“They’re trying to tear down our icons”, fumed local James King, who came to court in support of Cosby.
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Constand told police that the comedian penetrated her with his fingers and fondled her at his suburban Philadelphia mansion in 2004 after giving her what he said was herbal medication.
The defense had wanted Constand to testify at today’s hearing.
“The charge by the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office came as no surprise, filed 12 years after the alleged incident and coming on the heels of a hotly contested election for this county’s DA, during which this case was made the focal point”, Cosby’s lawyers said in a previous statement.
In excerpts read in court from his own statement to police in 2005, Cosby said he and Ms Constand had had other “petting” sessions before.
A judge ruled that prosecutors have sufficient evidence to bring Cosby to trial for the decade old police report that claims the actor drugged and assaulted a woman in 2004.
Cosby’s legal team has repeatedly denied the sexual allegations against him. The TV star known as America’s Dad could get 10 years in prison if convicted of indecent sexual assault.
The veteran comedian, who is free on $1 million (£691,000) bail, has been accused of rape, drugging and/or performing inappropriate sex acts by over 50 women since late 2014.
No trial date has been set, and lawyers are expected to spend months arguing over what evidence can be used most notably, whether other accusers can testify and whether Cosby’s deposition from Constand’s civil lawsuit can be used.
Cosby, who is legally blind and required an aide’s help to walk into court, wore a suit and sat frowning in pained silence during their testimony. But in Constand’s version of the story, she was “paralyzed”, panicked, and deeply disturbed by what happened.
Attorney Kevin Steele, who is representing Constand in the case, filed the charges in December, telling reporters, “We are here to serve justice”.
NORRISTOWN Actor Bill Cosby will stand trial on charges he allegedly sexually assaulted a woman in his Cheltenham home more than a decade ago.
Andrea Constand was the first person to publicly accuse Cosby of sexual assault in 2005.
“Under the case law that we presented and the Judge ruled in our favor, it wasn’t necessary, it’s a preliminary hearing”.
Constand initially said she went to the room, lay down on the bed with Cosby, and that they were touching.
According to the Daily Mail Online, Goins said that Cosby had given her a drink, before she later awoke to find herself naked.
She claims she was aware of Cosby touching her breasts and genitals, and of him making her touch his genitals, but she could not speak, and felt paralysed.
Credibility is not part of the preliminary hearing, CNN’s Jean Casarez said – consent is.
The 78-year-old American entertainer attended a preliminary hearing in Pennsylvania.
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Cosby attorney Brian McMonagle also questioned why Constand continued to see the comedian and even returned to the house to meet with him after the alleged assault.
