NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) - The Latest on a pretrial hearing in Bill Cosby’s sexual assault case (all times local):
12:40 p.m.
Bill Cosby’s high-powered Hollywood lawyer wants to tell jurors about the entertainer’s financial settlement with the woman he’s charged with sexually assaulting.
Lawyer Tom Mesereau said in court Tuesday that he wants to make the settlement a focal point of Cosby’s retrial on charges he drugged and molested Andrea Constand in 2004.
Mesereau told a judge he wants jurors to know how much Constand got from Cosby so he can show “just how greedy” she was.
Cosby’s old legal team agreed with prosecutors to keep the settlement out of his first trial, which ended in a hung jury.
Constand sued Cosby after prosecutors declined to press charges. Cosby settled for an undisclosed sum.
The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they grant permission, which Constand has.
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11:10 a.m.
Bill Cosby’s lawyers say prosecutors want to have as many as 19 other accusers testify at his sexual assault retrial because they’re desperate to bolster an otherwise weak case.
Defense lawyer Becky James argued in court Tuesday that the women’s drugging and molestation allegations are decades old, making them impossible to defend against.
James says allowing the other women to testify in the #metoo era that’s focused global attention on sexual misconduct would be unfair to Cosby.
Prosecutors are seeking to call the accusers to the witness stand to show Cosby had a long history of drugging and violating women.
The 80-year-old comedian is charged with sexually assaulting a woman at his home in 2004. His first trial ended in a hung jury.
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9:10 a.m.
Bill Cosby is back in court for the second day of a hearing that will decide whether some of his accusers can testify at his sexual assault retrial.
The 80-year-old comedian is charged with assaulting and molesting a woman at his home outside Philadelphia more than 14 years ago.
Dozens of other women have also stepped forward to accuse Cosby of assault. Prosecutors are asking a judge to allow as many as 19 of them to take the witness stand as they try to show Cosby has a long history of sexual abuse.
The defense is making its arguments Tuesday. Cosby’s lawyers say none of the other women should be allowed to testify because their allegations are old and impossible to defend.
The judge has said he’ll rule at a later time.
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12:05 a.m.
Prosecutors are pushing to widen the scope of Bill Cosby’s April 2 retrial to spotlight allegations he’s one of Hollywood’s biggest serial predators.
The 80-year-old Cosby will be back in a suburban Philadelphia courtroom on Tuesday as his lawyers try to convince a judge to block some of his dozens of accusers from testifying against him.
Prosecutors want as many as 19 of Cosby’s accusers to take the stand as they attempt to show he had a long history of drugging and attacking women.
They’re also trying to insulate the accuser in his lone criminal case from attacks on her credibility.
Cosby’s first trial ended in a hung jury.
Cosby’s lawyers have argued some of the accusers’ allegations date to the 1960s and are impossible to defend against.
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