Bill Cosby’s lawyers will make oral arguments this month on their bid to move the actor’s sexual assault trial to another Pennsylvania county.
The defence fears that Montgomery County jurors have been exposed to extensive news coverage of the case since Cosby’s arrest last year. The case was also an issue in the district attorney’s race in the suburban Philadelphia county.
Prosecutors want the trial held in Montgomery County, but don’t oppose bringing jurors in from elsewhere.
Judge Steven O’Neill on Wednesday has scheduled a February 27 hearing. He plans to start the trial by June.
O’Neill is also weighing a prosecution request to let 13 other women testify to support the accuser’s complaint that Cosby drugged and molested her in 2004.
The 79-year-old Cosby, who was known as America’s Dad for his top-rated family sitcom, The Cosby Show, has pleaded not guilty and remains free on bail.
