Attorney: Cosby Charges Are Just 'Political Football'

Lawyer also defends comedian's demeanor, says he's blind
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 31, 2015 10:56 AM CST

Bill Cosby was charged Wednesday with felony sexual assault, and the comedian's attorney has already started her public defense campaign. In her view, the whole case is just a game of "political football" initiated by a new Pennsylvania district attorney, Reuters reports. "What we have is the fulfillment of a campaign promise from a prosecutor who used ... the climate about the allegations against my client in order to get into office," Monique Pressley said on Good Morning America Thursday, per the news agency. The New York Daily News notes that Montgomery County DA Kevin Steele referenced the Cosby case in ads before the November elections, going after opponent Bruce Castor Jr., who didn't charge Cosby in 2005 when Castor was the county DA and Andrea Constand accused Cosby of sexual assault. Pressley also spoke on CBS This Morning and NBC's Today show, where she said Cosby won't make any plea deal. "My client is not guilty, and there will be no consideration on our part of any sort of arrangement," she said, per Reuters.

Pressley was also forced to defend whisperings that the 78-year-old Cosby's supposedly feeble appearance at his arraignment Wednesday in Elkins Park, Pa., was a strategic part of his defense ploy. "I don't really understand it," Pressley said on GMA, per ABC News. "He's a tall man of sufficient girth. He's … blind, so he does use a cane so that he can know what's coming in front of him and he does require assistance because of that and that is who the DA's office has chosen to charge." She adds, per the Daily News: "That's not a defense of a crime, that's just a fact." Meanwhile, Constand, the woman behind the case that may put Cosby behind bars, posted a message early Thursday morning on Twitter, imploring, "Let's all stay classy plz! That includes anybody who may be inserting their opinion as to whether anything was fully investigated period." (Here's the rundown on some of the Cosby coverage so far.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X