsylvania judge who presided over Bill Cosby’s sex-assault case says he let five other accusers testify at Cosby’s retrial because they showed his actions were “so distinctive” they became “a signature.”

A jury last year convicted Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004 after hearing from her and the five others. The actor is appealing his conviction based on the women’s testimony and other rulings by Montgomery County Judge Stephen O’Neill.

O’Neill in a lengthy opinion Tuesday says there were “striking similarities” in the women’s accounts of their encounters with Cosby.

The 81-year-old Cosby is serving a three- to 10-year prison term.

The defense also argues that Cosby had an agreement with a former prosecutor that he wouldn’t be charged, but O’Neill says that falls short of an immunity agreement.