Bill Cosby’s Lawyer Files Request to Withdraw from Case Before November Retrial

When Bill Cosby was accused of sexual assault, his reputation was irreparably tarnished in the eyes of most everyone. Unfortunately for Cosby, the one person whom he really needs on his side has given up on him; he’s only checked off one (mis)trial of many to come and now stands to lose his lead defense lawyer. As of yesterday, Brian McMonagle has filed a request to be withdrawn from Cosby’s legal team ahead of the November retrial, per Billboard.

The original mistrial concluded in late June with a hung jury that could not determine whether Cosby was guilty of sexually assaulting Andrea Constand, who, at the time of the alleged assault, was Temple University’s director of women’s basketball. McMonagle says that Cosby is looking for new lawyers in light of his departure. It’s unclear exactly why the attorney wants off the case, but … wouldn’t you?

Still, if O.J. Simpson’s lawyers can earn him an acquittal, anything is possible. McMonagle might not be quite as convincing as Johnnie Cochran, but he could have at least tried his best. Cosby also lost another lawyer to R. Kelly in light of the singer’s sex cult allegations, which is a sentence that we wish was a joke.

After the Nov. 6 retrial, Cosby will also face another sexual assault accuser in court in July of 2018. Of the 60 women who have accused Cosby of sexual assault, only ten have filed suits. If the trials continue to be this far apart, Cosby may lose a few more lawyers before we get to the third.

Montgomery County Judge Steven O’Neill will consider McMonagle’s request at a pre-trial conference on Aug. 22.