The upcoming deposition involves a lawsuit by Riverside County resident Judy Huth, who claims the comedian forced her to perform a sex act on him at the Playboy Mansion in the early 1970s when she was 15. He added later, “Cosby would have had to be nuts to say those things (in the civil deposition) if he thought he was being prosecuted”. He believes that Cosby needs a written immunity deal to get the case thrown out.
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The hearing will resume Wednesday.
They called Castor as their first witness Tuesday in a hearing on the motion before Montgomery County Judge Steven O’Neill. He told Cosby’s lawyer: “I want them to win”. Cosby’s lawyers have denied the allegations, and in some cases filed defamation suits against the accusers. In deciding not to bring charges, he said, he meant to protect Cosby from prosecution “for all time”. But Castor says he’s never seen that.
His attorneys claim that there is a “binding commitment” by a previous district attorney not to prosecute him that was made ten years ago.
The lawyer who served as Castor’s top assistant in 2005 could also be called to testify.
According to legal filings by Cosby’s lawyers, Castor said he would not prosecute the TV star if he testified fully in a separate civil case brought against him by the alleged victim, .
The unsealing of the testimony from Constand’s lawsuit prompted Castor’s successors to reopen the case and ultimately charge Cosby. However, he wanted to leave the door open for former Temple University athletics employee Andrea Constand to pursue monetary damages in a lawsuit. A judge Tuesday ordered him to attend a second deposition and respond to questions from her lawyers.
Mr Castor defended his decision not to bring charges, testifying that he saw Ms Constand’s year-long delay in reporting the allegations, inconsistencies in her statements and her contact with a lawyer before going to police as red flags. He said he was hopeful that he had made Constand “a millionaire” through the civil lawsuit.
A former district attorney is defending his investigation into a 2004 sexual assault accusation against Bill Cosby in Pennsylvania.
Risa Vetri Ferman, now a county judge, worked on the Constand case before succeeding Castor as district attorney in 2008. She was one of dozens of women who had accused Cosby of rape or sexual assault, many claiming that he drugged them beforehand. Cosby clutched a cane as he walked up the ramp leading into the courthouse.
Castor also said Cosby’s accuser had several conversations with the comedian, and some of them may have been recorded, which might be a violation of the state’s wiretap law.
He admitted during the deposition that he had affairs with young models and actresses. Cosby’s criminal lawyer at the time – Walter M. Phillips Jr. – died past year.
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Cosby’s recently released deposition is part of the new evidence that Montgomery County authorities used to file charges in December.
