Judge rules Bill Cosby can’t avoid sexual assault charges

Cosby’s attorneys claimed then-District Attorney Bruce L. Castor Jr. agreed that Cosby would never be prosecuted, and he would then give a deposition in her civil case.

In court Tuesday, Castor testified that he had made the “non-prosecution agreement” after seeing “red flags” in the alleged victim’s testimony.

Cosby, 78, was charged last December by Montgomery County assistant prosecutor Attorney Kevin Steele.

Both sides argued their cases before the judge, who ruled at the end of a second day of testimony that there was no basis for the defense’s request.

In it, Cosby acknowledged acquiring Quaaludes with the intent of using them in consensual sexual encounters with women. She said the alleged “deal” was not reduced to writing, was not approved by a judge, and “since when is it the duty of a district attorney to concern himself with civil cases?” He could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

“A secret agreement that premits a wealthy defendant to buy his way out of a criminal case isn’t right”, declared Montgomery County Distric Attorney Kevin Steele in court today.

Troiani says she never told anyone about the lawsuit, which was filed weeks after Castor decided not to prosecute Cosby.

“This motion by Mr. Cosby to have his criminal case dismissed was just the latest in a long string of unsuccessful legal maneuvers by him to try to avoid having a jury decide his guilt or innocence”, Allred continued.

Attorneys for Bill Cosby, Christopher Tayback, left, and Brian McMonagle arrive for Cosby’s court appearance Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016, in Norristown, Pa. Cosby was arrested and charged with drugging and sexually assaulting a woman at his home in January 2004.

Later in the day, the prosecution called Constand’s lawyer, Dolores Troiani, who said she was not aware in 2005 of any decision or agreement that the state would never prosecute Cosby.

Cosby’s council disagreed, suggesting that “a promise is a promise” in the final arguments on the motion.

Steele pointed to the press release, noting a section that says the district attorney reserves the right to “reconsider the decision” not to prosecute Cosby “should the need arise”.

She backed the prosecution’s assertion that the press release was not an agreement, and she never heard about charges being precluded until the case came back into the limelight in 2005.

Mr Cosby’s next date in court was scheduled for March 8.

The 1980s series The Cosby Show, in which he played a successful doctor, was television’s highest-rated program for a number of years, but is scarcely seen in rebroadcasts. The proceedings resume Wednesday.

Cosby has denied all of the charges.

An entertainer who built a career on family-friendly comedy, Cosby now faces accusations from more than 50 women that he sexually assaulted them, often after plying them with drugs and alcohol, in a series of attacks dating to the 1960s.