Bill Cosby Hires Michael Jackson's Former Lawyer

NORRISTOWN, PA — After losing two of his lead attorneys, Bill Cosby has hired the defense lawyer who successfully defended Michael Jackson. Cosby's spokesperson Andrew Wyatt said on Monday that lawyer Thomas Mesereau, who defended Jackson during a 2005 child molestation trial, will lead his new defense team.

Cosby's June trial ended in a mistrial when the jury announced they were deadlocked and unable to come up with a verdict.

Cosby, 80, is charged with drugging and molesting Andrea Constand, a Temple University employee, inside his Cheltenham home in 2004. He will face a retrial on Nov. 6.

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.

In a motion to resign filed by Agrusa in Montgomery County Court last week, she asked that Cosby's Aug. 22 preliminary hearing date be pushed back to Sept. 11 so that the former comedian would have more time to find new representation. This request was denied; the hearing will be held Tuesday.

Lawyers Kathleen Bliss and Sam Silver will join Mesereau in Cosby's defense, Wyatt said in his statement.

Attorneys Tom Mesereau (LA), Kathleen Bliss (NV), and Sam Silver (PA) pic.twitter.com/dnzgu9sgwo
— Bill Cosby (@BillCosby) August" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/BillCosby/... 21, 2017

In addition to defending Jackson, Mesereau, a graduate of Harvard University and University of California, Hastings, has also represented celebrities like boxer Mike Tyson and actor Robert Blake.

Although dozens of women have filed sexual assault complaints against Cosby, the case of Constand is the first to progress to a criminal trial.