Earlier this week Bill Cosby appeared in court in Norristown, PA to face charges on a 2004 sexual assault on the former director of the Temple University women’s basketball team. Andrea Constand accused Bill Cosby of sexually assaulting her at his home in 2004. She went to the police in 2005, consulting a civil attorney first. The former DA, Bruce Castor, testified that he had reached an oral agreement with Cosby’s lawyers not to prosecute him for that crime. Castor explained that he believed Constand “was inappropriately touched by Mr. Cosby” and that he wanted justice for her, but he made the decision at the time to support her civil suit, which ended in 2006 with an undisclosed settlement. Cosby therefore was unable to plead the fifth in the civil case and gave statements incriminating himself. Cosby’s lawyers argued that the original deal was valid however the prosecution maintained that DAs have no authority to grant immunity without a sign off from a judge. The good news is that judge sided with the prosecutors and the case against Cosby will move forward, for now. It’s worth noting that there are still preliminary hearings pending in which the case can get thrown out before going to trial, but this is a step forward.
The sexual assault case in Pennsylvania against Bill Cosby will go forward, a judge in Montgomery County ruled Wednesday.
Cosby’s lawyers had argued for two days during a pretrial hearing that a criminal case had been barred by a promise made in 2005 by then-District Attorney Bruce Castor never to prosecute the renowned entertainer.
The judge on Wednesday ruled “there was no basis to grant the relief requested” by Cosby.
A spokesman for Cosby’s legal team, Andrew Wyatt, told CNN his attorneys would appeal the judge’s determination. “The decision reached by the court was wrong,” he said.
Judge Steven O’Neill also ruled that prosecutor, newly elected District Attorney Kevin Steele, could stay on the case.
The case, in which former Temple University employee Andrea Constand accuses the TV star of assaulting her in his home in 2004, will go forward.
Cosby, who has not entered a plea, was charged December 30 with aggravated indecent assault against Constand, who went to authorities in 2005.
Bruce Castor, the Montgomery County district attorney at the time, did not file sexual assault charges against Cosby, citing “insufficient credible and admissible evidence.”
Cosby was charged in the case in December, 11 years after the state initially declined to prosecute.
In addition to denying the allegations, Cosby argues he’s being improperly prosecuted based on testimony he gave during a civil suit — testimony his defense says was given only because the state closed the criminal case in 2005.
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.
Before court ended Wednesday, the judge scheduled a preliminary hearing on March 8.
Maybe this case will get thrown out on a technicality, maybe Cosby won’t ever face criminal charges for the dozens if not hundreds of women he assaulted. I hope that’s not the case, I hope it continues to proceed and that Cosby is sent to jail for the rest of his life. Whatever happens, the world knows the truth about what a predator he is and how he routinely violated women, hiding behind his celebrity and image to escape prosecution until the end of his life.
Look at how happy Cosby was arriving at the courthouse. He didn’t expect yesterday’s verdict. He tried to play elderly in other photos but he was laughing at some points.
This is how he looked leaving, all frail and needing help walking again. Predictable.
he looked old before by he is looking even older now. I wonder if this trial and all has aged him? Odd that a year ago when he was still doing shows he didn’t need any help walking on stage and collecting that money.
Yes, odd isn’t it?
It’s possible it is an act, although not sure what that will get him, as I don’t really think that would help especially with a judge and not a jury at this point. The reality is he is 78 years old, according to one of his lawyers he has macular degeneration and can’t see very well. If you didn’t notice he was holding someone I don’t think anyone would say he looked bad, especially for 78. Still 78 you sometimes look old. Look at Clint Eastwood sometimes he looks like he should be in a home, but he still makes movies. Still you have to wonder with all the appeals if he will live long enough to go through this, as his lawyers are appealing this, plus they haven’t even gotten to the motion to suppress his testimony for the deposition. I just think this will last a long time and at 78 you never know. Really wish someone had tried to do this earlier, but this is what we have now.
Oh I didn’t clarify. I think he looks old as hell in the face. The help walking and the cane are totally acts.
I think the help walking and the cane are really just for eyesight, and I would guess at his age that is probably real. One lawyer said he had macular degeneration, and that develops over the years, but being blind shouldn’t have anything to do with a trial. My point was other than that he looked pretty good for 78. Still if this takes five years or so who knows what will happen.
That might be the idea, drag this out with endless appeals until he croaks, having never seen the inside of a jail cell. At 78, it’s entirely possible he’ll live for another decade, or he may drop dead in a month. Isn’t he past the average life expectancy for males already?
If he really does have sight issues his silly little cane might be for not running into things instead of leaning on. Not that I really care one way or another, but what I do enjoy is how beaten down and old he’s looking. He’s caught and it’s starting to sink in. I bet his lawyers are just trying to stave off actual sentencing until the inevitable happens.
He has always believed he is above the law, and probably thought he’d get away with that yet again, by the look on his face leaving. Not this time!
If he’s truly playing elderly he’s a complete psychopath. Actually, he’s a complete psychopath either way.
I do wonder if the toll of actually being held accountable for his horrific actions is that his health is rapidly declining and he is indeed frail now. And if that’s the case then all I can say is…
GOOD!!!!
If this case drags on long enough, it just might kill him.
note: I am NOT wishing death on this man, but if he died during and because of the ongoing legal issues, I wouldn’t cry over it.
