Bill Cosby’s trial date pushed back again
The comedian can relax for a few more days before he heads back to court.
On Monday, Judge Steven T. O’Neill of Montgomery County ruled the change in order to make room for two additional days of pre-trial hearings to take place on March 29 and March 30.
Bill Cosby can relax for a few more days before he heads back to court.
The 80-year old comedian’s sexual assault trial date has been rescheduled — but only for a few days.
On Monday, Judge Steven T. O’Neill of Montgomery County made the change in order to make room for two additional days of pre-trial hearings. As a result, jury selection will take place on the original trial starting date on April 2, according to The Philly Inquirer.
As previously reported, jurors will come from Montgomery County.
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Cosby’s lawyer also submitted a request on Monday to further delay the trial, which Judge O’Neill denied. The legal team wanted more time to prepare Cosby’s defense against the five additional women who were just granted the right to testify in court. Cosby’s team also appealed the decision allowing the women to tell their stories publicly in court, but that too was denied.
Legal experts believe the these five women will likely be the key ingredient to a possible conviction in this case.
The now rescheduled trial will include the same judge, all of the same criminal charges, and the same lead prosecutor, but Bill Cosby has new legal representation in Michael Jackson’s former lawyer, Tom Mesereau. If found guilty, Cosby faces up to 30 years in prison for aggravated indecent assault.
The Impact Of Women
Defense lawyer Chuck Peruto, who is not involved in the case, spoke with BizJournals and said that if the women are allowed to testify, the jury is likely to convict the Philadelphia-born comedian.
“I think that if the judge reversed himself on that, Cosby has no chance of acquittal,” said Peruto.
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Last year, the Cosby trial ended with a hung jury as Judge O’Neill limited prosecutors to only allowing testimony from his 2004 accuser Kelley Johnson and another woman who alleged he assaulted her in the 1990s.
Prosecutors originally had a list of 13 accusers who were ready and willing to testify, but the judge would only allow Johnson to be heard. This time, the prosecution has presented a case for the approval of 19 accusers to take the stand against Cosby and were granted the opportunity to add an additional five women.
Lisa Bonet speaks on Cosby
Former “Cosby Show” star Lisa Bonet finally broken her silence about Cosby and now we know why she waited so long.
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“There was just energy. And that type of sinister, shadow energy cannot be concealed,” Bonet told Net-a-Porter about her former co-star.
When Bonet was asked if she felt a darkness about him, she confirmed she did. “Always. And if I had anything more to reveal then it would have happened a long time ago. That’s my nature. The truth will set you free.”
The 50-year-old mother of three, including Hollywood A-lister, Zoe Kravitz, is insistent that Cosby’s bad energy didn’t tarnish her memories of time spent on the sets of “The Cosby Show” and its spin-off, “A Different World,” even though she was fired from the series due to creative differences.
“I don’t need to say, ‘I told you so’,” said Bonet. “I just leave all that to karma and justice and what will be.”
