Judge rules against Cosby, trial will continue

If it is determined that prosecutors have enough evidence to put Cosby on trial, he could face anywhere from five to 10 years in prison.

Montgomery County Court Judge Steven O’Neill made his ruling on Wednesday and stated, “I hereby find no basis to grant the relief requested”, refusing to throw out the case against Cosby.

Cosby’s lawyers argued that a former district attorney granted Cosby immunity from prosecution in 2005 so he could use Cosby’s testimony in a civil suit by an alleged victim.

Castor testified that he had determined the criminal case against Cosby was weak and unlikely to succeed and that it would be better to have the comedian testify freely in a civil case filed by the plaintiff. The case will now move to a preliminary hearing against the disgraced 78-year-old actor formerly known as “America’s Dad”. Well, sort of. Earlier this week, Cosby and his legal team attempted to have that charge dropped. He referred to campaign ads, public statements and a retweet of a Rolling Stone magazine article headlined “Bill Cosby’s Fate Could Hinge on a Small-Town Election” as evidence that Steele tied his campaign to the future prosecution of Cosby.

The suburban Philadelphia judge who refused to throw out the sex assault case against Bill Cosby has denied a defense request to disqualify the prosecutor from the case. The incident before the court this time, however, is only 11 years old, and O’Neill ruled that a prosecutor’s promise not to charge the comedian was not legally valid. He testified he hoped his decision not to press charges would encourage Cosby to cooperate.

Cosby watched the back and forth between Castor and the lawyers from the defense table, swiveling his head slightly as if at a tennis match.

Cosby was charged December 30 with drugging and violating former Temple University employee Andrea Constand more than a decade ago.

Washington D.C: A bid by Bill Cosby’s lawyers to have the sexual-assault charges against him dismissed was rejected by a Montgomery County judge, paving the way for a potential trial.

In addition to denying the allegations, Cosby argues he’s being improperly prosecuted based on testimony he gave during a civil suit – testimony his defense says was given only because the state closed the criminal case in 2005.

But they were not able to produce a written agreement, instead presenting a 2005 press release from the prosecutor that they said amounted to an agreement not to prosecute Cosby. Michelle Dempsey, a professor at the Villanova Law School and adviser to the Villanova Law Institute to Address Commercial Sexual Exploitation, says the dozens of other accusations against Cosby are powerful “evidence” beyond the deposition.

Cosby is charged with aggravated indecent assault, and accused of drugging and molesting Constand. I was there, ‘ Cosby said in the deposition, cited by The New York Times.