Cosby asks to have trial moved
PHILADELPHIA _ With his sexual assault trial looming next year, Bill Cosby's lawyers posed a question Friday likely to dominate discussion of the closely-watched celebrity proceedings:
Can the 79-year-old entertainer receive a fair trial in Montgomery County _ or for that matter, anywhere else?
In a new court filing, the defense asked Judge Steven T. O'Neill to move the trial from Norristown, Pa., to a larger urban center, citing "extensive, sustained and pervasive" local media coverage of Cosby's alleged sexual misconduct and Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele's use of the case in the campaign that swept him into office a year ago.
"Larger media markets generally contain more diverse and opposing viewpoints and the prejudicial impact of the blatantly one-sided media coverage of this case might be dampened by the reduced media saturation in those larger markets, with populations in excess of 1.2 million people," defense lawyers Brian J. McMonagle and Angela Agrusa wrote.
They didn't name a city or preferred location.
But the lawyers highlighted a series of recent news headlines in pressing their case, including one from a New York Daily News cover in July that labeled Cosby "America's Rapist" as well as a New York Times story that said Cosby's reputation had slid from that of "America's dad to America's creepy uncle."
They lambasted media coverage of Cosby's current travails, saying reporters from news outlets as far away as Qatar had breathlessly and uncritically reported on allegations from more than 50 Cosby accusers.
_The Philadelphia Inquirer
