Comedian Bill Cosby has returned to a Pennsylvania court for the start of his retrial on charges of sexually assaulting a onetime friend who had thought of him as a mentor, almost a year after a jury deadlocked in the case.
Mr Cosby's defense team and prosecutors were set to make opening arguments on the first day of what is expected to be a one-month trial in Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pennsylvania, a Philadelphia suburb.
A seven-man, five-woman jury was selected last week.
Last June, the first jury failed to come to a unanimous verdict on charges that Mr Cosby drugged and assaulted Andrea Constand at his home outside Philadelphia in 2004.
Judge Steven O'Neill declared a mistrial.
Large crowds of observers gathered outside the court to watch Mr Cosby's arrival today.
A topless woman with phrases including "Women's Lives Matter" written on her torso burst through a security line and shouted as Mr Cosby arrived before she was taken into custody.
The retrial of the man once known as "America's Dad" will unfold against the backdrop of the national #MeToo movement.
Mr Cosby, 80, best known for his role on "The Cosby Show," is accused of attacking Ms Constand, now 44, a former administrator at Temple University, Cosby's alma mater.
If convicted of aggravated indecent assault, he could face up to ten years in prison.
Ms Constand is one of more than 50 women who have accused him of sexual assaults, some dating back decades.
The defense team, headed by Tom Mesereau, who successfully defended singer Michael Jackson at his 2005 child molestation trial, has said that Mr Cosby denies all allegations and any sexual encounters were consensual.
The court is likely to hear much of the same evidence as in the first trial, where Ms Constand testified that Mr Cosby gave her pills that rendered her powerless to stop him.
Each side comes to the second trial with fresh ammunition.
Judge O'Neill said he will allow prosecutors to call as witnesses five other women who accuse Mr Cosby of sexual assault to show he engaged in a pattern of behavior.
Last time he allowed one.
Mr O'Neill also granted a defense request to allow testimony from a woman who claims Ms Constand mused about falsely accusing a famous man to get money.
