Bill Cosby‘s defense attorney appeared on NBC’s “Today” show Thursday and said the former TV dad was in “good spirits,” despite being charged with a felony count of aggravated indecent assault, which she firmly believes he is innocent of.
“My client is not guilty,” Monique Pressley told Savannah Guthrie. “And there will be no consideration on our part of any sort of arrangement.”
She called the first criminal charge against Cosby since sexual assault allegations surfaced over a decade ago “a game of political football.” Renewed interest in the scandal, thanks in large part to comedian Hannibal Buress going viral for openly referring to the former “Cosby Show” star as a rapist during a stand-up show, has resulted in at least 45 accusers coming forward, but it’s hard to keep track.
“The court of law doesn’t run like the media does,” Pressley said. “Any person who has a picture, or a story… if they’re saying it about the right person — and Bill Cosby is the right person to say something about — then they can air that grievance and have been doing so for the past year. But in the court of law, there is a system of laws and rules that judges follow, and I have confidence in that system of justice.”
The case against Cosby was filed by Kevin Steele, the first assistant district attorney and incoming district attorney in Montgomery County in Pennsylvania. The charge stems from claims made by former Temple University employee Andrea Constand, who alleges that she was assaulted in 2004.
Constand had previously sued Cosby, but settled the civil suit with the comedian.
Though the statute of limitations for the charge facing Cosby is 12 years, Steele reopened the case this summer and plans to use evidence stemming from the plaintiff’s related civil case.
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