PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The Latest on Bill Cosby’s pretrial hearing (all times local):
5:15 p.m.
Bill Cosby’s lawyers will get another chance to argue that his sexual assault case should be thrown out after sparring with prosecutors and a judge over the facts in a sharply worded court filing.
They’ll return to court Wednesday for the second day of hearings on various pretrial motions.
Judge Steven O’Neill halted pretrial proceedings Tuesday after Cosby’s lawyers argued that prosecutors should be barred for using a lurid, decade-old deposition he gave in a related civil case.
O’Neill ordered both sides to a closed-door conference room.
At one point, Cosby’s lawyers produced medical records to support their assertion that Cosby is blind.
The defense has asked the judge to suppress the testimony Cosby gave in the accuser’s lawsuit. They also hope to keep other accusers off the witness stand at the June criminal trial.
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2:50 p.m.
The judge in Bill Cosby’s criminal case has broken for a recess while the two sides try to forge an agreement on some of the basic facts in a 12-year timeline.
Cosby’s lawyers complain that they can’t defend against an allegation of a 2004 sexual assault when key witnesses have died, meeting places have closed and memories have faded.
The judge will consider their arguments after the parties try to stipulate to a basic outline of events.
Montgomery County Judge Steven O’Neill says the hearing could resume later Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday.
The defense has asked him to suppress the testimony Cosby gave in accuser Andrea Constand’s lawsuit. They also hope to keep other accusers off the witness stand at the June trial.
O’Neill hasn’t yet ruled on those motions.
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11:40 a.m.
Bill Cosby’s lawyers are pressing a judge to keep his deposition from a lawsuit out of his Pennsylvania sexual assault trial.
They say Cosby wouldn’t have testified in the lawsuit if he knew the testimony could be used against him in criminal court. The defense insists Cosby had an oral promise from a former prosecutor that he wouldn’t be charged over the 2005 encounter with Andrea Constand.
A new prosecutor had Cosby arrested last year.
The judge hearing pretrial arguments Tuesday suggests the decision to testify in the civil case might have been strategic. He notes that Constand’s lawyers already had Cosby’s police statement calling the encounter consensual.
Montgomery County Judge Steven O’Neill says the defense might have thought it could hurt Cosby to assert his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
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9:05 a.m.
Bill Cosby has arrived at the Pennsylvania courthouse where his lawyers plan to challenge sexual misconduct claims by 13 women against the entertainer.
Cosby’s lawyers say prosecutors are reaching back to the “casting couch” era to round up accusers and build a “stale” sexual assault case against him.
Prosecutors at the pretrial hearing Tuesday will ask the judge to let the other accusers testify to show Cosby drugged and molested young women in a “signature” fashion.
However, defense lawyers say there’s little but hazy memories to go on.
Cosby faces 10 years in prison if convicted of sexually assaulting a former Temple University basketball team manager.
The pretrial hearing is expected to last two days.
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1 a.m.
Bill Cosby’s lawyers say prosecutors are reaching back to the “casting couch” era to round up women accusers and build a “stale” sexual assault case against the entertainer.
And they will take a Pennsylvania judge through a time warp on Tuesday to prove their point. They plan to challenge sexual misconduct claims by 13 women that span the freewheeling 1960s, patriotic 1980s and gender-bending 21st century.
Prosecutors at the pretrial hearing will ask the judge to let the other accusers testify to show Cosby drugged and molested young women in a “signature” fashion.
However, defense lawyers note there’s little but hazy memories to go on.
Cosby faces 10 years if convicted of sexually assaulting a former Temple University basketball team manager.
The pretrial hearing is expected to last two days.
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