“He complains about racial bias but what about the African American women whom I represent who accuse him of sexual assault or rape and who refuse to remain silent about what they say they have suffered?”
Advertisement
A trial date of no later than June 5, 2017 was set during a pretrial hearing in a Pennsylvania courtroom on Tuesday.
Cosby looked noticeably healthier Tuesday than he has at earlier hearings, although his lawyers told the judge that he is blind.
The Cosby Show veteran is accused of drugging and sexually assaulting former Temple University employee Andrea Constand at his home in Pennsylvania in 2004.
Prosecutors also disclosed a disagreement on defense team’s claim that the cases of sexual assaults are all consensual. He faces up to 10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine if convicted.
But the prospective trial cements a brutal fall from grace for the once treasured father figure and apparent model citizen who smashed through racial barriers and delighted audiences with his gentle, self-deprecating humour.
It the only criminal case stemming from dozens of claims of sexual misconduct, many of which are too old to come to court because of the statute of limitations.
NORRISTOWN Prosecutors called sifting through Bill Cosby’s alleged history of sexual misconduct a “herculean task” in a motion filed Tuesday to include those deeds as testimony during the entertainer’s trial.
Cosby clutched an aide’s arm as he walked, but his eyes appeared less milky and he seemed more engaged and animated as he spoke with his legal team.
Cosby’s lawyers did not address the motion in court but said in a statement following the hearing that Allred’s “campaign against Mr. Cosby builds on racial bias and prejudice”. “And when the media repeats her accusations – with no evidence, no trial and no jury – we are moved backwards as a country and away from the America that our civil rights leaders sacrificed so much to create”. Constand and Cosby eventually settled the civil suit for an undisclosed amount.
The former star posted bail at $1 million in the case last December, but has yet to enter a plea.
Cosby’s trial will undoubtedly be one of the biggest celebrity trials since that of O.J. Simpson.
During the alleged January 17, 2005, phone conversation, Cosby, who initiated the call from California, “apparently suspected that Mrs. Constand was recording the call” and questioned her about “a persistent beeping” he heard on the phone, according to Steele.
Fox News Correspondent Jackie Ibanez has more from NY. Cosby has replaced one Los Angeles law firm with another on his defense team, the second time he has done so in a year.
Cosby served in the Navy himself and won an athletic scholarship to Temple, before moving into comedy.
His wife Camille has stood by his side.
Advertisement
Jubilee affiliate parties all set to dissolve on Thursday ahead of Friday’s merger.
