The Dolan case remains pending after Bucks County District Attorney David Heckler filed a request with the state Supreme Court to hear the county’s appeal of Gilman’s decision. “And, once again, they refused to do so”, Mr McMonagle said. He said enough evidence existed to move forward with a trial, USA Today reported.
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Constand, a former basketball coach at Cosby’s alma mater Temple University, has accused him of drugging her and then assaulting her on a couch.
The prosecution had kept Constand off the witness stand during a preliminary hearing in May, instead relying on prior statements for its case.
“The commonwealth does not have to put witnesses on the stand”, O’Neill said in court.
Cosby is accused of drugging and molesting Constand at his home near Philadelphia in 2004. 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. “They do not. If he (Cosby) wants to confront witnesses let’s get this case to trial”.
After Thursday’s ruling, Cosby lawyer Brian McMonagle said he was confident Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court will reverse the decision.
Cosby’s lawyers are arguing that the 2013 rule change deprives him of constitutional due process rights. Gilman ordered that a new preliminary hearing be awarded in that case to have the victim testify.
Thursday’s hearing could provide a preview of the defence’s trial strategy, which is likely to focus on undermining Constand’s credibility by attacking her story and questioning her behaviour following the alleged assault.
In December, Montgomery County prosecutors filed the first criminal charges against Cosby after more than 50 women came out accusing the entertainer of sexual misconduct.
The comedian’s lawyers said a lower court found probable cause this spring based exclusively on decade-old police statements, and they complained that defense lawyers had no way to challenge the allegations.
“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 says his encounter with Constand was consensual and describes the blue pills he gave her as Benadryl.
Under the state rules, second- or third-hand testimony, known as hearsay, is enough to establish that a crime was committed at a preliminary hearing, though that rule is now under review by the state’s high court.
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Bill Cosby has arrived at a Pennsylvania courthouse where he’ll ask a judge to either throw out his criminal sex assault case or force his accuser to testify before trial.
