NORRISTOWN, Pa. _ The legal battle involving Bill Cosby's many accusers has begun.
Prosecutors and lawyers for the entertainer in his sexual assault case regarding one woman began arguing Tuesday morning over whether 13 other women who say they were also victims of Cosby can testify at his trial.
The comedian is facing three counts of aggravated indecent assault stemming from a 2004 incident at his home in Cheltenham, Pa., with former Temple University women's basketball employee Andrea Constand.
Prosecutors hope to call the accusers _ many of whom have come forward either in civil suits or media interviews to allege that Cosby gave them drugs and had unwanted sexual contact with them _ as witnesses under the so-called Prior Bad Acts clause.
While Pennsylvania does not typically allow accusers to testify in an unrelated case, it makes exceptions when those accusers help establish a "common scheme" on the defendant's part.
Cosby's attorneys want to stop the 13 women from taking the stand, fearing that testimony about unrelated events would sway the jury. The women would also be describing situations they say occurred decades ago, which the defense says makes them difficult to refute. The statutes of limitations for bringing legal action have expired for the women.
Tensions rose Tuesday morning as Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele and lead defense attorney Brian McMonagle squared off over whether the women could be identified by name at the hearing.
"What we're doing here is another simple attempt to intimidate the witnesses," Steele said. "I'm not going to be part of that."
Replied McMonagle: "I don't know what this controversy is over names," adding: "Most of them have done press conferences ... some have written books, some are on tour. ... These are not children."
At one point the two lawyers addressed each other directly, with the prosecutor using particularly loud tones.
"It's part of the record," McMonagle said.
"'No, it's not part of the record," Steele said angrily.
The judge, Steven T. O'Neil, interjected, "Lower your voice, Mr. Steele, there is no place for that. This is a court proceeding."
The hearing comes amid a report in the New York Post's Page Six that Cosby's lawyers are hoping for a plea deal that would help their client avoid jail time. But it's very unlikely the prosecution would cut such a deal at this point. It has already won a number of key pretrial rulings _ including the right to use deposition testimony Cosby gave in Constand's civil case _ and Steele has staked his career on prosecuting the comedian.
For his part, Cosby appeared in court Tuesday, moving slightly more assuredly than he did at appearances earlier this fall. His lawyers have argued the 79-year-old's fragile health and eyesight could inhibit his right to a fair trial.
The Constand case is being watched closely by victims-rights activists, who see Cosby as symbolic of male privilege they say has led to under-prosecution and concealment of sex abuse crimes. Allowing the women to testify, they argue, would shine a light on the issue while giving them a measure of relief.
For the prosecution, the accusers serve a different purpose: bolstering a case that experts say contains a number of exploitable problems.
The accusers' presence in the courtroom will be determined after what will likely be two days of arguments over whether their testimony is critical Cosby-related information or a jury-biasing irrelevancy.
O'Neill hinted that the hearing would turn on legal reasoning, not the persuasiveness of the accusers' potential testimony.
"My general reading is that I'm probably not the gatekeeper for credibility," he said.
