Cosby Runs Out of Lawyers as Agrusa Seeks Withdrawal
Bill Cosby.
All of Bill Cosby's criminal defense lawyers appear to be on their way out the door, now that Liner LLP partner Angela Agrusa has filed a motion to withdraw as his counsel.
Agrusa, who was admitted pro hac vice to represent Cosby, filed a motion to withdraw Tuesday, along with Liner partner Delilah Vinzon and associate Ryan Austin. In the motion, Agrusa said Cosby has struggled to find a new lawyer, and she requested that a pretrial conference scheduled for Aug. 22 be delayed by three weeks.
Brian McMonagle, Cosby's longtime local criminal defense lawyer, filed a motion to withdrawearlier this month.
One of the factors Agrusa cited in her withdrawal motion was the import and particularities of this high-profile and sensationalized matter.
Agrusa declined to comment on the motion. She has not filed any similar motions in the civil cases in which she represents Cosby.
Andrew Wyatt, Cosby's spokesman, declined to comment on Agrusa's withdrawal, and said Cosby plans to find a new lawyer by the end of the month.
At the Aug. 22 conference, the parties are scheduled to address McMonagle's motion to withdraw and other pretrial issues, including where the jury should be chosen for retrial.
Cosby's retrial has been set for Nov. 6. He faces three counts of aggravated indecent assault, stemming from Andrea Constand's allegation that he sexually assaulted her at his home in 2004.
Agrusa was pulled onto Cosby's criminal case in October 2016. At Cosby's first trial, she cross-examined the star witness, Constand, whose testimony spanned two days. After five days of testimony for the prosecution, Cosby's defense spent less than 10 minutes putting on their case before closing arguments.
McMonagle, a former prosecutor who is a name partner at McMonagle, Perri, McHugh & Mischak, was the only remaining lawyer who represented Cosby since the beginning of his criminal case.
Others who have represented the comedian in Montgomery County since charges were filed in December 2015 were Christopher Tayback and Joseph Sarles of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Sullivan in Los Angeles and Monique Pressley of The Pressley Firm in Washington, D.C. They all withdrew their representations last summer.
After a six-day trial and 52 hours of jury deliberations, Judge Steven T. O'Neill declared a mistrial in Cosby's case, when the jury said it was hopelessly deadlocked. Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele immediately pledged to retry the case.
Lizzy McLellan writes about the Pennsylvania legal community and the business of law at firms of all sizes. Contact her at lmclellan@alm.com. On Twitter: @LizzyMcLellTLI
