Judge Delays Cosby's Sex Assault Retrial Until Spring
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (CBS/AP) -- Bill Cosby's retrial on sexual assault charges will be delayed as his new legal team gets up to speed on the case.
LATEST from #Cosby pre-trial hearing - at defense request, trial date not likely until mid-to-late March 2018 b/c of new lawyers @CBSPhilly pic.twitter.com/Aqqsl3SyAj
— Joe Holden (@JoeHoldenCBS3) August 22, 2017
Judge Steven O'Neill on Tuesday granted a defense request to postpone the retrial, which had been scheduled to start in November, saying there's no way the 80-year-old comedian's lawyers would be ready by then.
#BillCosby's re-trial delayed at request of defense. Was scheduled for Nov.6th. No new date, but looking at 3/15-4/1. @KYWNewsradio
— Jim Melwert (@JMelwert) August 22, 2017
"To ask someone to review the voluminous record over 18 months — now 20 months in this case — simply cannot be done," O'Neill said from the bench.
Cosby's new lawyers made their first court appearance on behalf of "The Cosby Show" star, who's charged with drugging and molesting a woman at his home near Philadelphia in 2004. His first trial in June ended in a hung jury, setting the stage for a retrial.
The attorneys who represented Cosby at the first trial, Brian McMonagle and Angela Agrusa, had asked to be let off the case. O'Neill approved the request, praising them for their "extraordinary advocacy."
As they left the courtroom, the departing lawyers shook hands with Cosby and his new legal team, which includes Tom Mesereau, the high-profile attorney who won an acquittal in Michael Jackson's child molestation case. Mesereau told TMZ last month that the case against Cosby was "weak" and that retrying him was "a waste of time."
Other lawyers on the retooled legal team are former federal prosecutor Kathleen Bliss and Sam Silver, who represented now-imprisoned former U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah in a corruption case.
After meeting in chambers, the judge asked Cosby's lawyers to review their calendars and consider a start date sometime between March 15 and April 1. He said he'll issue a firm date once they get back to him.
"We're confident in our case and in the evidence and we'll be ready when we get a trial date from the judge," said Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele.
Signaling an early change in strategy, the new lawyers said they are willing to pick a jury from Montgomery County, where the alleged assault at Cosby's home took place. Cosby's former defense team insisted on picking a jury from a different county, partly because the case was a campaign issue in the 2015 race for Montgomery County district attorney. The first jury was selected from the Pittsburgh area and spent two weeks sequestered 300 miles from home.
Mesereau said they have "a strong inclination to try this case here in this county with a jury from this county."
#BillCosby's new attorney: "Strong inclination to try case here in this county with a jury from this county." @KYWNewsradio
— Jim Melwert (@JMelwert) August 22, 2017
None of the lawyers commented as they left court Tuesday.
.@BillCosby leaves Montgomery County courthouse led by new attorney @tommesereau. @KYWNewsradio pic.twitter.com/Ss404bYVtK
— Jim Melwert (@JMelwert) August 22, 2017
Cosby is charged with drugging and molesting Andrea Constand, a former employee of Temple University's women's basketball program. He has said the sexual encounter was consensual.
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