#NNPA BlackPress

Cosby Seeks Bail and Recusal of Judge for Failing to File Mandated Appeal Document

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Cosby and his team of attorneys said Montgomery County Judge Steven T. O’Neill “Continues to show his disgust and prejudice” toward Cosby by purposely denying Cosby the right to file his appeal.

Published

7 years ago

April 27, 2019

Oakland Post

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

Bill Cosby has filed a bail application and wants the judge in his criminal trial to be removed for hindering his appeal.

Cosby and his team of attorneys said Montgomery County Judge Steven T. O’Neill “Continues to show his disgust and prejudice” toward Cosby by purposely denying Cosby the right to file his appeal.

Cosby said the judge has refused to issue his legally mandated opinion, which outlines why he felt strongly in sentencing Cosby to three to ten years and to place him – an 81-year-old, blind military veteran – in a level 5 maximum security prison.

“This judge took an oath. I believe to be fair and impartial, which grants him the authority to perform all of the duties detailed in the Constitution,” Cosby said in a statement issued by his publicist Andrew Wyatt.

“I don’t know [under] what Constitutional rock this judge resides, because his refusal to write an opinion, reveals that he’s complicit in the corruption against me, and that he’s an accessory to the incestuous behavior that resides in Montgomery County,” Cosby said.

Based on Pennsylvania rule 1925(a), “upon receipt of the notice of appeal, the judge who entered the order giving rise to the notice of appeal [appealed from], if the reasons for the order do not already appear of record, shall immediately file of record at least a brief statement, in the form of an opinion, of the reasons for the order, or for the rulings or other errors [matters] complained of, or shall specify in writing the specific place in the record where such reasons may be found.”

The law further states that:

“If the appeal is based upon an order or ruling issued by a judge that was not the judge at trial, the trial judge may request that the judge who made the interim ruling draft a statement in accordance with the standards above to explain the reasons for his or her decision.”

Cosby, who is serving a three- to 10-year sentence after being convicted last year of aggravated indecent assault, filed his appeal briefs in December but O’Neill still hasn’t responded.

O’Neill’s actions are not without precedent, legal experts told NNPA Newswire.

“Lawless judges are one of the biggest problems in the United States of America,” said Detroit and Silicon Valley attorney Mark Foster.

“The rules require the trial judge to write an opinion and make sure that the certified record is sent to the Superior Court within sixty days, but unfortunately, this almost never happens,” said Pennsylvania attorney Zak Goldstein.

Even in less complex cases, it is not uncommon for a judge to miss this deadline by months or even years, Goldstein said.

“Eventually, the Superior Court will send a notice of delinquent record to the trial judge to remind the judge of the deadline, but this notice does not involve any kind of sanction,” he said.

With that, the scales of justice are a bit skewed. If Cosby were to have missed his deadline, the entire appeal could be dismissed, but there is typically no penalty for a judge who misses the deadline, Goldstein said.

“If the delay becomes really egregious, an attorney could file a motion in the Superior Court asking that court to direct the trial judge to file an opinion,” Goldstein said.

“The court will usually grant that motion if the delay has really been significant,” he said, adding that he’s never seen a judge who has failed to comply.

On April 17, the Superior Court did file a notice to O’Neill regarding the delinquent record. Cosby has asked for bail because of the trial judge’s delay.

“Often when judges do not perform tasks [that] they should, such as issue timely rulings, lawyers may file for a Writ of Mandamus which is a request for another judge to order the judge to perform the act or do what he or she should,” said Atlanta-based attorney Randy Kessler.

“I imagine there are various remedies including the appellate courts making a ruling without the input from the trial judge and simply making whatever inferences they deem appropriate, likely giving the Defendant the benefit of the doubt which is an integral part of our criminal justice system, given the failure of the trial judge to submit the information,” said Kessler, who stressed that he isn’t licensed to practice in Pennsylvania.

