Bill Cosby Retrial Delayed Until Spring 2018

NORRISTOWN, PA — A judge ruled during a preliminary hearing Tuesday that Bill Cosby's retrial would be delayed until the spring to give his brand new defense team time to catch up on the case.

The Associated Press reported that Judge Steven T. O'Neill said the new attorneys needed more time to review the case.

“To ask someone to review the voluminous record over 18 months — now 20 months in this case — simply cannot be done,” O'Neill reportedly said.

An exact date for the retrial has not been specified beyond next Spring.

The trial had previously been set for Nov. 6.

Original story

Bill Cosby returned to Montgomery County Court Tuesday morning for his scheduled preliminary hearing, as legal proceedings for his retrial get underway. It's Cosby's first public appearance and appearance in court since his mistrial in June.

Cosby, 80, faces three counts of aggravated indecent assault after allegedly drugging and molesting Andrea Constand, a Temple University employee, inside his Cheltenham home in 2004.

The preliminary hearing Tuesday will address a variety of pretrial issues. One issue likely to be discussed is where the jury will be sourced from. In Cosby's first trial in June, all the jurors were selected from Allegheny County instead of Montgomery County because Cosby's team claimed that a local jury would be biased.

Cosby will be represented by his brand new defense team on Tuesday. He announced on Monday that former Michael Jackson lawyer Thomas Meserau would head his defense, and would be joined by attorneys Kathleen Bliss and Sam Silver.

Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele will lead the prosecution.

Judge Steven T. O'Neill, who presided over the first trial, will serve as judge again for the retrial.

The move to add Mesereau comes in the weeks after Cosby lost both lead attorney Brian McMonagle and then one of his other prominent defenders, Angela Agrusa.

Although more than 40 women have accused Cosby of some kind of sexual assault, Constand's case was the first to be brought this far along in the justice system. Most of his other accusers allege incidents that occurred in decades past, long enough ago that the statute of limitations has passed, meaning they cannot prosecute.

Image via Montgomery County District Attorney's Office