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Bill Cosby hires Michael Jackson's defence lawyer as judge sets retrial for March

Bill Cosby arriving at court in Pennsylvania for his first trial, in December 2016 - Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Bill Cosby arriving at court in Pennsylvania for his first trial, in December 2016 - Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Bill Cosby has hired Michael Jackson's defence lawyer as he prepares for a retrial for sexual assault.

Cosby, 80, faces charges over a 2004 encounter with Andrea Constand, a former basketball coach at Temple University in Philadelphia. His first trial ended in June with a hung jury, leading the prosecution to try for a second time.

On Tuesday Judge Steven O'Neill set a date for the trial to begin in March.

Cosby
Brian McMonagle, Bill Cosby's previous lawyer

He also agreed to the lawyers who represented Cosby at the first trial, Brian McMonagle and Angela Agrusa, being let off the case, and praised their "extraordinary advocacy."

Cosby has appointed a new team, headed by Tom Mesereau, the high-profile lawyer who won an acquittal in Jackson's 2005 child molestation case.

He also successfully represented boxer Mike Tyson in his 2001 rape case, for which charges were dropped.

Mr Mesereau, a 67-year-old Harvard and LSE-educated lawyer, is known for his celebrity work, but also takes on one capital murder case a year pro bono in the Deep South, for defendants who cannot afford representation.

The new lawyers said they want jurors picked from Montgomery County, where the alleged assault at Cosby's home took place. The first jury was selected from the Pittsburgh area and spent two weeks sequestered 300 miles from home.

Cosby insisted his encounter with Miss Constand was consensual.