Judge wants Bill Cosby sex assault trial to begin by June 5

A Pennsylvania judge says he wants BillCosby'sfelony sexual assault case to go to trial no later than June 5.

Prosecutors say 13 women accusingCosbyof drugging and sexually assaulting themare willing to testify at the Pennsylvania trial.

They include aspiring actresses, a flight attendant, a waitress and a masseuse who sayCosbyused his celebrity to win their trust before drugging and assaulting them.

Prosecutors asked a judge Tuesday to allow the women to testify as witnesses to a pattern of criminal behaviour they say began in 1964. They're among 50 women who have come forward with allegations against the 79-year-old entertainer.

The criminal case against the actor involves a single 2004 encounter at his home near Philadelphia with former Temple University employee AndreaConstand. But prosecutors can introduce evidence of other acts, even though no charges were brought in those cases, to show a pattern of behaviour.

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Prosecutors said they reviewed accusations made againstCosbyby about 50 women and concluded 13 should be allowed to testify.

The defence is expected to oppose such testimony.

Constandtold police thatCosbydrugged and molested her. Legal experts have said ajudge might allow as evidence similar allegations againstCosbyin which drugs or alcohol were involved.

Montgomery County Judge Steven O'Neill did not rule Tuesday on whether the other accusers could testify or whether prosecutors could useCosby'sdeposition or a phone call recorded byConstand'smother in 2005.

The judge says he'll rule on the phone call within a week.

Cosbyblind, might need help

Lawyers forCosbydisclosed in a letter provided before Tuesday's hearing thatCosbyis blind, and as a result, he mightneed special accommodations at his trial, Judge Steven O'Neill said.

Cosbywas arrested in December after the investigation into the allegationConstandfirst brought in 2005 was reopened, following disclosure of the entertainer's testimony in a civil lawsuit and a stream of new allegations by women going back decades.

Cosbylooked noticeably healthier as he walked into court for the pretrial conference. He clutched an aide's arm but didn't have the wooden cane he's used at past hearings.

Cosby'seyes appeared less milky and he seemed more engaged and animated as he spoke with his legal team.

Moving forward

Lead defence lawyer BrianMcMonagleof Philadelphia says he has other trials scheduled through the spring.But the judge saidMcMonaglemight have to review his schedule and look for an earlier date.

McMonagleis expected to lead the courtroom fight as the case moves forward.

Cosbyalso replaced one top-tier Los Angeles law firm with another on his defence team, the second such switch in about a year. AngelaAgrusaof Liner LLP also will handle the civil defamation suits filed in several states by accusers who say they were defamed whenCosbyor his agents denied their accounts.

Cosbyhadcountersuedsome of them.

But he has since abandoned that strategy in Philadelphia, where he dropped the lawsuit filed againstConstand, her lawyers and her mother.Cosbyhad accused themof violating the confidentiality of their 2006 settlement, in part by co-operating with police last year.

The defence also hopes to suppress a secretly recorded 2005 phone callCosbyhad withGiannaConstand, when he described his sexual encounter with her daughter.

Spending time and fortune

District Attorney Kevin Steele will fight to use both the phone call and his deposition at trial.

Cosbyhas so far lost his efforts to have the charges thrown out.

And so the long-beloved comedian known as "America's Dad" for his top-rated show on family life that ran from 1984 to 1992 finds himself spending his time and fortune in his waning days in a Pennsylvania courtroom. The women who accuse him of similar misconduct say the charges were a long time coming.

Cosby'sdefenders instead suggest he is a wealthy target for the many women he met during five decades as an A-list celebrity.

"None of us will ever want to be in the position of attacking a victim. But the question should be asked who is the victim?" his wife,Camille, asked as more accusers came forward in 2014.

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