BILL Cosby plans to conduct a series of free public seminars about sexual assault this summer, his spokesman said days after a Pennsylvania judge declared a mistrial in the entertainer's sexual assault trial.
A lawyer for 33 women who have accused former star of the 1980s TV hit "The Cosby Show" of sexual assault criticized the move as an apparent attempt to interfere with his expected retrial on charges of sexually assaulting Andrea Constand at his home in the Philadelphia in 2004.
"I received hundreds of calls from civic organizations and churches requesting for Mr. Cosby to speak to young men and women about the judicial system," Andrew Wyatt, Cosby's spokesman, said in an email Thursday.
Pennsylvania prosecutors plan to re-try the 79-year-old Cosby on charges of drugging and sexually assaulting Constand, after the jury in the first trial failed to reach a verdict.
The case is the only criminal prosecution to emerge from dozens of similar allegations against Cosby, dating as far back as the 1960s, with the other cases too old to prosecute.
The talks could make it harder to pick an unbiased jury for his retrial, said attorney Gloria Allred, who represents the 33 women.
"Mr. Cosby's so-called workshops appear to be a transparent and slick effort to attempt to influence the jury pool from which jurors will be selected for his second criminal trial," Allred said in an email. "Mr. Cosby should understand, however, that this is not about optics. It is about evidence."
In a Wednesday interview on Birmingham, Alabama's WBRC-TV news, Wyatt offered more detail about the seminars.
"This issue can affect any young person, especially young athletes of today," Wyatt said. "They need to know what they are facing when they are hanging out and partying when they are doing things they shouldn't be doing. And it also affects married men."
Cosby has long denied sexually assaulting anyone, saying that any sexual contact he had with Constand or anyone else was consensual.
Since the judge in the case on Wednesday unsealed the names of the jurors, two have given anonymous interviews to U.S. media outlets, providing conflicting accounts of the deliberations. One told ABC News that two holdouts prevented a conviction, while another told Pittsburgh's WPXI-TV that the 12-member panel was divided by five to seven.
Reuters
Fri Jun 23 2017
![Cosby plans sex assault talks, accusers' lawyer cries foul Cosby plans sex assault talks, accusers' lawyer cries foul](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/http://img.astroawani.com/2017-06/71497666165_ActorandcomedianB.jpg)
Bill Cosby arrives on the tenth day of his sexual assault trial at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pennsylvania, U.S., June 16, 2017. Jurors continued to deliberate on a verdict for a fifth day. REUTERS
![Warga Thailand mengaku tidak bersalah seleweng diesel Warga Thailand mengaku tidak bersalah seleweng diesel](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/41721103547_WargaThailandWitt.jpg)
Warga Thailand mengaku tidak bersalah seleweng diesel
Seorang warga Thailand mengaku tidak bersalah di Mahkamah Sesyen Alor Setar atas pertuduhan menyeleweng 322 liter minyak diesel.
Lilitan reben putih tak langgar peraturan - Timbalan Speaker
Ramli berkata, perkara itu juga adalah merupakan keputusannya dan bukan dibuat oleh Yang Dipertua Dewan Rakyat, Tan Sri Johari Abdul.
Kos pampasan tanah fasa 1B proses projek LPB Sabah RM1.2 bilion - Alexander
Anggaran kos pengambilan balik tanah bagi keseluruhan Fasa 1B proses pengambilan tanah dan penilaian pampasan tanah bagi Projek Lebuh Raya Pan Borneo Sabah (LPB Sabah) berjumlah RM1.2 bilion.
KR sedia tambah baik SOP pembinaan lebuhraya
Alaxender berkata kementerian bersedia untuk mendedahkan laporan kajian insiden jika ia melibatkan kemalangan berskala besar dan meragut nyawa.
![Reman suspek kes keropok beracun disambung dua hari Reman suspek kes keropok beracun disambung dua hari](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/81721107133_keropokberacunrem.jpg)
Reman suspek kes keropok beracun disambung dua hari
Tempoh reman terhadap seorang pemilik kebun disambung selama dua hari, bagi membantu siasatan kematian dua kanak-kanak yang meninggal dunia akibat makan keropok beracun.
KPM alukan pesara guru ajar Bahasa Inggeris
Jelas Fadhlina Sidek pesara-pesara guru telah banyak membantu usaha KPM dalam meningkatkan PdP bahasa Inggeris termasuk melalui Program Highly Immersive Programme Mentor (HIP Mentor).
![Tidak perlu lagi kemas kini status COVID-19 dalam MySejahtera - KKM Tidak perlu lagi kemas kini status COVID-19 dalam MySejahtera - KKM](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/81721100784_TBmysj.jpg)
Tidak perlu lagi kemas kini status COVID-19 dalam MySejahtera - KKM
Jika positif COVID-19 melalui ujian kendiri, pesakit boleh mengunjungi klinik dan hospital berdekatan bagi mendapatkan pengesahan.
![Mayat hampir reput dijumpai di rumah usang Mayat hampir reput dijumpai di rumah usang](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2023-12/41702437730_maut.jpg)
Mayat hampir reput dijumpai di rumah usang
Mayat hampir reput ditemui di sebuah rumah usang di Kesang Laut, berdekatan pusat timbang Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalan (JPJ) pada Ahad.
Wanita dakwa dituduh Rafizi fail saman
Seorang wanita memfailkan saman terhadap Menteri Ekonomi, Rafizi Ramli bagi menuntut permohonan maaf secara terbuka berhubung dakwaan bahawa wanita berkenaan ialah isteri kepada bekas menteri yang dikaitkan dengan isu kapal tempur pesisir (LCS).
Bagaimanapun, Rafizi bergantung kepada pembelaan justifikasi berkata bersedia membuktikan kenyataan di mahkamah termasuk perlindungan bersyarat dan ulasan yang saksama terhadap saman fitnah yang difailkan oleh Zainab Mohd Salleh.
Bagaimanapun, Rafizi bergantung kepada pembelaan justifikasi berkata bersedia membuktikan kenyataan di mahkamah termasuk perlindungan bersyarat dan ulasan yang saksama terhadap saman fitnah yang difailkan oleh Zainab Mohd Salleh.
![Ahli Parlimen PN pakai reben putih di lengan tak langgar peraturan - Timbalan Speaker Ahli Parlimen PN pakai reben putih di lengan tak langgar peraturan - Timbalan Speaker](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/61721011336_PerikatanNasional.jpg)
Ahli Parlimen PN pakai reben putih di lengan tak langgar peraturan - Timbalan Speaker
Jelas Timbalan Yang Dipertua Dewan Rakyat itu, pendirian tersebut adalah keputusannya dan ia tidak dibuat oleh Yang Dipertua Dewan Rakyat, Tan Sri Johari Abdul.