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Bill Cosby Sexual Assault Trial To Begin By June 5, Judge Says Comedian Is Blind, Grants Accommodations [Video]

By Patricia Ramirez
Published on: 10:08 PST, Sep 6, 2016

Bill Cosby now has a date for his impending sexual assault trial. According to multiple reports, the judge presiding over the case has now set Cosby’s trial for no later than June 5, 2017. The trial date was set at a Pennsylvania pretrial hearing that took place on September 6. The judge overseeing the Bill Cosby sexual assault case and upcoming trial also dropped another bombshell; according to Montgomery County Judge Steven O’Neill, 79-year-old Cosby is blind.

Because of Bill Cosby’s impaired vision, the presiding judge has granted the former star of The Cosby Show whatever “special accommodations” he may require as a defendant at the upcoming sexual assault trial.

Fox News reports that Judge O’Neill said that it was necessary to set a date for Bill Cosby’s sexual assault trial at the pretrial hearing because of the length of time that has now passed since the criminal sexual assault criminal complaints were filed.

“This case now 252 days from filing of criminal complaints,” said in his Pennsylvania courtroom. “There is a right to a speedy trial.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4udQ1aUNps

According to reports from media and witnesses, Bill Cosby looked frail and every one of his 79 years as he entered the courthouse earlier on Tuesday. Reportedly, he carried a cane and had to be led into the venue by the arm. Some witnesses said that despite his wary appearance, Bill Cosby actually looked a little bit more spry and alert than he has at previous court appearances; some even said that the milkiness of his eyes looked a little bit improved.

Despite Bill Cosby’s aged appearance and apparent blindness, the prosecutors and judge handling the criminal sexual allegations against him are not cutting the formerly beloved star any slack. Even though the criminal sexual assault case against Bill Cosby involves a single allegation of sexual assault against one alleged victim, former Temple University employee Andrea Constand, Cosby has been accused of sexual assault by at least 50 alleged victims.

According to most of the women who have accused Bill Cosby of sexual assault, the comedian drugged them with quaaludes and/or other substances and sexually assaulted them against their will. Reportedly, the prosecution in the criminal sexual assault case against Cosby may allow as many as 13 of his alleged victims to testify against him during the trial in order to prove that Bill Cosby engaged in a pattern of behavior that involved the frequent drugging and sexual assault of women.

According to many social media commentators, the long wait for the Cosby trial to begin is inexplicable and screams of Bill Cosby trying to “run out the clock,” so to speak.

Bill Cosby’s criminal defense team is expected to aggressively oppose and fight to prevent the testimony of those 13 additional alleged sexual assault victims. Cosby’s defense is also trying to get two more key pieces of evidence against the comedian tossed out.

One is a telephone conversation that took place between Bill Cosby and Andrea Constand’s mother, Gianna. Reportedly, that call was recorded by Mrs. Constand without Cosby’s knowledge or consent, and in it, Bill Cosby made some very incriminating statements regarding what went on between himself and his alleged sexual assault victim. The judge overseeing the criminal trial of Bill Cosby reportedly listened to the damning recording in court Tuesday.

According to Cosby’s defense, the recorded conversation should be thrown out as evidence because Pennsylvania requires two-party consent to record phone calls. However, the prosecution in the sexual assault case has argued that it is legal because in the jurisdiction where it was recorded, only one-party consent is required.

Additionally, Bill Cosby’s sexual assault defense team is trying to have a deposition that he formerly provided in relation to a civil lawsuit filed by Andrea Constand. According to Cosby and his team, when he participated in the deposition, he was promised by the former Montgomery County District Attorney that his sworn testimony would never be used against him criminally. According to current prosecutors in the sexual assault case against Bill Cosby, such a promise was illegally given and not enforceable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG9EPqOOR0w

In addition to fighting the testimony of 13 additional alleged sexual assault victims and trying to get the phone call and deposition tossed out as evidence, the legal team defending Bill Cosby against the criminal sexual assault charges that have been levied against him is also trying to force a change of venue in the case.

Cosby was arrested on December 30, 2016, and has fought to clear his name ever since. Bill Cosby has always wholeheartedly and unequivocally denied the sexual assault charges that have been filed against him and contended that any sexual encounters he engaged in were consensual.

[Image via Randy Miramontez/Shutterstock]

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