Judge warns media of ‘repercussions’ if they try to contact jurors

A Montgomery County judge warned members of the press about “repercussions” if they attempt to make contact with the jury selected for Bill Cosby’s upcoming sex assault trial.

“The press is to not have any contact whatsoever with this jury,” said Judge Steven T. O’Neill, adding there will be “serious repercussions” if anyone attempts to follow or make contact with jurors once they arrive in the county this weekend from Allegheny County.

The judge said court officials are protecting the anonymity and privacy of jurors, who will be sequestered at an unidentified area hotel.

The judge’s statement is another example of the high-profile nature of the Cosby trial, which gets under way on Monday at the county courthouse. Media representatives from around the globe are expected to attend the trial.

O’Neill issued the warning during a “hastily scheduled” conference he held with prosecutors and defense lawyers to address all outstanding pretrial issues. The judge carefully weighed which matters he permitted to be heard in open court in order to protect the integrity of the jury that was selected in Allegheny County last week.

Explaining that while Cosby’s jury has been selected it won’t officially be sequestered until the beginning of the trial, the judge said it was important to control the information that was released publicly at this stage of the proceedings.

“They’re in this limbo space,” O’Neill said, referring to the jurors that were selected last week.

The lawyers were permitted to make some pretrial submissions directly to the judge without filing them publicly and some matters were discussed during a private conference, out of earshot of the public and media.

Cosby, 79, faces a June 5 trial on charges of aggravated indecent assault in connection with his alleged contact with Andrea Constand, a former Temple University athletic department employee, after plying her with blue pills and wine at his Cheltenham home sometime between mid-January and mid-February 2004.

One issue the judge did consider in open court was a defense request to prohibit prosecutors from calling a forensic psychologist at trial as an expert on victim responses to sexual assault. Authorities alleged Constand didn’t report the incident to police until January 2005, about a year after it allegedly occurred, and prosecutors presumably want to rely on the psychologist to explain that such delay is not atypical for sex assault victims.

“I believe as a matter of law, she should not be allowed to testify at all,” argued defense lawyer Angela C. Agrusa, claiming allowing prosecutors to offer the “novel” testimony of the forensic psychologist to support their case “in the face of its inexcusable almost 12-year prosecutorial delay” would violate Cosby’s right to “due process.”

Agrusa was referring to the filing of charges against Cosby on Dec. 30, 2015, before the 12-year statute of limitations expired.

Agrusa, who is assisting lead defense lawyer Brian J. McMonagle, argued that at the time of the alleged 2004 contact between Cosby and Constand expert testimony about victim responses to sexual assault was not admissible under the law. The law changed in 2012.

Assistant District Attorney Kristen Feden disagreed with Agrusa.

“This is the type of testimony that is permitted,” argued Feden, who is assisting District Attorney Kevin R. Steele during the trial along with prosecutor M. Stewart Ryan.

Feden argued the defense lawyers want to prevent jurors from hearing expert testimony that would explain typical behaviors of sex assault victims such as Constand.

In his ruling, O’Neill didn’t preclude the psychologist from testifying but he said another hearing could be held if defense lawyers challenge the psychologist’s qualifications as an expert witness.

Agrusa suggested a hearing would have to be held to determine if the forensic psychologist’s opinions are scientificallybased. Agrusa implied that the psychologist is not qualified to testify about “memory and recall” and the “impact of intoxicants.

If convicted of the charges at trial, William Henry Cosby Jr., as his name appears on charging documents, faces a possible maximum sentence of 15 to 30 years in prison. He remains free on 10 percent of $1 million bail, pending trial.

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.

“The press is to not have any contact whatsoever with this jury.” — Montgomery County Judge Steven T. O’Neill