NORRISTOWN, Pa. _ More than half of those summoned as potential jurors Monday in Bill Cosby's second sexual assault trial said they already have made up their minds about the case.
And less than 10 percent told Montgomery County Judge Steven T. O'Neill that they had never heard about the allegations against the 80-year-old entertainer.
Those two questions dominated the early questioning of prospective jurors as the jury selection process got underway in Norristown during a cultural moment that has led to the downfall of a series of powerful male celebrities for past sexual indiscretions.
Cosby's defense team, led by California lawyer Tom Mesereau, had expressed concerns before the process began about whether 12 impartial jurors and six alternates could be found, given the media coverage of Cosby's case and the prevalence of the #MeToo movement.
And as O'Neill questioned the first batch of 120 prospective panel members Monday, all but one said they were familiar with #MeToo or claims of sexual assault lodged against Cosby or other celebrities.
"Get ready," the judge joked to the lawyers as he asked for a show of hands from jurors if they had heard about the case against Cosby. "There's a lot."
O'Neill and lawyers for both sides are expected to begin questioning potential jurors one-on-one Monday, in what could become a highly contentious battle between the District Attorney's Office and Cosby's defense team.
Jurors are not disqualified for knowing about the case, but they must agree that they can set aside their prior knowledge to be fair and impartial.
Last time, jury selection played out in Pittsburgh, due to defense concerns that a local jury in the Philadelphia suburbs may have been too influenced by media coverage. The panel of five women and seven men that was selected ultimately failed to reach a unanimous verdict in Cosby's first trial in June.
This time, with a new legal team in place, Cosby has agreed to take his chances with a local jury pool _ although more potential jurors reported Monday that they were familiar with the claims against Cosby than the first batch last year in Allegheny County.
It remains unclear how long it will take to pick the jurors, who will be sequestered through the length of what is expected to be a monthlong trial.
O'Neill has scheduled opening arguments for April 9, and the case is expected to differ significantly from the first trial.
Cosby's defense team has signaled it intends to be much more aggressive about painting Cosby's accuser Andrea Constand as a money-grubber who fabricated her claims of assault to extort money from a rich and powerful man.
Prosecutors, too, believe they have bolstered their case against Cosby with testimony from five additional accusers _ all of whom allege that they, like Constand, were drugged and assaulted by the entertainer in incidents dating back decades.
Cosby is accused of attacking Constand, a former Temple University employee, while she visited his home in Cheltenham in 2004.
