Less than a month after Bill Cosby was sent to state prison for the 2004 rape of Andrea Constand, the man once called “Americas Dad” was up to his old tricks of replacing lawyers.
“Kindly withdraw my appearance on behalf of the Defendant, William Henry Cosby, Jr., in the above-docket mater,” said Joseph P. Green late last week in a filing in Pennsylvania court (read it here). “In light of the entry of appearance of other counsel of choice for the defendant, William H. Cosby, Jr., kindly withdraw my appearance as co-counsel for the defendant,” asserted Keystone State based Peter Goldberger today as the lawyer also exited the case (read that filing here).
“My work has ended,” Green told Deadline Monday erasing any ambiguity of his role for the actor going forward. Technically, the departure of both Green and Goldberger, who took over as Cosbys attorneys in June after he axed the last defense team, requires the formal approval of Judge Steven ONeill to be official.
Currently, Harrisburg, PAs Brian Perry and Kristen L. Welsenberger are set to handle Cosbys multi-prong appeal. Though, with Cosby having gone through nearly a dozen lawyers since he was arrested in late 2015 for the assault of former Temple University employee Constand, how long the duo last probably can be counted in weeks not months.
The usually loquacious representatives for Bill Cosby did not respond to request for comment on the exiting Green and Goldberger. It has not been confirmed if the two attorneys resigned or were let go, though one source close to events indicated the latter scenario as being the likely one.
Green and Goldberger replaced the August 2017 hired high-profile team led by Tom Mesereau. Replacing Brian McMonagle and Angela Agrusa as Cosbys main lawyers after a mistrial was declared on June 17, 2017, the former Michael Jackson lawyer and his colleagues couldnt convince Norristown, PA jury from finding Cosby guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault in a retrial that ended April 26.
Despite Green and teams efforts at the two day sentencing hearing that began on September 24 in the much attacked Judge ONeills courtroom, they were not able to stop Cosby being designated a sexually violent predator nor given up to a decade behind bars. On September 25, the once beloved actor was led out in cuffs after ONeill made his decisions and was transferred to Pennsylvanias Montgomery County Correctional Facility in Pennsylvania and then to the nearby SCI Phoenix.
Denied home arrest or bail at the high wire sentencing hearing, the imprisoned Cosby had Green and Goldberger file a sprawling October 5 motion to jailbreak him, toss the case, vital evidence and Judge ONeill.
Having previously publicly mocked the “Hail Mary” attempt of the defense claiming a tape played at both trials was “not authentic,” Montgomery D.A. Kevin Steeles office has until October 19 to hit back at the motion.
Who knows whom Cosbys lawyers could be by then?
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More than 60 women have claimed in recent years that Cosby sexually assaulted or drugged them, with some incidents occurring as far back the late 1960s. He stood trial on criminal charges in Pennsylvania because the Keystone State has a much longer statute of limitations on sex crimes than most jurisdictions, but several other civil cases around the nation are pending. Cosby was arraigned December 30, 2015 in the criminal case and released on $1 million bail.
Despite admitting in depositions more than a decade ago to giving Constand Benadryl pills on the night of the alleged assault in his Philadelphia-area mansion nearly 14 years ago, Cosby has insisted through various investigations and two trials that the encounter with the ex-Temple University employee was consensual. The jury and the judge didnt see it that way.
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