Comedian To Face Criminal Prosecution

The criminal sexual-assault charges against Bill Cosby here will stand and will proceed to trial, a judge ruled Wednesday, after a two-day hearing.

Castor said if Phillips and other defense attorneys for Cosby “wanted more than that to protect themselves, it was up to them to provide it”.

The fifth amendment protects citizens from being compelled to incriminate themselves under oath.

Troiani and Kivitz said they had never heard of such an agreement from either Castor or Cosby’s lawyers at the time, but heard it for the first time previous year.

But the then district attorney, Bruce Castor, decided in 2005 there was insufficient evidence to prosecute.

The decision, Castor said, was made to create an atmosphere that would induce Cosby to testify in Constand’s civil litigation against him and allow Constand to prevail civilly and “make a lot of money”.

That testimony, released only a year ago, prompted the Castor’s successors to reopen the case and ultimately charge Cosby with felony sexual assault.

If criminal charges were still a possibility, “we certainly wouldn’t let him sit for a deposition”, Schmitt said. “In this case, the prosecution should be stopped in its tracks”, Cosby lawyer Chris Tayback argued.

“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.

Steele asked Judge O’Neill to consider the credibility of Castor’s testimony in his final arguments calling it “revisionist history”.

One of Cosby’s attorneys countered that the oral agreement Castor described was sufficient.

Over the course of the hearing, the prosecution argued repeatedly that the defense’s motion to dismiss was premature.

His lawyers tried to get the case thrown out with help from Castor, who testified at the hearing that he meant to forever close the door on prosecuting the comedian. 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. “We were very upset”, Kivitz testified.

The suit was settled in 2006 with a confidential settlement agreement but not before a judge compelled Cosby to answer questions under oath.

The judge said that he struggled to find similar cases where a suspect who was never charged received a promise that he would never be prosecuted. At that point, she said, Cosby indecently assaulted her.

However, no such agreement was ever put in writing in a legal document.

Castor admitted that he believed Constand was telling the truth, but that she had waited too long to come forward with her claims.

Cosby, who in his deposition called himself “one of the greatest storytellers in the world”, remained silent in court this week.

Mr Steele ran ads criticising his opponent for not prosecuting Cosby when he had the chance. Cosby faces allegations of sexual assault spanning four decades.

“I’m not on your team here”, Castor told Cosby lawyer Brian McMonagle.

Cosby’s attorneys had agued that Steele’s decision to file a criminal case against their client was politically motivated, and that he had implied he would prosecute the actor during his election campaign a year ago. They have previously denied the allegations by Constand and dozens of other women nationwide, contending that any contact was consensual.