Disgraced entertainer Bill Cosby is pulling out all the stops in a transparent attempt to stall his looming sentencing, according to newly filed court papers.
The 81-year-old’s defense team Tuesday asked Montgomery County Court Justice Steven O’Neill to step aside, claiming he was biased due to a decades-old political conflict.
But prosecutors Thursday claimed Cosby, whose sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 24, is simply mounting “spurious and salacious claims” as he attempts to “avoid accountability and avert a long overdue day of reckoning.”
“Time has come for defendant to face the consequences of his crimes and misdeeds,” the motion reads.
Cosby was convicted at a retrial of three counts of aggravated indecent assault for drugging and molesting former Temple University staffer Andrea Constand.
The embattled entertainer faces up to 10 years behind bars on each count.
In the Tuesday filing, defense lawyer Joseph Green argued that O’Neill was incapable of overseeing the sentencing, given that he once ran against former Montgomery County DA Bruce Castor.
Castor — who declined to prosecute Cosby in 2005 — was questioned by O’Neill prior to Cosby’s first trial, and deemed an incredible witness and therefore not permitted to testify at trial.
While the defense claims that finding was based on bias, prosecutors argued in their Thursday filing it was based on Castor’s ever-shifting accounts.
“Defendant ignores the many glaring weaknesses in Castor’s testimony,” prosecutors write. “It is hard to believe anyone who gives multiple and drastically different versions of the same facts, as Castor did.”
Prosecutors said Castor went above and beyond to avoid giving truthful testimony, and cited a ridiculous moment when Castor, a seasoned politician, claimed to be unfamiliar with the Washington Post.
They asked that the judge ignore the defense’s request for a hearing, and continue with sentencing as scheduled.
(Excerpt) Read more in: Page Six