A judge in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania ruled on Wednesday that the sexual assault case against comedian Bill Cosby will proceed, after he refused to dismiss the trial, according to reports.
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The ruling came after an intense two-day hearing, and the next move by the courts will be to conduct a preliminary hearing during which it will be determined whether the evidence against 78-year-old Cosby Is sufficient to try him for drugging and violating former Temple University athletic department employee, Andrea Constand.
Cosby is charged with aggravated indecent assault, and accused of drugging and molesting Constand. The former TV star could get up to 10 years in prison if convicted. Cosby fired back in early December, filing a countersuit for defamation against seven women who previously accused him of sexual misconduct. He slandered her. She’s a victim of a sexual assault.
Castor testified at the time that there was not sufficient evidence to support Constand’s claims.
Under questioning by Mr Steele, Mr Schmitt acknowledged that he relied on both the press release and assurances that Mr Castor gave a decade ago to Cosby lawyer Walter Phillips, who is now dead.
William took a more laid-back approach in his dissent, discussing how Constand’s civil suit against Cosby, which was resolved in 2006 by way of a confidential settlement, fuels his skepticism over motivations to prosecute Cosby. He said at the time he had affairs with young women.
Meanwhile, Dolores Troiani, Constand’s legal representative in the courtroom, testified on Wednesday, and revealed she had no knowledge of the no-prosecution deal until she read about it in a statement released by Castor. Castor maintained on the witness stand Tuesday that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute Cosby in 2005.
In addition to denying the allegations, Cosby argues he’s being improperly prosecuted based on testimony he gave during a civil suit – testimony his defense says was given only because the state closed the criminal case in 2005.
Kevin Steele, the current district attorney, said the agreement was not binding as it was not in writing, the Inquirer reported.
Castor testified that he believed Constand’s story but found serious flaws in the case in 2005 and declined to bring charges.
They never produced a written agreement to that effect.
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The judge agreed and now, the Constand case will move forward. He said he reached into her trousers but insisted it was consensual. The charges were filed in 2015, barley shy of the statute of limitations for prosecution. Steele has only been D.A. for a few months; he ran against Castor, invoking Castor’s failure to prosecute Cosby as part of his platform. But he also maligned her credibility throughout the day and questioned whether she and her mother set out to extort Cosby.
