The judge in Bill Cosby’s sexual assault trial rejected demands Thursday from the comedian’s defense lawyers that he step aside because his wife is a social worker and advocate for assault victims.
Judge Steven O’Neill said at a pretrial hearing that he’s “not biased or prejudiced” by his wife’s work and that the assertion that he shares the same views as his wife or has let his rulings be influenced by her profession “is faulty, plain and simple.”
Cosby’s lawyers were in court Thursday in suburban Philadelphia making a last-ditch effort to postpone the sexual assault retrial after losing their bid to overturn O’Neill’s ruling allowing up to five more accusers to testify.
Jury selection is set to begin Monday, but Cosby’s lawyers could appeal that decision to the state Supreme Court.
The 80-year-old Cosby faces charges that he drugged and molested former Temple University athletics administrator Andrea Constand at his home in 2004.
The judge’s wife, Deborah O’Neill, is a psychotherapist at the University of Pennsylvania and coordinates a team that cares and advocates for student sexual assault victims.