Bill Cosby Trial Date Set … for June 2017

Bill Cosby is set to be tried on an aggravated indecent assault charge stemming from an alleged 2004 incident involving Andrea Constand — but not until June 5, 2017.

Cosby defense attorney Brian McMonagle argued today that he did not have time in his schedule for Cosby’s trial until June. The defense team will also be filing a motion for a change of venue, due to Montgomery County district attorney Kevin Steele’s having run an ad calling Cosby a “predator” during his campaign. Montco Court Judge Steven T. O’Neill already ruled in February that Steele could remain in the prosecution.

Prosecutors also filed a motion to include evidence of Cosby’s “prior bad acts” — including testimony from 13 other women who say Cosby sexually assaulted them. Legal experts say Cosby’s fate may ride on whether these women are allowed to testify. The judge has not yet ruled on the motion.

Cosby’s defense team also said the 79-year-old comedian is blind and will need accommodation at trial. The defense team also wants to bar jurors from hearing a recording made by the victim’s mother of a phone call she made to Cosby where the comedian fears he will be viewed as “a dirty old man with a young girl.”

Cosby is accused of sexually assaulting then-Temple employee Andrea Constand in his Cheltenham house in 2004. Constand filed a civil suit in 2005, which was settled under a confidentiality agreement. Then-Montco D.A. Bruce Castor declined to file charges, but Steele filed against Cosby on December 30, 2015.

“The time has come to shine a spotlight on the trampling of Mr. Cosby’s civil rights,” McMonagle told reporters. Steele said his team is ready to proceed for trial.