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No date yet for Cosby murder suspect's trial
August 4, 1997Web posted at: 1:29 p.m. EDT (1329 GMT)
LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- It may be at least another two months before a trial date is set for the man charged with killing Bill Cosby's only son last January.
Attorneys had been expected to ask a Santa Monica, California, judge to set a trial date on Monday. But at a hearing, attorneys said there were still too many unresolved issues to set a date.
Instead, another status hearing was scheduled for sometime in October.
Detectives have said they think Mikhail Markhasev acted alone when he allegedly shot Ennis Cosby, 27, in a failed robbery attempt.
The younger Cosby, who overcame dyslexia and then devoted his life to helping learning-disabled kids, had pulled off a Los Angeles freeway to change a flat tire when he was shot to death.
Police arrested Markhasev following a tip from the National Enquirer, which had offered a $100,000 reward. Markhasev has been held without bail since his March arrest.
Markhasev, an 18-year-old Ukrainian immigrant, has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder with special circumstances and attempted robbery. Los Angeles County prosecutors said in May that they will not seek the death penalty against him.
Markhasev's public defenders already have moved to have cameras barred from the courtroom, and a gag order is in effect.
Court records show the defense believes some key witnesses for the prosecution have extensive criminal backgrounds.
The defense has asked the district attorney's office to hand over evidence to support that, along with items believed to be in its arsenal against Markhasev.
The public defenders want any weapon allegedly connected to Ennis Cosby's death, any results of blood or DNA tests, and all crime scene and coroner photographs.
Some of the items have been turned over, the district attorney's office said.
Paternity issue
Meanwhile, Time magazine is reporting new developments in a paternity question involving Bill Cosby and Autumn Jackson, who was convicted last month for trying to extort $40 million from the actor by threatening to tell a tabloid that she is his daughter.
In its August 11 editions, the magazine said Jackson's father may not be Cosby or the man whose name appears on her birth certificate, but possibly a former busboy who was once married to Jackson's mother.
Jesus Vasquez, whom Autumn's mother Shawn Upshaw married in 1973, a year before Autumn's birth, was thought by their co-workers to be the girl's father, according to a woman who worked as a waitress with the couple at a Los Angeles restaurant, the magazine said.
Upshaw married Vasquez to help the Mexican immigrant gain U.S. citizenship, the magazine reported, quoting unidentified former friends. Official documents confirm their marriage.
Through her attorney, Upshaw said she never lived or had sexual relations with Vasquez.
Cosby has denied he is Jackson's father and submitted to a blood test last week to help settle the issue.
Jackson, who faces sentencing in October, has not submitted to a blood test, nor has Upshaw. Attorneys say Jackson will not submit to any blood test until after the sentencing.
Correspondent Jennifer Auther contributed to this report.
Transcripts
Related stories:
- No decision on Autumn Jackson blood test yet - July 30, 1997
- Woman refuses test to see if Bill Cosby is her father - July 29, 1997
- Both sides rest in Cosby extortion trial - July 22, 1997
- Closing arguments begin in Cosby extortion trial - July 22, 1997
- Cosby says he bought silence after affair - July 15, 1997
- Bail set for Cosby extortion suspects - January 24, 1997
- Police jail two after attempt to extort grieving Cosbys - January 21, 1997
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