Cosby Fails To Have Sex Assault Case Thrown Out

Montgomery County Judge Steve O’Neill Wednesday night denied Bill Cosby’s request to dismiss a criminal case against him saying a former prosecutor’s testimony about a promise he made not to prosecute Cosby was not credible.

Before she filed her civil suit, Constand tried to pursue Cosby on criminal charges in 2005, but then-DA Castor declined to prosecute for lack of evidence.

Now the case moves to a preliminary hearing to determine whether prosecutors have enough evidence to prove Cosby assaulted Constand.

Schmitt was the second witness the Cosby legal team has called on in the past two days in an effort to get Judge Steven T. O’Neill to throw out the aggravated indecent assault that was brought against Cosby.

Cosby’s lawyers also argued that the 10-year delay since the alleged incident had also “greatly prejudiced” their client.

“Making Cosby pay money to Constand was the best I would be able to set the stage for because a prosecution was not viable and never would be”, Castor said during a hearing in a suburban Philadelphia court.

O’Neill rejected defense arguments that Cosby had secured an immunity agreement in 2005 from the former county prosecutor that the case would never be reopened. The strategy worked: Cosby testified, and Constand settled for an undisclosed amount.

More than 50 women have come forward to say the comedy legend, 78, sexually assaulted them over the decades.

“Since when is it the duty of a district attorney to concern himself with civil cases?” she said.

Castor pointed to a 2005 press release about his decision not to prosecute Cosby.

“The matter was resolved and I am hopeful that I had made Ms. Constand a millionaire”, the former prosecutor added.

Constand has said she met Cosby in 2002 and thought of him as a mentor and a friend, CNN reported. “They can file for their motion to suppress” Cosby’s deposition testimony, Steele argued, but “there is no legal authority allowing a district attorney unilaterally to confer transactional immunity on a defendant”.

Troiani didn’t hold back her anger for Castor.

Bill Cosby’s criminal case will go forward. Castor testified his concerns included that Constand didn’t report the allegations to police until about a year after the alleged 2004 assault; had contacted a civil lawyer before going to police; gave inconsistent statements to investigators; and had conversations with Cosby over the phone even after the alleged assault occurred.

An attorney for Cosby testified that he only let Cosby answer questions in the deposition because of oral assurances from Castor that there would be no criminal case. However, the agreement was never put into writing and the actor’s lawyers had to rely on a press release about the agreement that was written and signed by Castor.