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The Latest: Cosby hearing adjourns, no decision on accusers

Dec 14, 2016 | 6:30 AM

NORRISTOWN, Pa. — The Latest on Bill Cosby’s latest court appearance in his sexual assault case (all times local):

5:10 p.m.

A Pennsylvania judge says he’ll take some time before deciding whether to allow more than a dozen women who accuse Bill Cosby of sexually assaulting them to testify at his trial next year.

Montgomery County Judge Steven O’Neill heard arguments Wednesday from Cosby’s lawyers, who say the 79-year-old comedian’s accusers should be barred from taking the witness stand.

Cosby is charged with sexually assaulting a woman at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004. Prosecutors want to call 13 other accusers to show that Cosby had a history of drugging and molesting women.

Defence lawyer Brian McMonagle says prosecutors are dredging up assault allegations dating to the 1960s to try to breathe life into a weak case.

The two-day hearing has adjourned.

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3:10 p.m.

Bill Cosby’s lawyers are attacking what they’re calling “vague, remote and often inconsistent” allegations from a slew of accusers that prosecutors are seeking to call as witnesses at his sexual assault trial next year.

At a hearing outside Philadelphia on Wednesday, the defence portrayed the potential witnesses as “bandwagon” accusers who came forward last year because they sought to cash in.

The 79-year-old actor and comedian is charged with sexually assaulting a woman at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004.

Prosecutors are asking a judge to permit testimony from 13 other women who also accuse Cosby of sexual assault. Prosecutors want to show that Cosby had a history of drugging and molesting women.

Cosby’s lawyers say the women’s stories aren’t similar enough to warrant their testimony.

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1:15 p.m.

Defence lawyers for Bill Cosby say accuser Andrea Constand has given four versions of her account that she was sexually assaulted by the actor and comedian in 2004.

A judge is hearing arguments Wednesday on whether 13 other accusers can testify for the prosecution at Cosby’s upcoming trial. Prosecutors are trying to show that Cosby had a “signature” pattern of drugging and molesting women.

Defence lawyers say Constand has offered shifting accounts of the encounter at Cosby’s suburban Philadelphia home, making comparisons with the other accusers impossible.

Prosecutors say sexual assault victims often recall more details in subsequent interviews. They say the discrepancies in Constand’s accounts are not material to the case.

The pretrial hearing is set to conclude Wednesday.

Constand has given permission for her name to be used.

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12:15 p.m.

Bill Cosby’s lawyers say prosecutors are trying the 79-year-old comedian for an alleged 2004 sexual assault only so that “a bandwagon” of women can vindicate old claims that he drugged and assaulted them.

Lawyer Brian McMonagle asked a judge Wednesday to prevent prosecutors from calling 13 of Cosby’s other accusers as witnesses at next year’s trial. He says uncertainty about where and when some of the encounters occurred made them impossible to rebut.

Prosecutors say the women will show that a sexual encounter at Cosby’s suburban Philadelphia home was part of a signature criminal pattern.

McMonagle argued that the women went public at the urging of “clever, cunning lawyers who had the agenda of bringing down an American icon.”

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10:45 a.m.

A prosecutor is arguing that 13 women who accuse Bill Cosby of sexual assault should be allowed to testify at his upcoming trial because their stories are so similar that they show the “handiwork of the same perpetrator.”

The 79-year-old comedian is in court near Philadelphia for a second day of pretrial arguments on the key question of how many accusers can testify to bolster the prosecution case.

Cosby faces charges over a 2004 encounter at his home. Prosecutors say Cosby drugged and molested her in a manner strikingly similar to his encounters with 13 other women they hope to call.

The defence says the accusers’ decades-old memories are hazy and unreliable. Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele told the judge that Cosby shouldn’t be rewarded for incapacitating his victims.

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10:15 a.m.

Bill Cosby is back in court for a second day of a crucial pretrial hearing in his Pennsylvania sexual assault case.

The 79-year-old entertainer returned to court Wednesday. He is facing charges from a 2004 encounter with a woman at his suburban Philadelphia home.

Prosecutors are asking a judge to permit testimony from 13 other women who also accuse Cosby of sexual assault. Prosecutors want to show that Cosby had a history of drugging and molesting women.

Cosby’s lawyers say the women should be barred from taking the stand at his spring trial. They’re expected to attack the accusers’ credibility at Wednesday’s hearing.

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12:15 a.m.

Bill Cosby’s lawyers say the 79-year-old actor has vision and memory problems that leave him unable to help defend himself in his upcoming sexual assault trial.

But the actor seemed mentally fit on Tuesday in a suburban Philadelphia courtroom as he shouted out answers to questions meant for the prosecutor.

Prosecutors were trying to recall where one alleged assault took place, when Cosby helpfully announced that the hotel was in Chicago.

At another point, Cosby told the judge, who was trying to figure out his age, that he was born in 1937. On July 12th.

The judge at this week’s pretrial hearing must decide if other accusers can testify that they were drugged and molested in the same way as trial accuser Andrea Constand.

The hearing resumes Wednesday.

The Associated Press