D.A.: Cosby request for recusal of judge is ‘frivolous’
“His motion is nothing but a thinly-veiled attempt to delay and pollute the jury pool.” — Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele
Prosecutors claim Bill Cosby’s request for the presiding judge to recuse himself from the actor’s upcoming sexual assault retrial is “a thinlyveiled attempt to delay” the case and should be denied.
“His motion is nothing but a thinly-veiled attempt to delay and pollute the jury pool,” Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele responded in court papers to Cosby’s request for Judge Steven T. O’Neill to recuse himself from the retrial set to begin April 2 with jury selection.
On Thursday, Cosby’s defense team argued there is an “appearance of partiality” by O’Neill because the judge’s wife, Deborah, has spent her career working with and supporting sexual assault victims.
“This assertion is frivolous,” Steele wrote. “After casting blame on everyone but himself — the prosecutors, the investigation, the media, the victim, the many women accusing him of sexual assault and a federal judge, and his past attorneys are just some examples — he plays his last card by blaming the court.”
Defense lawyer Thomas Mesereau Jr. argued Deborah O’Neill is employed by the University of Pennsylvania where she is a certified social worker and coordinator of the Sexual Trauma Treatment Outreach and Prevention Team, which provides care and support to students who have experienced sexual trauma. Dr. O’Neill completed her dissertation in 2012 on the issue of acquaintance rape and “often speaks publicly on the issue of sexual assault,”
Mesereau argued.
“Not surprisingly, defendant fails to cite a single case to support the proposition that a judge must recuse himself from a sex crime case if his spouse is involved in helping victims recover from the trauma of sexual assault,” Steele argued.
Mesereau and co-defense lawyers Kathleen Bliss, Becky S. James and Lane L. Vines also argued that if Judge O’Neill refuses to recuse himself, then the judge should certify the order for an immediate pretrial appeal to a state court. Mesereau argued “the appearance of partiality in this case is strong, and reasonable minds may differ in their opinions on the issue.”
Steele responded that Cosby is not entitled to such a pretrial appeal if the recusal request is denied.
“This attempt to delay retrial — after the court denied his latest continuance request — is as transparent as it is frivolous,” Steele wrote.
The judge could address the recusal request during a final round of pretrial hearings next week.
William Henry Cosby Jr., as his name appears on charging documents, faces three counts of aggravated indecent assault in connection with allegations he had inappropriate sexual contact with Andrea Constand, a former Temple University athletic department employee, at his Cheltenham home after plying her with blue pills and wine sometime between mid-January and mid-February 2004.
Cosby has maintained his contact with Constand was consensual.
Cosby, 80, remains free on 10 percent of $1 million bail, pending the retrial.
Cosby’s first trial last June ended in a mistrial when jurors could not reach a verdict.
Steele immediately announced he would seek a retrial.
The newspaper does not normally identify victims of sex crimes without their consent but is using Constand’s name because she has identified herself publicly.