Bill Cosby Criminal Case in Pennsylvania to Proceed, Judge Rules

The defense case primarily rested on the word of Castor, district attorney from 2000 to 2008, who during seven hours of testimony on Tuesday, claimed he made a binding promise to Cosby and his then lawyer, Walter Phillips Jr., that Cosby would never be prosecuted in connection with Constand’s allegations.

O’Neill heard two days of testimony concerning Cosby’s December arrest for the drugging and sexual assault of former Temple University department employee Andrea Constand, which allegedly took place in January 2004 in his home.

But current Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele attacked the idea that Cosby’s lawyers would allow a deal that was never spelled out in a formal non-prosecution agreement and contended such a deal would not have legal force.

The aggravated indecent assault prosecution of Bill Cosby cleared a major hurdle today, after a judge rejected the defense’s motion to dismiss the case. If convicted of the three counts against him, Cosby could face up to 10 years in prison. He showed no reaction when the courtroom erupted periodically in laughter over a quip from the talkative Castor, though he frequently smiled as he made small talk with his lawyers. The two-day hearing reviewed Castor’s 2005 agreement and other arguments on the new defense. “I want them (the prosecutors who’ve charged Cosby) to win”. 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.

The judge set a March 8 preliminary hearing for prosecutors to begin to discuss their evidence against Cosby.

Investigators learned Cosby was in NY the weekend of the event at which Goins accused Cosby of assaulting her. He also admitted he reached into Constand’s trousers but said the contact was consensual.

“If there was an agreement, why didn’t you make that agreement in writing?” the judge asked Castor. Ultimately, Constand filed a civil lawsuit that she and Cosby settled privately – but not before Cosby had to answer questions about, among other things, providing powerful drugs to women he wanted to have sex with.

Andrea Constand accused Cosby of drugging and assaulting her in 2004 in his Cheltenham mansion.

O’Neill also denied a motion by Cosby’s lawyers to disqualify Steele or his office from prosecuting the case.

Cosby, 78, faces charges of sexually assaulting a woman more than a decade ago. He said if the case moves toward a trial, they could move to suppress Cosby’s 2006 deposition, portions of which were released last summer and became a building block in the current case.

The unsealing of the testimony from Constand’s lawsuit prompted Castor’s successors to reopen the case and ultimately charge Cosby.

Prosecutors in Montgomery County reopened the Pennsylvania case past year, claiming that new evidence came to light in July.

The allegations against Cosby are “pretty far fetched”, Brach said.