Prosecutors hoping to paint actor Bill Cosby as a serial predator at his upcoming sexual assault trial sought Tuesday to put on testimony from 13 other women who say Cosby gave them quaaludes, other drugs or alcohol before molesting them. She tells him she’s not recording.”O’Neill did not rule on the matter in court, but said he would likely make a decision by week’s end.McMonagle also said that he meant to file a motion for a change of venue for the trial, expressing concern that the Montgomery County jury pool had been tainted by campaign advertisements for Steele’s run for district attorney last fall.”Mr. Cosby was being referred to, before he was ever charged, as a sexual predator”, McMonagle said.After the hearing, Steele said last month’s trial in Montgomery County of former Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane raised similar jury-pool concerns.”I just finished up a case that was pretty high profile here in Pennsylvania, and we were able to get a fair and impartial jury and we were able to get justice in that case”, Steele said”. Deadline reports that during a pretrial hearing today in Norristown, Pennsylvania, the judge in the case suggested that the trial could kick off on June 5th. Cosby, who is free on $1 million bail, could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
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Cosby arrived at the Norristown court wearing a light grey suit amid a hubbub of media attention, with dozens of television cameras focusing on him.
The entertainer is charged with sexually assaulting a woman he mentored at Temple University in 2004. Cosby maintains this episode was consensual and has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Constand, now 43 and living in Canada, was not present at the preliminary hearings for the trial and a detective read in court the testimony she gave to police 11 years ago.
Another woman said Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her in the late 1960s after befriending her and acting as a mentor to her 9-year-old son.
Cosby’s lawyers specifically called out attorney Gloria Allred.
A date for Bill Cosby’s sexual assault trial has been tentatively set for early June 2017. “That is to say, an individual who, over the course of decades, intentionally intoxicates women in a signature fashion with the intention of sexually assaulting them can not also be mistaken about whether or not those women are consenting to the sexual abuse”. Prosecutors, however, are allowed on rare occasions to use evidence or witnesses to prove a defendant committed a crime as part of a longstanding pattern of behaviour.
Based on detectives’ findings, Ferman ordered Cosby’s arrest on December 30 on three charges of aggravated indecent assault.
Cosby was in California when he called Constand’s mother at her Canadian home, but his lawyers argued Pennsylvania’s two-party consent law on recording – not a more lax Canadian law – should apply since he’s being prosecuted there.
Cosby’s defense team, which was lead by Brian McMonagle, also informed the judged they intend to file a motion to move the trail out of Montgomery County. “Mr. Cosby is not giving up the fight for his rights”. Judge O’Neil has yet to make a decision on whether the phone call can be used in court. O’Neill offered whatever accommodations he might need at trial, but the defense didn’t immediately ask for any.
Steele said that Cosby heard a noise on the call and suspected it was being recorded, and he said Cosby later admitted those suspicions in a deposition.
The case involves a 2004 encounter with a Temple University employee who says she was drugged and molested.
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The judge also said he would set a date for testimony and/or argument on the second defense pretrial motion.
