Prosecutors in the retrial of Bill Cosby want to bring as many as 19 women to take the stand and testify against the veteran actor and comedian in order to bring about a conviction against Cosby who faces allegations of sexual assault and misconduct that span over 50 years.
Monday will mark the pretrial hearing before the new trial is set to begin on April 2nd. In the trial that took place last year in which Cosby was accused of drugging and assaulting former Temple University women’s basketball administrator Andrea Constand in 2004, the 80-year old walked away due to a hung jury when Judge Steven O’Neill only allowed for one additional accuser to take to the witness stand after prosecutors proposed calling 13 women. This time around, they have added six other women to the list, including Janice Dickinson.
"Developing a defense to any of these outdated claims will require unusual amounts of investigative effort that cannot be completed by the present trial date," Cosby’s defense team explained, saying that if more women were indeed added to the witness list, they would attempt to delay the trial in order to better prepare as some accusers’ allegation go back as far as the 1960s.
Less than two weeks ago Cosby’s daughter, Ensa, passed away after a battle with renal failure at the age of 44. There is no indication as to whether or not her death will play a role in any delay of Monday’s hearing.
Jury selection for the trial is set to begin on March 29th.