Bill Cosby’s Back In Court

Mar 6, 2018 | 5:15 AM

The 80-year-old disgraced comedian Bill Cosby appeared in court on Monday, and according to reporters on the scene, the pivotal hearing became acrimonious quickly. Cosby was heading to court in a bid to get his sexual assault case thrown out, or at the very least, prevent accusers from testifying.

Lawyers for the prosecution and the defense accused opposing counsel of being unethical, Philadelphia’s The Inquirer reported. Montgomery County D.A. Kevin Steele described Cosby’s defense lawyers’ strategy as “at best incompetent and otherwise unethical.”

  • The lead defense lawyer, Tom Mesereau, who rose to fame defending Michael Jackson, previously claimed that prosecutors destroyed evidence and allowed a witness to lie under oath, an allegation he later withdrew. He also claimed that the alleged assault happened outside of the statute of limitations.
  • Steele asked Mongtomery County Judge Steven T. O’Neill, who presided over the first case, to throw Cosby’s defense team off the case for failing to reveal they’d interviewed a woman who cast doubt on Cosby’s accuser, the Associated Press reported. O’Neill said he did not want to break up Cosby’s defense team with the retrial looming next month, but added that the defense is “on notice.”
  • O’Neill also extended the court’s “sympathy” for the recent death of Cosby’s 44-year-old daughter, Ensa.
  • Cosby, who entered the courtroom on the arm of his spokesperson, is accused of drugging and molesting Andrea Constand at his home in 2004. Cosby has claimed their relationship was consensual. Prosecutors say the assault was a part of a five-decade pattern of Cosby’s abuse of women.
  • Mesereau is also attempting to stop 19 women who have accused him of assaulting them from taking the stand. TBD how many of 19 women, including supermodel Janice Dickinson, prosecutors will be able to call to the stand. Last time, the judge allowed just one other accuser to take the stand, and prosecutors were barred from mentioning anything about the 60 other women who have accused Cosby of assault.
  • Last year, the jury deadlocked. Jury selection is set to begin March 29th. Cosby has pleaded not guilty and remains free on bail.