AceShowbiz - Pennsylvania Supreme Court judges have given incarcerated Bill Cosby a glimmer of hope by agreeing to hear his sexual assault conviction appeal.

The disgraced actor was sentenced to three-to-10 years behind bars in 2018 after he was found guilty of drugging and raping Temple University staff member Andrea Constand.

Cosby has repeatedly tried and failed to have the conviction overturned, arguing he did not receive a fair trial.

In January, Cosby's attorneys filed a new motion with officials at the state's highest court, calling on them to review a December (19) decision handed down by Pennsylvania Superior Court judges to uphold his conviction on three counts of aggravated indecent assault.

Now authorities at the Pennsylvania Supreme Court have chosen to hear the embattled comedian's appeal, in which he maintains the trial judge should not have allowed five women to testify about their separate abuse allegations against Cosby, as part of prosecutors' bid to prove he was a serial sexual predator.

Supreme Court officials will also examine a previous deal Cosby had with a former prosecutor at the Montgomery County District Attorney's office, who agreed not to bring criminal charges - a promise the 82-year-old funnyman claims he relied upon when giving testimony in Constand's civil suit.

His deposition, which included a confession about obtaining quaaludes to give to women he wanted to have sex with, was eventually used against him to secure his conviction at trial.

After the appeal news emerged on Tuesday (June 23), Cosby's representative revealed the actor was "extremely thankful" to the court judges for granting him an opportunity to fight the case, reports Variety.

"As we have all stated, the false conviction of Bill Cosby is so much bigger than him - it's about the destruction of ALL Black people and people of colour in America," the spokesperson added.