Another Bill Cosby Attorney Files To Withdraw, And Comedian Seeks Delay

NORRISTOWN, PA — Another of Bill Cosby's prominent attorneys, Angel Agrusa, has filed to withdraw from his defense team. The news comes just weeks after Cosby's high-profile lead attorney, Brian McMonagle, also resigned from the defense of the comedian. After a mistrial due to a deadlocked jury in June, Cosby, charged with drugging and molesting a woman inside of his Cheltenham home in 2004, will face a retrial on Nov. 6.

As Agrusa filed the motion to withdraw, she also asked that the pre-trial conference, which had been scheduled for Aug. 22, be delayed until Sept. 11 so that Cosby, 80, has time to "finally secure his representation" and fill out his suddenly shallow defense team.

McMonagle's departure came amidst rumors that there was a growing rift between the defense team and their strategy for Cosby on one hand, and Cosby's publicist, Andrew Wyatt, on the other. During the conclusion of the trial, as the jury deliberated, Wyatt claimed that Cosby would be holding a series of "youth education town halls" around the country to warn young people about the dangers of misbehaving. Cosby himself came out later and said that he was not planning any such tour, and bizarrely labeled the notion "false propaganda."

McMonagle - and Agrusa - had been largely quiet on the public front and kept their arguments to the courtroom, while Cosby's spokesperson was brazen and outspoken.

In the motion filed on Tuesday, Agrusa said that Cosby has "continued to take necessary steps to secure new counsel" but that the busy summer trial schedules had hampered his efforts.

>>Bill Cosby Mistrial: What's Next?

Judge Steven T. O'Neill will rule on whether or not the pre-trial hearing can be delayed.

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