Judge Denies Request to Dismiss Bill Cosby’s Sexual Assault Charge

Disgraced actor/comedian Bill Cosby arrives at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pennsylvania on February 2, 2016, for a preliminary hearing on the 2005 sexual assault case.

Constand accused the 78-year-old comedian of drugging and molesting her at his home in 2004.

Cosby’s legal team argued that violated a 2005 agreement that he would never be prosecuted over the allegation of assault made by Constand, a former employee of Temple University in Philadelphia.

The comedian, once the highest paid USA television star, could go to prison for 10 years if convicted. He said that as district attorney, he considered the decision final and binding “for all time” on his successors.

If criminal charges were still a possibility, “we certainly wouldn’t let him sit for a deposition”, Schmitt said.

Gloria Allred, an attorney for more than half of the women who alleged that Cosby committed sexual crimes against them, released a statement to Business Insider questioning why a district attorney would be anxious about a potential civil case. Constand agreed not to “initiate further investigation of her claims”, but was able to cooperate with law enforcement if contacted, the Inquirer reported.

On Tuesday, Judge Steven T. O’Neill puzzled over testimony from former Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor, who claimed he gave an unwritten promise of immunity for Cosby to his now-deceased lawyer.

Prosecutors decided in late December to charge Cosby with sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in his Philadelphia home in 2004 after allegedly giving her wine and pills that left her unable to fight back. Chloe Goins, now 24, had alleged Cosby sexually assaulted her at the Playboy Mansion in 2008. In 2005, Cosby testified in a civil suit against him.

More than 50 women have accused the actor of sexual assault over the years.

“A secret agreement that permits a wealthy defendant to buy his way out of a criminal case isn’t right”, new district attorney Kevin Steele said.

Cosby’s attorney, Monique Pressley, previously responded to the assault charge in a statement to ABC News.

There was no written agreement from Castor concerning the agreement, and Constand said she was unaware that such a discussion took place.

Before the court broke for lunch, the prosecution asked the judge to dismiss the defense’s request to have the case dropped, citing a lack of evidence. Castor said that Cosby’s lawyer – Walter Phillips – told him that Constand and her mother were trying to get money from Cosby in exchange for not going to police.

The judge said he struggled to find similar cases where a suspect who was never charged received a promise that he would never be prosecuted. The case was reopened in December 2015, just before the 12-year statute of limitations was set to run out.