Judge: 5 other accusers can testify at Bill Cosby’s retrial
A judge agreed Thursday to let five additional Bill Cosby accusers testify at his April 2 retrial for an alleged 2004 sexual assault, giving prosecutors a chance to portray the man once known as “America’s Dad” as a serial predator who made a sadistic habit of drugging and molesting women.
Judge Steven O’Neill said prosecutors could choose the witnesses from a list of eight women with allegations dating as far back as the early 1980s. They include model Janice Dickinson, who said Cosby knocked her out with pills and raped her during a 1982 trip to Lake Tahoe.
Prosecutors, eager to expand the scope of the underlying he-said-shesaid case, had pushed to let jurors hear from as many as 19 of the dozens of women who say Cosby assaulted them over a five-decade span.
“We are reviewing the judge’s order and will be making some determinations,” District Attorney Kevin Steele said.
Cosby’s retooled legal team, led by former Michael Jackson lawyer Tom Mesereau, went to court last week to block any additional accusers from testifying.
Cosby’s lawyers argued prosecutors are trying to bolster an otherwise weak case with “ancient allegations” that would confuse, distract and prejudice the jury against the 80-year-old comedian.
“It just shows how desperate they are and that this is a very weak case,” Cosby spokesman Andrew Wyatt said after O’Neill’s ruling. “Mr. Cosby is innocent of these charges.”
Cosby has pleaded not guilty to charges he drugged and molested former Temple University women’s basketball official Andrea Constand at his suburban Philadelphia home in January 2004. He remains free on bail.
O’Neill has yet to rule on whether Cosby’s lawyers can tell jurors about his 2006 settlement with Constand.
Mesereau said in court March 6 that jurors would learn “just how greedy” Constand was when they hear details about how much money she demanded from Cosby and what the star wound up paying her.
Allowing additional accusers to testify is sure to keep Cosby in court longer than his first trial, which ended in a hung jury last year after six days of testimony and five days of deliberations.
Mesereau said prospective jurors should expect a monthlong trial. Jury selection begins March 29.
Pennsylvania allows prosecutors to present evidence of alleged past misdeeds if they demonstrate the defendant engaged in a signature pattern of crime.
Prosecutors argue Cosby used his power and appeal as a beloved entertainer to befriend younger women and then plied them with drugs or alcohol before assaulting them.
Prosecutors tried to have 13 additional accusers testify at Cosby’s first trial last year, but O’Neill limited them to just one and barred any mention of about 60 others who have come forward to accuse Cosby in recent years.
Kelly Johnson, who worked for Cosby’s agent, testified Cosby knocked her out with a pill during a 1996 meeting at the Bel-Air Hotel in Los Angeles. She said she woke up to find her dress disheveled, her breasts exposed and Cosby forcing her to touch his genitals.