After two days in a special hearing, Montgomery County Judge Steven T. O’Neill decided Wednesday to proceed with charges against comedy icon Bill Cosby that stem from the alleged assault of a lesbian.
If convicted of aggravated indecent assault, Cosby could face up to 10 years in prison.
Cosby, 78, is accused of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand, a lesbian former employee of Temple University, at his Cheltenham Township home in 2004.
According to reports from inside the courtroom Wednesday, Constand’s lawyer, Dolores Troiani, told the court that she resisted efforts by Cosby’s lawyers in 2005 to have her client promise not to cooperate with a criminal investigation. Troiani said Constand agreed only not to ask authorities for a further investigation, but she could work with them if they contacted her.
Former Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor spent the majority of Tuesday offering testimony regarding an oral agreement he made not to prosecute Cosby in 2005, according to reports from inside the courtroom. The idea was to grant Cosby immunity so he would give a deposition in a civil case. Castor said he hoped Constand would benefit financially in the civil case.
Just after 8 a.m. Feb. 1, Cosby’s lawyers carted about 15 boxes of documents into the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown. A black vehicle pulled up to the East Airy Street side entrance about 8:50 a.m. Cosby emerged with his security detail, who helped him into a green suit coat. He shuffled and looked around on his way into the courthouse while a couple people shouted, “We love you, Bill,” and took pictures from the street.
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele, who beat Castor in the November election for the post, brought charges against Cosby in December, just days before the 12-year statute of limitations on the incident was set to expire. Steele based his decision to charge Cosby in part on the deposition from the civil case, which was unsealed over the summer.
Cosby is free after posting 10 percent of his $1-million bail. Constand now lives in Toronto, Canada, near where she grew up.
