Judge could rule on Cosby bid to toss sex-assault charges

Former Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor is directed to another elevator after taking the witness stand in a pre-trail hearing for comedian Bill Cosby and his sexual assault case, as…

Under that deal, Cosby’s lawyers say, Castor promised not to prosecute Cosby over Constand’s allegations if he agreed to testify under oath in a civil lawsuit she filed against him.

Cosby testified and settled a civil lawsuit in 2006, but the current district attorney in the current criminal case against the comedian says there is no evidence of any agreement between Cosby and the district attorney in 2006.

Bruce Castor said that was just one factor about the timing of Andrea Constand’s 2005 complaint – a year after she said Cosby had drugged and assaulted her at his Cheltenham mansion – that might not pass muster with a jury. This may be the only case in the country where Bill Cosby will find himslelf in a courtroom with these criminal charges. Drexel University has joined a number of other schools in rescinding an honorary degree awarded to Bill Cosby amid accusations of sexual assault.

After Castor declined to prosecute Cosby, Constand sued him in civil court, and Cosby testified for three days in a deposition.

Constand, now 44, said Cosby plied her with drugs and alcohol before sexually assaulting her.

Prosecutors in Los Angeles decided last December that they will not be filing criminal charges against Cosby over her claims as they said that some of it could not be verified.

Castor said there was “insufficient, credible and admissible evidence” in 2005 to show Cosby had committed a crime without a reasonable doubt.

Castor testified that Constand’s credibility was tainted when she gave inconsistent statements, contacted a civil-case lawyer before contacting the police and communicated with Cosby many times after the alleged assault.

“Cosby would’ve had to have been nuts to say those things if there was any chance he could’ve been prosecuted”, Castor said, referring to the damaging testimony unsealed last summer. However, he wanted to leave the door open for former Temple University athletics employee Andrea Constand to pursue monetary damages in a lawsuit.

More than 50 women have accused the 78-year-old entertainer, who made a long career based on family-friendly comedy, of sexually assaulting them in attacks dating back to the 1960s.

‘I want to order Mr. Cosby to sit for another deposition at his cost, ‘ Karlan said at a hearing in Santa Monica.

If convicted, Cosby faces a prison sentence of up to 10 years.

A judge on Tuesday ordered Bill Cosby to attend a second deposition and respond to questions in a lawsuit filed in California by a woman accusing the comedian of sexually abusing in the 1970s when she was underage.

Steele has said Cosby would need an immunity agreement in writing to get the case thrown out, and there is no evidence that one exists.

Cosby, dressed in a brown suit, was flanked by security as he entered the court around 9 a.m. Tuesday morning.

On Tuesday, he was in court in Norristown, Pa., for a hearing in the case, hoping to persuade a state judge to dismiss the charges against him. As a result, Cosby’s lawyers are asking that the charges be dropped.

The proceedings will continue Wednesday.

Castor has insisted that he worked out an oral “non-prosecution” agreement in 2005 with Walter M. Phillips Jr., a Cosby lawyer who died previous year.