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Home · News

Bill Cosby's Lawyers Claim He's Legally Blind And Can't Identify His Sexual Assault Accusers

This is the latest move by Cosby’s defense team to try get his sexual assault charges dismissed before trial in June.
Bill Cosby’s Lawyers Claim He’s Legally Blind And Can’t Identify His Sexual Assault Accusers
Getty Images
By Paula Adhiambo Rogo · Updated October 26, 2020

Bill Cosby’s defense team filed a new motion declaring that the actor is legally blind, an impairment could hinder his defense at trial.

Cosby is currently facing three felony charges of indecent assault in Pennsylvania stemming from an incident with Andrea Constand, an employee at Temple University. His lawyers have been working overtime to get the case dismissed for the 79-year-old entertainer, whose trial date is tentatively set for early June of next year.

The motion, filed earlier this week, says that Cosby has registered his blindness with the Pennsylvania state commission. A doctor’s report will apparently be provided during the next week’s hearing for confirmation.

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“No 79-year-old blind man could possibly defend himself against a claim that he sexually assaulted someone he supposedly met once, half a century ago — and the Commonwealth knows it,” his legal team said in court documents filed on Thursday.  “Without his eyesight, Mr. Cosby cannot even determine whether he has ever even seen some of his accusers, let alone develop defenses and gather exculpatory evidence.”

Prosecutors reopened the case against him last year after new evidence from a long-sealed Cosby deposition from the accuser’s 2006 civil lawsuit became available, as well as the dozens of other accusers who came forward after the deposition was released.

Cosby has pleaded not guilty to the charges and continues to maintain his innocence against the sexual assault accusations.

TOPICS:  Rape Culture
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