The surprising reason Bill Cosby’s lawyers asked the judge to step down in sex assault case
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Bill Cosby may get yet another break. Cosby’s lawyers have asked Judge Steven O’Neill to step down on this case.
The lawyers are concerned that the judge may be influenced by his wife’s work as a social worker and advocate for assault victims.
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According to Hollywood Reporter, Bill Cosby’s lawyers contend some of Judge Steven O’Neill‘s recent pretrial rulings could give the appearance he’s being influenced by his wife’s work, particularly his decision last week to let prosecutors have up to five additional accusers testify when he allowed just one at the first trial.
O’Neill did not immediately rule on the request.
Deborah O’Neill is reportedly a psychotherapist at the University of Pennsylvania and coordinates a team providing care, support and advocacy for student sexual assault victims. In 2012, she wrote her doctoral dissertation on acquaintance rape, the type of assault at issue in Cosby’s criminal case.
Last year, Bill Cosby’s lawyers contended that Deborah O’Neill gave money to a group linked to an organization that is planning a protest outside the retrial.
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Bill Cosby was in court for a pretrial hearing Monday, less than two weeks after his daughter’s death.
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 by the judge.
Legal experts believe the these five women will likely be the key ingredient to a possible conviction in this case.
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