“We have enough to proceed for trial”. O’Neill said that a 2013 change in state court rules cleared the way for prosecutors to use those statements and other evidence in lieu of forcing Constand to take the witness stand before trial.
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“Though the Court decided the government reached the low threshold required for today’s preliminary hearing, we have no doubt this case ultimately will be resolved in Mr Cosby’s favour”.
Cosby, accused of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman at his Cheltenham home in 2004, is charged with three counts of aggravated indecent assault.
Free on 10 percent of $1 million cash bail, the worldwide celebrity could be sentenced to a maximum of 15 to 30 years if convicted on all three charges.
If the judge rules against the defense today, a trial date may be set.
At the sentencing, the victim read a lengthy statement excoriating Turner and asserting she had been victimized again at the trial when his lawyer questioned her story, her sexual history and her behavior.
While Constand was available to take the witness stand at the preliminary hearing, Steele has said it was a “strategic” decision not to call her as a witness.
Otherwise, the case should be sent back to the magistrate judge for a preliminary hearing where Constand would testify. There is case law that says otherwise. They added that they believe the decision will be reversed on appeal.
Oliver said that in his opinion it’s less likely that the judge would order a new preliminary hearing at which Constand would be compelled to testify. He argued at a hearing last week that she and her lawyers violated the terms of the settlement by cooperating in the investigation of her accusations reopened by police in 2015.
So far, almost 60 women have accused Cosby since the fall of 2014, but no other charges have been filed against him, largely because the accusations are so old they fall outside state statutes of limitation.
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said Cosby admitted in 2005 to providing Constand with drugs and that he digitally penetrated her.
Authorities reopened the case past year after learning Cosby had acknowledged in a deposition that he had given the woman pills and then engaged in sex acts with her.
The judge in the Montgomery County court, Steven O’Neill, disagreed. The new district attorney, Steele, had promised during his election campaign to pursue Cosby on criminal charges if he were elected.
Cosby’s lawyer, Brian McMonagle, has argued that Constand should have been forced to show up at the May hearing to explain why she waited a year to make her complaint, why she could not recall certain details and why she stayed in touch with Cosby even after the alleged attack.
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Cosby maintains that any sexual contact he has had with his accusers – including encounters he acknowledges having with Constand – was consensual. At the time of the alleged assault, Constand was the director of operations for the women’s basketball team; she is now a massage therapist in Toronto, according to The Toronto Sun.
