Bill Cosby’s lawyer said Tuesday that his client has been the victim of “racial bias and prejudice” as the sexual assault allegations against him have played out in the court of public opinion.
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On Tuesday, a judge in Pennsylvania scheduled a June 5, 2017, court date for the 79-year-old entertainer.
That was decided at a hearing in Norristown, Pennsylvania today.
Even though the criminal sexual assault case against Bill Cosby involves a single allegation of sexual assault against one alleged victim, former Temple University employee Andrea Constand, Cosby has been accused of sexual assault by at least 50 alleged victims. O’Neill said the court would accommodate and special needs during the trial.
At the hearing, prosecutors filed a motion asking the judge for permission to call 13 of the almost 50 women who have accused Cosby of sexual assault as witnesses. McMonagle said allowing the recording to be used as evidence based on Canadian law would amount to abiding by the rules of any country where such as a call originated, regardless of whether the foreign law passed U.S.
Audio clip: Listen to audio clip.
Cosby, the star of the hugely successful sitcom “The Cosby Show”, and other TV programmes, on several occasions has denied the accusations of sexual abuse and says that his sexual relationship with Constand was consensual.
He also sent a letter to the judge saying Cosby is blind, O’Neill said.
“The time has come to shine a spotlight on the trampling of Mr. Cosby’s civil rights”.
Kevin Steele, the district attorney, said following the hearing that the women had all agreed to appear as witnesses. They say he didn’t know Gianna Constand was recording when he called her in Pickering, Ontario, from his home in California.
Bill Cosby arrived at a suburban Philadelphia courthouse Monday afternoon for a hearing in his felony sexual assault case.
Allred, who has attended prior hearings in the case, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to BuzzFeed, Cosby’s lawyers argued the call was recorded without Cosby’s consent and violated his rights.
Cosby, who is free on $1 million bail, could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
This is the first time Cosby has faced criminal prosecution.
The defense wants to block introduction of the recorded call in which Cosby offered money to pay for Constand’s therapy, graduate school and moving expenses.
Cosby was arrested on December 30, 2016, and has fought to clear his name ever since. The woman, a restaurant worker in the San Francisco area, said she lost consciousness after Cosby poured her a glass of wine and gave her a headache pill and woke up wearing only her underwear.
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In a statement issued Tuesday, Cosby’s lawyers took issue with Allred, who has supported a number of Cosby’s sexual assault accusers.
