Bruce Castor, the former Montgomery County district attorney, testified that he believed the deal cut with Cosby a decade ago granted the accused predator a lifetime pass from prosecution.
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Prosecutors now handling the case, however, argued that the former D.A. could not legally make the arrangement, noting that no one on Cosby’s side of the courtroom had written proof of the deal not to prosecute.
Cosby was charged December 30 with drugging and violating former Temple University employee Andrea Constand more than a decade ago.
If convicted he could receive up to 10 years in prison.
On Tuesday, the former DA testified he gave an unwritten promise of immunity to Cosby.
Prosecutors allege Cosby sexually assaulted Constand on a couch in his home in the 8200 block of New Second Street in Cheltenham between mid-January and mid-February 2004. Cosby’s lawyers claim Cosby never would have testified in Constand’s civil case – a deposition that has introduced the closest thing there is to a smoking gun in the multitude of sexual assault allegations against Cosby – had they known criminal charges were still a possibility. Schmitt acknowledges Cosby never invoked his Fifth Amendment right over four days of questioning.
Bill Cosby has arrived at a suburban Philadelphia courthouse where a judge will decide whether to dismiss a sexual assault case against the comedian.
More than 50 women say Cosby sexually assaulted them in incidents dating back to the 1960s when he first emerged as a comedy star, but only the Constand case has come to trial. But the district attorney’s office reopened the investigation based on “new evidence” that emerged from the unsealing of Cosby’s deposition in Constand’s civil suit.
“I thought making Mr. Cosby pay money was the best I was going to be able to set the stage for”, he said.
And Cosby’s top legal adviser told O’Neill during his Wednesday appearance that he considered Castor’s promise the final word on bringing charges in the Constand case.
He did add that, although his testimony could only help Cosby’s case, he’s hoping for the prosecution to win.
Common Pleas Judge Steven O’Neill issued the ruling after a hard-fought two-day hearing, saying witness credibility was a factor.
While Castor suggested during his testimony that Constand’s civil lawyers also were made aware of his non-prosecution promise and agreed with it, those lawyers, Dolores Troiani and Bebe Kivitz, testified Wednesday they were never consulted and learned about the decision to not prosecute Cosby either from the media or a press release issued by Castor. The proceedings resume Wednesday.
Current District Attorney Kevin Steele says there’s no evidence of an agreement not to charge Cosby.
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Prosecutors who succeeded Castor scoffed at the argument and wondered whether Cosby had been allowed to “buy” his way out of facing criminal charges.
