Bill Cosby trial judge delivers two big victories to defence
NORRISTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA (AP):
AS JURY selection picked up speed, the judge in Bill Cosby’s sexual assault retrial gave his legal defence a huge lift yesterday with two rulings that could bolster the 80-year-old comedian’s efforts to show his accuser made up the allegations against him in hopes of a big payday.
Judge Steven O’Neill said the defence can call a witness who says Cosby’s accuser talked about framing a celebrity before she lodged sexual abuse allegations against Cosby in 2005. The judge also helped the defence case by ruling that jurors can hear how much Cosby ultimately paid the accuser, Andrea Constand, in a 2006 civil settlement.
The rulings came ahead of a productive second day of jury selection in suburban Philadelphia, with a half-dozen jurors picked by midday to bring the total number to seven. Five of the jurors picked so far are white and two are black, with four men and three women.
O’Neill’s ruling to allow Marguerite Jackson to take the witness stand was at odds with his decision to block her from testifying at the first trial, which ended in a hung jury.
At the time, the judge ruled Jackson’s testimony would be hearsay after Constand, a former Temple University women’s basketball administrator, testified she didn’t know the woman. Since then, prosecutors have told Cosby’s lawyers that Constand had modified her statement to acknowledge she “recalls a Margo”.
Jackson, a longtime Temple official, has said that she and Constand worked closely together, had been friends and had shared hotel rooms several times. She has said Constand once commented to her about setting up a “high-profile person” and filing suit. Constand’s lawyer has said Jackson isn’t telling the truth.