NORRISTOWN, Pa. _ A Montgomery County judge is considering whether to recuse himself from presiding over Bill Cosby's sexual assault retrial, days before the high-profile trial is set to begin.
Cosby's lawyers had sought to remove Judge Steven T. O'Neill from the case because his wife, Deborah O'Neill, works as a social worker and coordinator for the University of Pennsylvania's sexual trauma treatment and prevention team.
After hearing arguments on the issue Thursday morning, O'Neill recessed a pretrial hearing to decide whether he will remain on the case.
Tom Mesereau, Cosby's lead defense lawyer, said that Deborah O'Neill made a donation to Women Organized Against Rape, a group that plans to hold protests and vigils outside the courthouse during Cosby's trial in Norristown.
O'Neill said the donation was made by the department that his wife works for at the University of Pennsylvania, and insisted that "there was never any marital assets" given to the group.
"We're talking about a combination of factors that could result in a reasonable appearance of bias," Mesereau said.
Deputy District Attorney Robert Falin said the judge's wife made that donation on behalf of her department 13 months ago, and could not have known that the same group would plan vigils during Cosby's trial.
"Dr. (Deborah) O'Neill has not stated anything about this case," he said. "They are kind of trying to chain her to this vigil by degrees of separation."
O'Neill has presided over the case for more than two years, and was the judge in Cosby's first trial, which ended with a hung jury.
Cosby, 80, is charged with aggravated indecent assault for allegedly drugging and molesting Andrea Constand at his home in Cheltenham in 2004. Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday in Norristown.
