Cosby can call witness to undercut sex assault accuser, judge rules

HARRISBURG, Pa., (Reuters) - Defense lawyers at Bill Cosby’s retrial on sexual assault charges can call a witness they say will undermine his accuser’s credibility, a Pennsylvania judge said yesterday, reversing his ruling that barred the same witness from the first trial of the comedian once known as “America’s Dad.”

The ruling to allow Margo Jackson’s testimony came on the second day of jury selection for the second trial where the 80-year-old entertainer will face charges that he sexually assaulted a staffer more than a decade ago at his alma mater, Temple University in Philadelphia. His first trial on those charges last year ended in a hung jury.

Montgomery County Judge Steven O’Neill also said defence lawyers could introduce evidence that Cosby made a payout to accuser Andrea Constand to settle the lawsuit she filed against him in 2005. Details of that settlement were not aired during the first trial and have remained secret for more than a decade.

Together, the two rulings will bolster the defence’s strategy to portray Constand as a liar who invented the incident to extort money from the comedian best known for his rose as Cliff Huxtable, the wise and witty dad on the long-running hit sitcom “The Cosby Show.”

The trial is scheduled to begin with opening statements on April 9 in the Norristown, Pennsylvania court.

Cosby is charged with drugging and sexually assaulting Constand at his home in suburban Philadelphia more than 14 years ago. The first trial end in a mistrial last June when the jury could not reach a verdict.