United States comedian Bill Cosby arrives December 30, 2015 to the Court House in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania to face charges of aggravated indecent assault.
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The next step is a preliminary hearing March 8 to determine whether prosecutors have enough evidence to put him on trial.
Ms Constand, now 44, said Cosby plied her with drugs and alcohol before sexually assaulting her.
The comedian, once the highest paid U.S. television star, could go to prison for 10 years if convicted.
Testimony on Wednesday focused on the much-debated 2005 “no-prosecution” deal that Cosby says shields him from prosecution now.
He did add that, although his testimony could only help Cosby’s case, he’s hoping for the prosecution to win. On Monday, Castor testified that he believed the state could not win a case against Cosby and made a “binding” decision not to prosecute the actor in order to provide Constand with the best opportunity to win a civil suit.
But even as he rejected their arguments, O’Neill offered a glimpse of another strategy Cosby’s lawyers may consider in an attempt to blunt the charges.
“We did that knowing the criminal matter had been concluded and could not be reopened”, lawyer Jack Schmitt testified on the second day of the hearing.
“Mr. Cosby was not getting prosecuted at all – ever – as far as I was concerned”, Castor said.
The charge remains the only criminal case involving Cosby, who stands accused of drugging and sexually abusing dozens of women during his long, successful show business career.
Risa Ferman, now a county judge, worked on the Constand case before succeeding Castor as district attorney in 2008.
“In this case, the prosecution should be stopped in its tracks”, Cosby lawyer Chris Tayback argued.
The megastar turned pariah spent the last two days in court in Norristown, just outside Philadelphia, as his lawyers disputed the legality of revisiting the case, which dates back to 2004 and was settled in 2006 by a civil suit.
Anyway, she said, she didn’t need Castor to promise Cosby not to prosecute to get Cosby to sit for a deposition in the civil suit; if he refused, she said, she could ask a judge to compel him.
During direct examination, the prosecution attempted to demonstrate that no mention was made at any point during the deposition about any immunity Cosby might have from prosecution.
Former Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor testified that Cosby had a deal he’d never be charged.
As the legal proceeding unfold, Cosby continues to face recriminations in the court of public opinion.
Cosby underwent a deposition in the lawsuit by Judy Huth in October, but Huth’s attorney, Gloria Allred, filed a motion asking for another one “based on his refusal to answer certain questions” during the first session. He said at the time he had affairs with young women. They never produced a written agreement to that effect.
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In it, Cosby acknowledged acquiring Quaaludes with the intent of using them in consensual sexual encounters with women.
