Cosby's Lawyers Push To Get Sexual Assault Case Thrown Out
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (KDKA/AP) - The former district attorney who declined a decade ago to bring sex-crime charges against Bill Cosby testified Tuesday that his decision binds his successors and forever closes the door on prosecuting the comedian.
No matter what people yelled at Cosby - whether it was reporters asking him to comment, or in some cases, the public cheering him on – the actor and comedian said nothing as he entered the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown.
Cosby, 78, was arrested and charged in December with drugging and violating former Temple University athletic department employee Andrea Constand at his suburban Philadelphia mansion in 2004. He could get up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
Former Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor took the stand this morning as part of a bid by Cosby's lawyers to get the case against the TV star thrown out because of what they say is a non-prosecution agreement from Castor.
The current district attorney has said there is no record of any such agreement.
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The bombshells in the courtroom focused on the testimony of Castor who wasn't impressed with the alleged victim in this case.
Defense Attorney: "Was what she said at different times of concern to you?"
Castor: "Your Honor, shouldn't you hear this answer in chambers?"
That startled the judge, but after a brief recess, Castor was asked again and replied:
"There were a number of inconsistencies that caused me concern that would affect her credibility at trial."
He then revealed Cosby's lawyer, who has since died, revealed something that shocked him. It involved possible blackmail.
"His lawyer told me there were incriminating recordings of Cosby that were not recorded by law enforcement," said Castor. "I was concerned she and her mother could engage in an effort to convince him to pay money so she would not go to the police."
Castor concluded: "Her own actions during that year ruined her chances in criminal court."
They were all factors in his decision not to prosecute Cosby. But Tuesday's hearing was to determine whether that decision he made in 2005 was a binding agreement that should be honored now.
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Kevin Steele, the newly elected DA who is pursuing the case, has said Cosby would need an immunity agreement in writing to get the case thrown out. He has said he has no evidence one exists.
It was not immediately clear when Common Pleas Judge Steven T. O'Neill would rule.
While Castor was called as witness by Cosby's side, the former DA said he is rooting for the prosecution.
"I'm not on your team here," Castor told Cosby lawyer Brian McMonagle. "I want them to win."
In a barrage of allegations that have destroyed Cosby's image as America's Dad, dozens of women have accused the former TV star of drugging and sexually assaulting them since the 1960s. But this is the only case in which he has been charged.
The unsealing of the testimony from Constand's lawsuit prompted Castor's successors to reopen the case and ultimately charge Cosby.
Cosby admitted in the deposition that he had affairs with young models and actresses, that he obtained quaaludes to give to women he wanted to have sex with and that he gave Constand three pills at his home. He said he reached into her pants but insisted it was consensual.
Castor defended his decision not to bring charges, testifying that he saw Constand's year-long delay in reporting the allegations, inconsistencies in her statements and her contact with a lawyer before going to police as problematic.
Castor said Constand's delay was of "enormous significance" in his consideration of the case. He said it thwarted his ability to test her hair or fingernails for evidence she was drugged.
Still, Castor said, he investigated the case thoroughly because he wanted to show authorities in Constand's native Canada that celebrities don't get preferential treatment in America.
Anne Poulin, a law professor at Villanova University, said the defense has a high bar to meet to get the case thrown out early on. But "if they can win without this ever going to trial, then they've done their client a big service."
In related news, a Los Angeles judge ordered Cosby to attend another deposition in a lawsuit filed by a woman who says the comic forced her to perform a sex act on him at the Playboy Mansion around 1974, when she was 15.
Also Tuesday, model Chloe Goins dropped a lawsuit accusing Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting her at the Playboy Mansion in 2008. Goins gave no explanation.
Testimony resumes Wednesday morning at 9:30 a.m.
(TM and © Copyright 2016 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
