Judge Upholds Conviction in Ennis Cosby Case

A judge refused to overturn the murder conviction of the man who killed Ennis Cosby, according to court documents released Thursday.

Defense lawyers, citing what they said were forged confession letters, had asked a Los Angeles Superior Court judge to free Mikail Markhasev, who was convicted in July of killing comedian Bill Cosby’s son.

Six alleged jailhouse letters used against Markhasev during his trial were actually written by a convicted forger, David Gomez, according to defense attorney Henry Hall’s petition filed Dec. 23.

Markhasev was sentenced to life in prison without parole for killing Cosby, 27, during a Jan. 16, 1997, holdup while the victim fixed a flat tire near a freeway offramp.

Even if the jailhouse letters were forgeries, “this still does not point to the innocence” of Markhasev, Superior Court Judge David Perez wrote in his decision Tuesday. There “was substantial evidence independent of the jailhouse [letters] to support the jury’s verdicts.”

In his petition, Hall pointed out that Gomez had testified in an unrelated murder trial that he forged the Markhasev letters and sold them to the National Enquirer for $10,000.

“The Markhasev letters, I did those. . . . I’m a dirty bird,” Gomez testified.

Hall said earlier that Gomez faked evidence against Markhasev to gain favor with prison authorities. But his cooperation didn’t pay. In March, he received a 91-year sentence for forgery, robbery, rape and other felonies.

“The letters are everything in this case,” prosecutor Anne Ingalls said in her closing argument at Markhasev’s trial.

Gomez was never called as a witness at the trial, and a handwriting expert testified that at least several of the letters were written in a hand similar to Markhasev’s.

“We feel it’s an appropriate decision,” Sandi Gibbons, spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office, said Thursday.