NORRISTOWN, Pa. — Bill Cosby’s newly appointed legal team appeared in a Montgomery County courthouse Tuesday, requesting a delay in the start of his sexual assault retrial. Judge Steven O’Neill, who presided over Cosby’s first sexual assault trial approved the delay, moving the new trial’s start date to March 2018.
The 80-year-old comedian is accused of drugging and sexually assaulting former Temple University employee, Andrea Constand, at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004. Cosby claims that his sexual encounter with Ms. Constand was consensual. The prosecution’s legal proceedings against Mr. Cosby ended in a mistrial earlier this summer. Prior to today’s hearing, the new trial was set to begin on November 6.
One notable member of Cosby’s new legal team is Tom Mesereau, a high-profile attorney who famously represented Michael Jackson during his 2005 trial. That case ended in Jackson’s acquittal.
The new legal team has also expressed interest in selecting a jury pool from Montgomery County, the location of Cosby’s home and the site of the alleged assault. The previous trial’s jury was selected from the Pittsburgh area.
NOTE: Bill Cosby earned a Bachelor’s degree from Temple University in 1971. In 2014, in the midst of various sexual assault allegations, he resigned from the university’s board of trustees. Andrea Constand worked as director of operations for Temple University’s women’s basketball team from 2001 to 2004.
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