Bill Cosby arrives at courthouse for hearing

The former district attorney who declined a decade ago to bring sex-crime charges against Bill Cosby testified Tuesday that he believes his decision is binding on his successors and forever closes the door on prosecuting the comedian.

Cosby’s attorneys say they are trying to get the sexual assault charges thrown out. O’Neill asked Castor about the agreement that Cosby could not be prosecuted. He disputed that he’d reached an agreement not to prosecute Cosby in exchange for his cooperation in a civil lawsuit, according to TV station WCAU.

Speaking with a reporter during a break, Houser said that when Castor discussed “credibility” problems for Constand, she understood that he meant credibility in persuading jurors, who are not usually experts in the behavior of sexual assault survivors.

Steele has argued against Cosby’s motion to dismiss, saying any immunity deal by Castor should have been written down and agreed to by a judge, and since it wasn’t, it’s irrelevant in this case.

The hearing, the first major proceeding in the case, drew an unprecedented media throng to Norristown’s historic courthouse.

In it, Castor said that he, Cosby’s criminal lawyer and Constand’s legal team all decided together that a public announcement that the threat of public prosecution was forever closed would compel the comedian to testify in his accuser’s civil suit.

Did the former district attorney make a statement in a press release that now bars prosecution?

Cosby, for the moment, has one less legal case to worry about. “That made it so that he could not take the Fifth Amendment”, Castor said.

Damaging testimony from Ms Constand’s lawsuit was unsealed last summer, prompting Mr Castor’s successors to reopen the case and ultimately charge Cosby.

Castor testified for most of the morning, stating that while Cosby did something wrong and deserved to be punished for it, he believed the case against the comedian in 2005 was not strong enough to earn a conviction.

Because of the possibility that Goins’ allegations may have fallen within the California criminal statute of limitations, her claims were investigated by cops and prosecutors in Los Angeles, but no charges were filed.

However, Castor may be helping Cosby’s defense team a great deal with his claims. “… What I think is that Andrea Constand was inappropriately touched by Mr. Cosby”.

Chloe Goins, the former model who alleged Bill Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her at a Playboy Mansion party in 2008 has abandoned her civil lawsuit against the comedian, PEOPLE confirms. Drexel University has joined a number of other schools in rescinding an honorary degree awarded to Bill Cosby amid accusations of sexual assault. “I came to the conclusion that there was no way that the case could ever improve and get better with time absent Mr. Cosby’s confession”, Castor told the court Tuesday.

Cosby, 78, is charged with drugging and violating Constand, a former Temple University athletic department employee, at his suburban Philadelphia mansion in 2004.

Cosby arrived in a black SUV just before 9 a.m. Tuesday, dressed in a tan suit and tie.

His attorney, Brian Monagle, called former prosecutor Bruce Castor to the stand Tuesday and questioned him about his decision to not file charges against Cosby at the time of the alleged attack. They say Cosby had a deal that he wouldn’t be criminally charged.

35 women who allege they were sexually assaulted by USA comedy legend Bill Cosby were united Monday on a magazine cover to tell startlingly similar stories of abuse.