Bill Cosby, accompanied by Andrew Wyatt, departs after a pretrial hearing in Cosby's sexual assault case at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown on Aug. 22, 2017. Photo: Matt Rourke/AP

In pretrial hearings Monday, prosecutors changed their stance on whether Bill Cosby's lawyers should be allowed to represent the comedian in his looming Pennsylvania criminal trial.

Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said in court that he opposed a motion seeking to continue allowing lawyers Tom Mesereau, Kathleen Bliss, Jason Hicks and Becky James to practice law in Pennsylvania for the purposes of representing Cosby. Steele alleged that the lawyers have made false allegations to the court, violated Pennsylvania Rules of Professional Conduct and should not be admitted pro hac vice with Cosby's new local counsel as their sponsor.

“These folks come as guests of the court. They have not earned the right to practice here in Pennsylvania,” Steele said. “We cannot agree to their admission pro hac vice.”

Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas Judge Steven T. O'Neill granted the lawyers pro hac vice admission, but without prejudice.

“You're on notice” of Steele's claims, O'Neill said. But without a written motion or specific evidence as to Steele's allegations, he said, the court had to move forward.

O'Neill also denied two motions to dismiss that Cosby's lawyers argued on Monday—one based on allegations of prosecutorial misconduct, and another that argued the alleged assault may have taken place outside the allowable timeframe based on Pennsylvania's statute of limitations.

Steele alleged that Cosby's lawyers falsely accused him of violating court orders in their motion to dismiss based on alleged prosecutorial misconduct, which included allegations that the district attorney's office destroyed exculpatory evidence.

In arguing that motion Monday morning, Bliss said prosecutors should have more thoroughly investigated the claims of a potential witness, Marguerite Jackson. Jackson, according to the defense, is a former co-worker of Andrea Constand's who said Constand had told Jackson she could lie about her alleged assault in order to secure a payout.

Steele argued that issue is not fit for pretrial motions practice, and should be left for trial. He also argued that prosecutors were compliant with discovery rules, contrary to Cosby's lawyers' claims.

Mesereau, Bliss, Hicks and James had to seek pro hac vice admission again after Cosby's local counsel changed. His former Pennsylvania lawyer, Sam Silver of Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis, left the case in January, and Lane Vines of Berger & Montague entered his appearance in the case Feb. 1.

Cosby is facing three counts of aggravated indecent assault for allegedly sexually assaulting Constand in 2004. His trial is set to begin April 2.

Cosby's earlier trial in June ended in a mistrial after jurors were unable to reach a verdict. Cosby had an entirely different legal team for that trial, led by Philadelphia lawyer Brian McMonagle and California lawyer Angela Agrusa.

Also Monday, prosecutors argued they should be allowed to admit the testimony of 19 other women who have accused Cosby of sexual assault. Assistant District Attorney Adrienne Jappe argued that the other accusations showed a common scheme by Cosby to drug and assault women. Jappe also argued that under the doctrine of chances, each additional similar accusation made it less likely that Cosby was not aware of his conduct, or of Constand's inability to consent.

O'Neill only allowed one accuser, aside from Constand, to testify at Cosby's first trial. But he made clear Monday that he is considering the motion anew at the retrial.