NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) - The Latest on pretrial motions in Bill Cosby’s sex assault case (all times local):
2:05 p.m.
Bill Cosby wants to move his trial out of a suburban Philadelphia courthouse, arguing there’s been widespread negative press coverage of the sexual assault case.
Lawyers for the 79-year-old comedian filed a motion Friday that asked the judge to either move it out of Montgomery County or bring in a jury from elsewhere.
His lawyers say Cosby has been the target of an “inflammatory and prejudicial smear campaign” and branded as a monster, a sociopath and a sexual predator in news accounts.
A spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office says prosecutors aren’t opposed to the request.
Cosby is accused of drugging and molesting a woman he knew through Temple University.
Trial is set for early June.
___
1 a.m.
Bill Cosby is starting 2017 in a legal dragnet that has only tightened around him since his stunning arrest a year ago.
Cosby was charged with aggravated sexual assault on Dec. 30, 2015, just days before the 12-year statute of limitations would have run out over a 2004 encounter at his estate near Philadelphia.
Some legal experts wonder if Cosby will seek a plea deal after losing a series of defense motions.
But a spokeswoman for Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele says there’s no truth to those reports.
The 79-year-old Cosby is accused of drugging and molesting a woman he knew through Temple University.
The judge must soon decide if other accusers can testify as “prior bad act” witnesses.
The trial is set to start by June.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.