Judge turns down Bill Cosby's appeal for new trial

Convicted American comedian Bill Cosby will have to stay behind bars as his first attempt at an appeal for a new trial was denied by a trial court judge on Tuesday.

According to Page Six, Montgomery County Court Judge Steven O'Neill in his verdict pronounced that the 81-year-old comedian will now have to present his request for an appeal at a higher court. Furthermore, he will now have a 30 day period to file a direct appeal to the Pennsylvania Superior Court.

During the hearing, Cosby's lawyers had argued that O'Neill overlooked the former's age and blindness when his prison term was announced on September 25.

On October 19, Prosecutors termed the appeal filed by Cosby's team of defence lawyers as 'timeworn' and 'meritless'.

Earlier in the month, Cosby's defence team tried to argue that the comedian should get a new trial as his sentence was harsh in nature, and claimed that they had unearthed new evidence. The prosecutors said that the newly discovered piece of audio evidence had been doctored and that they were aware of its existence for 13 years.

Cosby's sentence came after a lengthy trial where he faced accusations from former Temple University employee Andrea Constand and was eventually found guilty. He was found to have drugged and raped her at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004. Since then, multiple women came forward against "The Cosby Show" star. The first part of the hearings focused on the prosecution's efforts to label Cosby as a sexually violent predator.

Cosby's trial was heralded as the first major celebrity trial of the #MeToo movement, and the first to result in a conviction.