Bill Cosby earlier this week appealed the verdict issued in the sex assault lawsuit filed against him, claiming that the judge allowed the testimony of five accusers whose accounts were "strikingly dissimilar" to that of the plaintiff.

The 81-year-old actor has been serving a three- to 10-year prison term since September.

According to Cosby's lawyers, the 2004 assault on Andrea Constand and the incidents with the other women are too far apart, as well as "remote and unduly excessive."

Pennsylvania Judge Steven O'Neill said in a post-trial memo that the testimony of the five women demonstrated "chilling similarities" that pointed to a "signature" crime.