In court filings, prosecutors say Risa Ferman, district attorney when charges were filed, and Bruce Castor’s first assistant had never heard of any agreement until last fall during Castor’s failed campaign to return to the DA’s office. In this courtroom sketch, attorneys Monique Pressley, left, Brian McMonagle, right, and Christopher Taybeck, second right, listen along with their client Bill Cosby, during Cosby’s court appearance Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2016, in Nor…
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Cosby was deposed in the case in October.
Bill Cosby’s top lawyer says he thought criminal charges were off the table when he let the comedian testify in a lawsuit over a Pennsylvania woman’s claim he sexually assaulted her.
Back in 2004, Cosby admitted in the deposition that he had a series of affairs with young women with whom he gave quaaludes before sex.
Bill Cosby accuser Chloe Goins dismissed her lawsuit against the comedian on Tuesday. He told Cosby’s lawyer: “I want them to win”.
“Cosby would’ve had to have been nuts to say those things if there was any chance he could’ve been prosecuted”, Mr Castor said.
Castor testified his decision is binding on his successors but the current district attorney, Kevin Steele, has said there is no record of any such agreement. It all hinges on an alleged deal made between then-prosecutor Bruce Castor and Cosby’s legal team.
Castor further explained that Constand’s “actions…created a credibility issue for her that could never be improved upon”.
More on Cosby, he and his attorneys are seeking for Andrea Constand’s charges to be dropped.
Cosby’s recently released deposition is part of the new evidence that Montgomery County authorities used to file charges in December.
“I had an understanding that could not be reopened”, lawyer John P. Schmitt testified.
A judge past year unsealed that testimony, in which Cosby acknowledged giving what he described as Benadryl to Constand in 2004 but portrayed the encounter as consensual.
When Castor declined to prosecute in 2005, he said, Cosby couldn’t claim Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination in the civil suit. Cosby uses a cane, and his eyesight is said to be deteriorating.
“A secret agreement that allows a wealthy defendant to buy his way out of a criminal case isn’t right”, Steele told the judge. “Make no mistake, we intend to mount a vigorous defense against this unjustified charge and we expect that Mr. Cosby will be exonerated by a court of law”.
Karlan ruled Tuesday that Cosby must appear for another half-day deposition, even if he objects to questions from lawyers for the woman. In Santa Monica, California, his lawyers argued that he shouldn’t have to sit for another deposition in the civil case. It was never put in writing in a legal document.
“Can the defense convince a “by the book” judge like Judge O’Neill to dismiss the charges based upon this argument when there is not really a page in the “rulebook” that they can readily point to?” he said.
Bill Cosby battles accusations of sexual assault by over 50 women.
Cosby’s hearing began in Montgomery County Court on Tuesday at 9:30 a.m.in Norristown. Wearing a dark brown suit and tie, he smiled and nodded at onlookers and laughed with the handlers who assisted him on either side as he went up a ramp into the Montgomery County Courthouse.
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The proceedings will continue Wednesday. Castor found himself sparring with prosecutors over many seemingly inconsistent statements he made over the years on whether Cosby could still be charged.
