Cosby sexual assault charge motivated by politics: lawyer

WASHINGTON: Comedian Bill Cosby’s lawyer characterised the sexual assault case against him as a "political football" and said on Thursday the entertainer will not consider any plea deals because he is not guilty of a crime.

Washington-based lawyer Monique Pressley accused the district attorney’s office in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, of playing with her client’s life by making the case a focal point in a recent election and unjustly accusing him of a crime.

Cosby, 78, was charged on Wednesday with sexually assaulting a woman after giving her drugs and alcohol in 2004. He posted a $1 million bond, turned over his passport and was ordered to avoid any contact with his accuser.

It is the only criminal case brought against the actor who has been accused by more than 50 women of sexually abusing them in incidents dating back decades.

"What we have is the fulfillment of a campaign promise from a prosecutor who used this case and used the climate about the allegations against my client in order to get into office," Pressley said on ABC’s "Good Morning America".

Asked on NBC’s "Today Show" if the defence was open to a plea agreement, Pressley replied: "My client is not guilty, and there will be no consideration on our part of any sort of arrangement."

Cosby’s lawyer said she expected prosecutors would try to establish a pattern of conduct against her client by bringing in allegations from his other accusers, but the defence would fight to keep inappropriate evidence out.

"I believe when you separate what happens in the court of law from what has been allowed to happen in the fictional court of public opinion you will get an outcome that justice requires," she said on NBC.

Cosby, who exemplified the model family man in his long-running hit television series "The Cosby Sho,," was charged with aggravated indecent assault, a second-degree felony carrying a maximum penalty of five to 10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine.