Deal voids criminal case against Bill Cosby – ex

The testimony came at a court hearing where Cosby’s lawyers asked a judge to throw out the sexual assault charges because of what they said was a binding, decade-old commitment from Castor that Cosby would never be prosecuted. The former DA said he privately hoped that she would become a “millionaire” by suing the comedian.

Without evidence to corroborate Constand’s story, Castor said, criminal justice was not realistic.

“I wrote her an email explaining the situation from 2005 to tell her to tread carefully, because in my opinion, she was exposing herself to civil liability because the decision to go forward with Cosby was put to rest in 2005”.

Mr Castor said that he found serious flaws in the case in 2005 and declined to bring charges.

Huth’s attorney, Gloria Allred, said after the ruling that she felt vindicated in seeking more sworn testimony from Cosby, but she could not elaborate on what answers she was seeking.

The hearing is anticipated to spill into Wednesday. Doing so, Castor said, would not look favorably upon the accuser, whom he said now says made contradictory statements, may have illegally recorded phone calls with Cosby and told attorneys about the incident before going to the police – a year after she said it occurred.

A 2005 press release in which Castor said Cosby would never be prosecuted was read out in court, with defense attorneys contending it represented a non-prosecution agreement.

Cosby’s team called as a witness Bruce Castor, the former Montgomery County district attorney who reached the agreement that the actor would not be prosecuted over the alleged 2004 assault if he testified in a civil suit.

Also on Tuesday, model Chloe Goins dismissed a federal lawsuit accusing Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting her at the Playboy Mansion in 2008.

Some legal analysts say that if Cosby can demonstrate that he relied on Castor’s promise to his detriment – by agreeing to testify in the deposition – then he might be able to persuade the judge to throw out the deposition – or even dismiss the charges altogether.

In an interesting twist, Castor said he made the deal in an attempt to secure a better settlement agreement for Constand, who had filed a civil suit against Cosby.

Castor is expected to testify Tuesday on Cosby’s behalf, as his lawyers argue that the felony charges should be dismissed.

An entertainment icon, who built a career on family-friendly comedy, Cosby now faces accusations from dozens of women that he sexually assaulted them after sedating them with drugs and alcohol, in a series of alleged attacks dating back as far as the 1960s.

Castor defended his decision not to bring charges, citing among other things Constand’s yearlong delay in reporting the allegations, her continued contact with Cosby, and suggestions that she and her mother might have tried to extort the TV star. Ultimately Constant brought a civil suit, but it was settled before trial under undisclosed terms.

Prosecutors said the release of court documents in July and the subsequent release of the deposition had in part led to the reopening of the case.

The former DA also noted that his decision to publicly announce that he would not press charges against Cosby means prevents Cosby from being charged in the same case, 6 ABC reports.

Steele has said Cosby would need an immunity agreement in writing to get the case thrown out, and there is no evidence that one exists. But the statute of limitations for prosecuting him has run out in almost every instance.