Cosby Lawyers: Comedian Legally Blind, Unable To Defend Himself In Sex Assault Trial
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Lawyers in Bill Cosby's sexual assault case say his eyesight has deteriorated to the point he can no longer identify his accusers in photographs or otherwise help the defense.
The 79-year-old Cosby leaned back in his chair Wednesday as his lawyers tried to get a felony charge dismissed before his June trial in Pennsylvania.
Prosecutors want 13 other accusers to testify to bolster a woman's account that Cosby drugged and molested her in 2004.
Defense lawyer Angela Agrusa said prosecutors unfairly prejudiced Cosby by waiting a decade to pursue Andrea Constand's complaint.
"There have been many cases in many courts in which there's been a delay in filing much longer than 12 years," said attorney Gloria Allred, who represents several of the dozens of other women who also say Cosby sexually assaulted them.
Defense lawyers also argue the case should be dismissed, saying the current district attorney, Kevin Steele, used the comedian as a political pawn by promising to prosecute Cosby if elected, CBS2's Kenneth Craig reported.
The entertainer says the former DA promised he would never file charges over the 2004 sexual encounter if Cosby testified in Constand's 2005 civil suit.
Cosby's recently unsealed deposition in that lawsuit led to the case being reopened.
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