Cosby's sex assault conviction goes before high-level court

Pennsylvania's highest court questioned whether Bill Cosby's alleged history of intoxicating and sexually assaulting young women amounted to a signature crime pattern, given studies that show as many as half of all sexual assaults involve drugs or alcohol.

The court cited studies during oral arguments Tuesday that show as many as half of sexual assaults involve drugs or alcohol.

The 83-year-old Cosby hopes to overturn his 2018 sex assault conviction because the judge let prosecutors call five other accusers to testify. The defense says their testimony prejudiced the jury against the actor and comedian. Cosby has spent more than two years at a state prison near Philadelphia. The jury convicted him of drugging and molesting a woman in 2004.

The American comedian lawyers have unsuccessfully sought to have the charges dismissed several times since he was charged in December 2015.