Cosby has denied all allegations, and he pleaded not guilty to the Pennsylvania charges.
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Numerous women have accused Cosby of strikingly similar sexual assaults, claiming that he plied them with alcohol and drugs before taking advantage of their altered mental state.
In a statement on Tuesday, a spokesman for Mr. Cosby, Andrew Wyatt, attacked lawyers for accusing the entertainer “of crimes for unwitnessed events that allegedly occurred nearly a half-century earlier”, and the news media for repeating the accusations.
Constand alleges that Cosby drugged and violated her in January 2004 at his mansion in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania.
“Mr. Cosby has spent his entire life trying to fight against injustice and trying to help other people overcome racism and prejudice”.
Steele says a motion was filed Tuesday requesting a ruling on the admissibility of testimony from 13 women who say they were sexually assaulted by Cosby. She said the case is not about racial bias, but whether Cosby “has committed acts of gender sexual violence”.
The women ― who were not named in the motion ― were selected from a list of roughly 50 alleged victims that prosecutors reviewed.
A judge hasn’t said if he’ll allow the women to take the stand.
Bill Cosby departs after a pretrial hearing in his sexual assault case at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown Tuesday.
“It’s all pieces that we have in this case”, Steele said, adding that all 13 women had agreed to testify at trial.
After giving her three blue pills, Constand says the comedian touched her inapproprately.
The prosecutors apparently would like to show that Cosby has a pattern of behavior with other women that is consistent with Constand’s accusations. The judge has not yet ruled on whether to allow this.
“It’s all nice and warm and fuzzy because it’s Canada”, said McMonagle.
The case was reopened previous year (15) after the actor’s sealed deposition was made public, revealing Cosby had confessed to buying sedatives to give to women he wanted to sleep with and had had extramarital affairs.
A criminal case opened this year following the election of a new county prosecutor who had made it a campaign promise to bring charges against the comedian.
Cosby’s lawyers also told Judge O’Neill that their client is blind.
But O’Neill advised lawyers that the trial could start even earlier if schedules permit.
Cosby looked noticeably healthier as he walked into court for the pretrial conference.
A date has been set for Bill Cosby’s trial.
Lead defense lawyer Brian McMonagle said at a hearing Tuesday that he has other trials booked until June.
Cosby’s mugshot from his December 2015 arrest.
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Those accusers include Heidi Thomas, an aspiring actress; Linda Kirkpatrick, who played tennis with Cosby in Las Vegas; Margie Shapiro, a former donut shop employee; and Rebecca Lynn Neal, a masseuse. Instead, Cosby thought, per an exchange with Gianna Constand, that the sound might be a parrot. The women in these incidents are expected to testify during the criminal trial proceedings.
