Cosby was charged on Wednesday with aggravated indecent assault in the first degree for allegedly drugging and having sex with Andrea Constand in 2004 against her will.
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PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Bill Cosby’s lawyers went on the attack Thursday after the comedian’s arrest, calling the sexual assault charges a flawed, politically motivated case that will not hold up in court.
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Cosby’s attorney said her client and the alleged victim had a consensual relationship and she’s confident he’ll be cleared of any wrongdoing, CBS2’s Ilana Gold reported.
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No date has been set yet, but CNN legal analyst Paul Callan predicts it could start in nine to 12 months.
If convicted Cosby, 78, who has been married since 1964, faces up to 10 years in jail. He did not have to enter a plea, and his next court hearing is January 14. But I didn’t think he would walk into a courtroom, surrender his passport and have to make $1 million in bail, as he did Wednesday in Pennsylvania.
Handout/Getty Images Bill Cosby poses for a mugshot photo during his arraignment December 30, 2015 in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania.
His attorneys vowed to fight the charges.
On Thursday, one of Cosby’s attorneys addressed questions about a potential plea agreement. He’s been accused unjustly of a crime, so certainly that’s upsetting.
That can include taking away that person’s ability to refuse the penetration by holding them down or drugging them or carrying out the sex act when the person is unconscious. The comedian was arraigned Wednesday afternoon. “And since yesterday, I’ve had even more contacts from even more women”, she said. The accusers could no longer pursue prosecution.
The new charge was filed right before the statute of limitations expired.
The case was investigated in 2005 but prosecutors did not bring charges.
Then-district attorney Bruce Castor declined to charge Cosby, saying at the time that both the TV star and his accuser could be portrayed in “a less than flattering light”. She’s a former athlete and administrator at Temple University, Cosby’s alma mater.
When she left his house, she says he handed her a “blueberry muffin” and said “alright”.
In his deposition, the stand-up comedian said he gave Constand three half-pills of Benadryl for stress, telling her only that they were her “friends”.
“I feel that really for the African-American community, he owes us to be honest”, she said.
Constand quickly spoke up.
Monique Pressley says the charge by the Montgomery County district attorney’s office in Pennsylvania was no surprise. Constand eventually settled a lawsuit against Cosby in 2006 on confidential terms. Details were salacious and spilled new evidence that fit many women’s accounts.
The charges in the Andrea Constand case may open doors for the other women to file charges against Cosby. But he did not admit to sexual assault.
What about the civil suits against Cosby? Chloe Goins alleges Cosby drugged and molested her at the Playboy Mansion when she was a minor.
When the judge said, “Good luck to you, sir”, he shouted: “Thank you!”
“Today, after examination of all the evidence, we are able to seek justice on behalf of the victim”, said Montgomery County District Attorney-elect Kevin Steele.
Some of her clients could be called to testify in the case against Cosby, though, if the prosecutor finds the circumstances of their cases are similar enough to those Constand described in her affidavit. The greater challenge, she said, lies in finding an impartial jury for a fair trial, given the extensive publicity of some 50 women who have come forward with accusations of sexual assault.
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Thomas says Cosby offered her a glass of Chablis, and she later woke up with Cosby next to her in bed, naked, and “forcing himself in my mouth”.
