Bill Cosby Returns to Court to Stop Accuser Testimony

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Summary: Bill Cosby returned to court on Monday to block accusers from testifying at his April retrial. 

On Monday, Bill Cosby returned to court in Norristown, Pennsylvania. According to the AP, the fallen television star is seeking to stop some of his accusers from being allowed to testify at his April 2nd criminal retrial.

  

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Cosby has been accused of drugging and sexually assaulting dozens of women throughout several decades, and he is facing a criminal retrial for the alleged rape of former Temple University employee, Andrea Constand. The case had previously been prosecuted but had resulted in a mistrial because of a hung jury, who could not decide unanimously whether or not their sexual encounter was consensual.

In the April retrial, prosecutors want to bring women besides Constand to the stand to show a history of sexual misconduct. However, Cosby went to court today to try to block those women from appearing on the stand. His defense team said that some of the women’s claims were from so long ago that it would be merely impossible to provide proof against them.

Cosby is represented by former Michael Jackson attorney, Tom Mesereau, and he will face the same prosecutors and judge from his first trial.

Judge Steven O’Neill is presiding over the case.

Prosecutors sought to have as many as 19 women testify with Constand, and Judge O’Neill must decide on the matter. Both sides also seek to discuss whether Constand’s civil settlement may be discussed at this criminal trial.

Constand and Cosby had previously reached an undisclosed settlement regarding the incident at the heart of April’s trial. Constand said that in 2004 she was a guest at Cosby’s home when he drugged and molested her. Cosby denies taking advantage and said that the incident was consensual.

As part of the Constand civil lawsuit, Cosby gave a deposition where he admitted to giving women quaaludes before sex, and this deposition was widely circulated after it was unsealed because of a First Amendment request from the Associated Press. In his first trial, there were hints of the details from the deposition but the deposition was not discussed at great length.

O’Neill stated on Monday that since this is a new trial none of his previous rulings will carry over. In Cosby’s first trial, the judge allowed Constand and one other accuser to testify, but not the other women.

The prosecutors want to bring witnesses such as Janice Dickinson to the stand for the retrial. The model claimed that Cosby had assaulted her over a decade ago, and she filed a defamation lawsuit against him when he denied her accusation.

Last year, a jury reached a deadlock in the Cosby case. Judge O’Neill did not allow many of the prosecutor’s proposed witnesses to testify, and he forbid any mention of the almost 60 other women who had publicly accused him of sexual misconduct in the past 50 years.

Jury selection in the retrial is scheduled for March 29.

• Bill Cosby Retrial Date Set 
• Prosecution Promises Retrial in Cosby Rape Case 
• Defense Team Flusters First Witness in Bill Cosby Rape Trial
• Bill Cosby’s Wife Accompanies Him to Rape Trial

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