Bill Cosby’s trial will be scheduled for no later than June 5 of next year, presiding Judge Steven O’Neill ruled at a preliminary hearing Tuesday, CNN reports.
Advertisement
Cosby told police he gave her Benadryl – an over-the-counter medicine used for allergies and insomnia – and insisted that any sexual relations with Constand were consensual. They have asked O’Neill to bar the district attorney’s office from introducing a telephone conversation between Cosby and Constand’s mother that was secretly recorded, as well as a deposition from Constand’s civil lawsuit against Cosby in which the comedian admitted giving Quaaludes to women before sexual encounters.
As many as 13 of Bill Cosby’s alleged victims could testify in his upcoming sexual assault trial in Pennsylvania if the prosecution has its way. Cosby’s defense reportedly plans to cross-examine these witnesses, but have moved to have other pieces of evidence, like a phone call between Constand’s mother and Cosby that was taped without his knowledge, barred from the courtroom entirely.
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.
Bill Cosby attends a pretrial hearing.
Despite the fact that Cosby’s lawyers present the nation as a whole and Montgomery County specifically as hostile territory, Cosby was greeted by throngs of supporters shouting “we love you” outside the courthouse door on Tuesday. O’Neill said the court would accommodate and special needs during the trial.
Despite his suspicions, Cosby continued to speak with Constand’s mother, discussing the possibility of paying for her graduate schooling.
The case involves a 2004 encounter with a Temple University employee who says she was drugged and molested. At the time, the then prosecutor decided he did not have enough evidence to file charges against him in the case.
Cosby looked noticeably healthier Tuesday than he has at earlier hearings, although his lawyers told the judge that he is blind. Cosby was arrested on December 30 of this year.
District Attorney Kevin Steele speaks with the media. Angela Agrusa of Liner LLP also will handle the defamation lawsuits filed in several states by women who say they were defamed when Cosby or his agents denied their accounts.
If found guilty, the much-accused Cosby could end up behind bars for a decade and pay millions in fines on three felony charges of second-degree aggravated indecent assault. Before the hearing, prosecutors filed to include 13 testimonies by women who claimed to have either been drugged or assaulted.
Advertisement
Canadian law allows calls to be legally recorded with only one party consenting, the motion says.