Cosby is asking that O’Neill be removed immediately and that he’s granted bail throughout the appeals process because of what his team called O’Neill’s “racial hatred toward Cosby that clouds his better judgement to be a good steward of the bench.”

“O’Neill’s dishonorable conduct makes me smile, because this judge is being exposed, and it shows that this is bigger than me,” Cosby said.

“O’Neill now has his formula: tried, true and tested to destroy any Black Man and/or Colored Man in America. I’m just so happy, because this guy is proving my innocence. And guess what else. America is finally getting to witness the truth,” he said.

If O’Neill never writes an opinion, the Superior Court could proceed anyway, Goldstein said.

“I am not surprised that the judge in the Cosby case did not meet the sixty day deadline given the large number of complicated issues involved, and I would expect the defense attorneys to give the judge some time before filing anything because it is a complicated appeal,” Goldstein said.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Up Next

Experts: Reparations Are Workable and Should Be Provided

Don't Miss

County Officials Begin Plans To Increase Driver Safety

Oakland Post

3 Comments

#NNPA BlackPress

LIVE from the NMA Convention Raheem DeVaughn Says The Time Is Now: Let’s End HIV in Our Communities #2

Set against the backdrop of the NMA conference, Executive Officers from the National Medical Association, Grammy Award Winning Artist and Advocate Raheem DeVaughn, and Gilead Sciences experts, are holding today an important conversation on HIV prevention and health equity. Black women continue to be disproportionately impacted by HIV despite advances in prevention options. Today’s event […]

Published

3 days ago

February 3, 2026

Oakland Post

Black women continue to be disproportionately impacted by HIV despite advances in prevention options. Today’s event is designed to uplift voices, explore barriers to access, and increase awareness and key updates about PrEP, a proven prevention method that remains underutilized among Black women. This timely gathering will feature voices from across health, media, and advocacy as we break stigma and center equity in HIV prevention.

Additional stats and information to know:

● Black women continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV, with Black women representing more than 50% of new HIV diagnoses among women in the U.S. in 2022, despite comprising just 13% of women in the U.S.

● Women made up only 8% of PrEP users despite representing 19% of all new HIV diagnoses in 2022.

● Gilead Sciences is increasing awareness and addressing stigma by encouraging regular HIV testing and having judgment-free conversations with your healthcare provider about prevention options, including oral PrEP and long-acting injectable PrEP options.

● PrEP is an HIV prevention medication that has been available since 2012.

● Only 1 in 3 people in the U.S. who could benefit from PrEP were prescribed a form of PrEP in 2022.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

#NNPA BlackPress

TRUMP: “Washington, D.C. is Safe”

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — President Trump, who typically travels with a full contingent of high-level protection, insinuated that he finally felt safe enough to go to dinner in the District of Columbia. “My wife and I went out to dinner last night for the first time in four years,” said the nation’s 47th president.

Published

3 days ago

February 3, 2026

Oakland Post

By Apriil Ryan
BlackPressUSA Washington Bureau Chief and White House Correspondent

“Washington, D.C. is safe,” President Trump declared from the Oval Office today. Those words came while Trump was hosting Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. During the question-and-answer session, which primarily focused on a peace deal in the Russian-Ukrainian war, Trump explained, “You did that in four days.” He was speaking of how fast the National Guard quelled the violence in what was once called Chocolate City.

The President deployed the National Guard to D.C. a week ago, to a city with reduced crime rates over the previous year. Violent crime dropped by 26%, marking the lowest level in 30 years. Homicides also fell by 11%.

President Trump, who typically travels with a full contingent of high-level protection, insinuated that he finally felt safe enough to go to dinner in the District of Columbia. “My wife and I went out to dinner last night for the first time in four years,” said the nation’s 47th president.

Trump reinforced his claim about the newly acquired safety in D.C. by relaying that a friend’s son is attending dinner in D.C., something he would not have done last year.

