Cosby opposes testimony from other accusers

Bill Cosby’s lawyers will fight a prosecution bid to have other accusers testify at his sentencing this month on felony sex assault charges.

Prosecutors in Pennsylvania want at least some of Mr. Cosby’s dozens of other accusers to testify at the Sept. 24 sentencing.

Five testified at the spring trial, when jurors convicted him of drugging and molesting Andrea Constand, who worked at Temple University, at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004.

In a court filing Monday, defense lawyer Joseph Green Jr. said testimony about uncharged conduct should be used in Pennsylvania only if a defendant remains a public threat.

“Allegations of misconduct that are more than 20 years old have no relevance to the [necessarily future] ‘protection of the public’ from an 81-year-old unsighted man,” he wrote.

Mr. Cosby faces up to 10 years in prison on each of three felony counts but could get far less under state guidelines.

Dozens of women have accused Mr. Cosby of sexual misconduct during his more than 50-year entertainment career, but nearly all of the claims are too old to prosecute.

Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele has not said which or how many accusers he hopes to call to testify. Cosby spokesman Andrew Wyatt last week called the prosecution effort “another publicity stunt.”

Judge Steven T. O’Neill has set aside two days for the sentencing hearing.