Bill Cosby fires legal team, replaces with Philadelphia defence attorney ahead of sexual assault sentencing

Philadelphia: Bill Cosby has ousted the high-powered defense team whose aggressive tactics failed to sway jurors from convicting him of sexual assault in April.

Cosby’s spokesman Andrew Wyatt said on Thursday that Tom Mesereau and the rest of the retrial team have been replaced by a Philadelphia-area defense attorney with experience handling sex crimes cases. The new lawyer, Joseph Green, did not immediately return a message. Wyatt would not say why the change was made.

Cosby is scheduled for sentencing on 24 September on three counts of aggravated indecent assault for drugging and assaulting a woman at his suburban Philadelphia mansion in 2004. The charges will likely be combined into one charge that carries a standard sentence of five to 10 years in prison. The 80-year-old comedian has been on house arrest since his conviction.