After the president finished his comments, a reporter/commentator in the room with close connections to Marjorie Taylor Greene jumped into the high-level conversation to affirm the president’s comments, saying, “I walked around yesterday with MTG. If you can walk around D.C. with MTG and not be attacked, this city is safe.”

That reporter was the same person who chastised President Zelenskyy months ago during his first Oval Office meeting with Trump for not wearing a business suit. Zelenskyy, a wartime President, has been clad in less formal attire to reflect the country’s current war stance against Russia.

Without any sourcing, President Trump also said, “People that haven’t gone out to dinner in Washington, D.C., in two years are going out to dinner, and the restaurants the last two days have been busier than they’ve been in a long time.”

The increase in policing in Washington, D.C. is because a 19-year-old former Doge employee was carjacked in the early hours of the morning recently.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

#NNPA BlackPress

Rising Energy Costs Weigh Heaviest on Black Households

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — For many African American families, the cost of keeping the lights on and homes heated or cooled is not just a monthly bill — it’s a crushing financial burden.

Published

3 days ago

February 3, 2026

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown
Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent

For many African American families, the cost of keeping the lights on and homes heated or cooled is not just a monthly bill — it’s a crushing financial burden.

A new national study from Binghamton University and California State University, San Bernardino, finds that Black households spend a far larger share of their income on energy compared to white households, even when income levels are the same. “We often say that African Americans suffer more, but we often blame it just on income. And the reality is, there is something more there,” study author George Homsy, associate professor at Binghamton University, wrote. “It’s not just because they tend to be poor. There is something that’s putting them at a disadvantage. I think what happened is it happens to be where they live.” The study, published in Energy Research & Social Science, analyzed 65,000 census tracts across the United States. It found that while the average American household spends about 3.2% of income on energy bills, households in the majority African American census tracts spend an average of 5.1%.

Homsy and researcher Ki Eun Kang point to the age and condition of housing stock, along with lower homeownership rates, as key drivers. Their research concludes that “energy burden is not simply a matter of income or energy cost but also race, which might be driven by place.” Older, less energy-efficient housing and high rental rates in Black communities mean residents often cannot make upgrades like improved insulation or new appliances, locking families into higher bills.

Tradeoffs and Health Risks

The consequences go beyond money. Families forced to spend 10% or more of their income on energy — what experts classify as “unmanageable” — may cut back on food, medicine, or other essentials. More than 12 million U.S. households report leaving their homes at unsafe temperatures to reduce costs, while millions more fall behind on utility bills. The health effects are severe. High energy burdens increase risks of asthma, depression, poor sleep, pneumonia, and even premature death. The issue is especially acute for African Americans, who are disproportionately exposed to housing and environmental conditions that amplify these risks.

Washington, D.C.: A Case Study

In Washington, D.C., the problem is particularly stark. A recent analysis by the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) shows that SNAP-eligible households spend more than 20% of their income on energy bills. Across the metro area, nearly two-thirds of low-income households devote over 6% of their income to energy, and 40% face what researchers call a “severe financial strain,” paying more than 10%. Pepco, the District’s primary electricity provider, has implemented three consecutive annual rate hikes, pushing the average household bill to $114 per month as of January 2025. Shutoffs have followed — nearly 12,000 customers lost service in 2024, with disconnections doubling after a summer rate hike. Washington Gas has also sought a 12% rate increase and pushed a controversial $215 million pipeline replacement project, rebranded as “District SAFE.” The plan could ultimately cost D.C. households an additional $45,000 each over several decades, or nearly $1,000 annually added to bills.

Historical Roots

Researchers argue that these inequities are not accidental but rooted in history. The ScienceDirect study reveals that African American communities living in formerly redlined neighborhoods continue to face disadvantages today — from poor housing quality to higher climate risks. Homsy says policymakers must make targeted efforts. “It is harder to get to rental units where a lot of poor people live,” he noted. “We need to work harder to get into these communities of color.”