Cosby Yelled At Outside Courthouse, Aims To Block Accusers But Show Settlement To Jury
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (CBS) — Bill Cosby was angrily yelled at on the way into court for day two of his pretrial hearing on Tuesday.
Prosecutors Push Judge To Let Other Cosby Accusers Testify
A woman could be heard screaming about the Philly-native comedian's alleged criminal conduct that has inspired sexual misconduct movements.
"He paused and stood and listened to what I had to say. Then he realized I had more to stay, so he started walking on," Bird Milliken, a protester, said about her encounter with Cosby.
Just like Milliken, prosecutors are pushing to widen the scope of Bill Cosby's looming retrial to spotlight allegations he is one of the biggest serial predators in a Hollywood suddenly aware of sexual misconduct in the #MeToo era.
Prosecutors in the Bill Cosby case want to put an additional 19 accusers on the stand. They claim that will show a pattern.
However, defense attorneys say what those women will bring to the case are ancient accusations.
Cosby's legal team, featuring seven lawyers in all, is trying to block prosecutors from calling the 19 women to the stand.
The DA's office says those accusers would illustrate a four-decade-long "sadistic sexual script."
Legal experts say the added voices, along with Andrea Constand, the prosecution's prime witness, would strengthen the case against Cosby.
But defense lawyers argued they'd be virtually hamstrung in making a defense. And with the #MeToo movement, they claimed the accusations would be more prejudicial in today's environment.
Cosby's attorneys also railed against inconsistencies and how prosecutors say he used intoxicants to incapacitate all of his alleged victims.
A lawyer reasoned, "It's not a crime for intoxicants to be involved. Intoxicants are used all the time in most romantic encounters actually."
After the hearing, Cosby had nothing to say, only pointing beyond an Eyewitness News TV camera.
Lead defense counsel, Tom Meserau, who defended Michael Jackson, had only this to add:
"We know the prosecutors like to talk to the press but we're not going to respond. This case is going to be tried in the courtroom, not the media."
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It is unclear when the judge will rule on the request to have the 19 women take the stand.
Jury selection is scheduled to begin on March 29.