In his own 2005 interview with police from Cheltenham, Pennsylvania, Cosby confirmed some details of Constand’s account.
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If he pleads guilty, he can still avoid the enormous publicity that will come with one of America’s most famous entertainers going on trial.
Cosby’s lawyer had argued that reading the statement was hearsay and that the defense should have a right to cross-examine the accuser, Allyn says. Constand’s case is the first against Cosby that will actually go to trial. But fortunately for the vast majority of us, Cosby’s work is the only way we’ll interact with him. The date for the trial has not been reported yet.
Cosby has admitted giving Constand a pill but said all relations with her were consensual and accused her of lying about the assault.
The 78-year-old pioneering black comedian looked subdued and kept his glance averted from onlookers as he left a county court house in Pennsylvania.
Lawyers for Cosby fought to have the charge dismissed, claiming that it was brought “illegally, improperly and unethically”. Constand told cops she was invited to the former television star’s home and encouraged to wear comfortable clothes. She was the first of more than 50 women who have accused the comedian of sexual misconduct. The evidence in this case that was presented at the preliminary hearing is of a limited basis, a preliminary hearing is a situation where we only have to show that a crime has been committed and that the defendant is connected to the crime. Prosecutors said he took advantage of his counseling role, gave her pills and assaulted her at his home outside Philadelphia in early 2004.
Former model Chloe Goins sued Cosby and Playboy founder Hugh Hefner this month accusing the comedian of drugging her and sexually battering her in a bedroom of the Playboy Mansion in 2008. He has been free on $1 million bail since his arrest on December 30.
Constand never took the stand, and Cosby’s attorney, Monique Pressley, released a statement blasting the state for refusing to make her testify.
Constand brought a civil suit against Cosby in 2005, in which Cosby settled confidentially in 2006.
It’s not known if Constand will testify or if police will instead read her statement about the encounter that night. But prosecutors filed charges after a deposition from Cosby was unsealed last summer.
“And I woke up to being sexually assaulted”, she added.
But when questioned by the defense, Hart acknowledged that she was not present for Constand’s entire statement to police in January 2005.
Such testimony from law enforcement officers is common practice at preliminary hearings in Pennsylvania, which have a far lower burden of proof than trials.
But prosecutors reopened the criminal case previous year after dozens of women leveled similar allegations and after Cosby’s sealed testimony in Constand’s lawsuit was made public. Cosby faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of the most serious charge against him, aggravated indecent assault.
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“She was aware that some things were happening, for example, her legs were paralyzed, she could also feel – according to her statement – that Mr. Cosby was touching her breasts … but that she could not say no”.