I think you mean sociopath. I certainly think he qualifies. I hope he gets his just desserts, but either way his life is pretty much over as he knew it.
Psychopath is correct. There are differences between a psychopath and a sociopath. Cosby could be classified as a psychopath. https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/wicked-deeds/201401/how-tell-sociopath-psychopath
I’m not sure it is playing at this point. The man IS elderly and the stress of the trial and his crimes being found out could bring him down fast. I’ve seen it happen to other (not evil) people. They’re getting up there but doing well and then almost overnight wham! They’re old. He could be exaggerating for effect, or he really could be feeling the strain.
Either way, screw him.
It’s debatable whether psychopathy and sociopathy are different. The article even says many professionals use it interchangeably. In an academic setting, I use sociopath for somebody who has not committed violent crimes and psychopathy for somebody who has.
I disagree fairly strongly with certain items in the article (such as sociopaths being flighty or nervous), but admittedly criminal psychology/sociology is only a small part of my studies.
Then again, people throw those words around a lot these days. The criterion for clinical sociopathy/psychopathy are extremely complex and there is a very long list that must be checked off before someone can be given that diagnosis even by a criminal psychologist.
Tl;dr: I guess if I had to choose, I’d say he was a psychopath (if he met the clinical diagnosis), since he is an opportunistic sexual predator.
I’m glad this is going forward, it’s justice for his victims. Hopefully it doesn’t get thrown out & he goes to jail, he can stop acting & sleeping in court. It’s about damn time this caught up to him.
Still think the case will eventually be thrown out on a technicality (statue of limitations, the defendant’s right to a speedy trial), but good for the judge for not changing statue for that former DA’s ridiculous mistake.
I don’t think it will be thrown out, but I do think that his testimony from the deposition won’t be allowed to be used, and this makes the case very difficult.
Not sure I agree that the former DA made a ridiculous mistake either, more the ridiculous mistake was Cosby’s lawyers not getting this verbal agreement in writing. If there is any karma here, Cosby really has had some bad lawyers. First they didn’t file correctly and the ciivil deposition testimony was released, and they didn’t get a written document stating they wouldn’t prosecute and he testified in a civil trial. He could have just pleaded the 5th if he thought he could be prosecuted based on his testimony. This is why OJ got so skewered if it was possible for him to go to jail during the civil case he would have pleaded the 5th the whole time, but it wasn’t. Also, keep in mind at the time the victim didn’t come forward right away and it is always hard to prove these kind of cases in the first place, much less when you have at the time a wealthy well liked celebrity. Also, in criminal cases you can’t use past conduct that hasn’t been proven yet so it would be hard to get the other victims to help in this case. Further, the DA didn’t have the knowledge of the many victims or the civil suit testimony which really came to light later and from this victims civil case. I think the DA thought he would get the victim the best he could, and agreed to not prosecute and then Cosby testified and the case settled for her. Hind site is 20/20 after all.
Yeah, I should have said both parties were ridiculous. I understand the prosecutor was trying to help the accuser, but that help is supposed to happen in a court of law. Not circumvent due process, which I think this will do. And Cosby’s attorneys should have never allowed him to utter anything incriminating in a civil suit for the very real possibility those statement could be used in a criminal investigation. Messed up all around.
Good.
Yes, good.
I hope he goes to trial. In watching him, I wonder if he’s losing his eyesight? His one eye looks cloudy and unfocused and he was tightly held by a man on each side as he walked into court the other day. In his last appearance, he tripped on the curb coming into court. It looks to me like he can’t see where he’s going…
He gets no pity from me, I’m just curious about his level of vision.
He’s stating that he is legally blind.
I’m legally blind also, have been since I was 10. My eyes get worse almost every year. But i wear contacts or glasses at all times and I’m perfectly fine.
He’s trying to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes. Many people are legally blind and have corrective lenses and live their lives. I just have a big hunch that he’s been legally blind for quite a while and he’s playing it up now.
Apparently he has macular degeneration which does deteriorate with time, and he is legally blind now. Other than his sight for his age I thought he looked pretty good, and should be able to stand the trial.
“I wonder if he’s losing his eyesight? His one eye looks cloudy and unfocused and he was tightly held by a man on each side as he walked into court the other day.”
I noticed his eyes as well and wondered if he had a cataract in one eye as it looks cloudy. I had a colleague many years ago -he was significantly older than I-who had a cataract in one eye and managed to work a full schedule. Anyway, if the issue is macular degeneration, I wonder that he doesn’t have a ‘white’ cane for the blind, which is used for probing for objects-the one he has been pictured with is used for balance. I didn’t notice any of the above in interviews prior to this court action. I wonder too…
So glad this happened. At least there’s a chance a trial could go forward. He needs to see the inside of a jail and not a country club cell. Although his health may naturally be failing, I think a lot of this “aging” is an act to gain sympathy. I’m naturally suspicious but I wouldn’t put it past him.
Also, I wonder where Camille is. Her enabling him through the years makes her an accomplice IMO.
Fingers crossed. Cosby’s been around a lot of s**tbags like himself over the decades, I wish he’d give up other predators he surely knows about.
I’m so happy to know that, at the very least, he will have to endure the stress of the possibility of an ongoing trail.
50 women don’t come forward with claims like this just because they enjoy being side-eyed as liars and whores by the general public. The shock and disappointment he has caused the black community is terribly sad. And, yes I do believe, because of his generation and the messages he sent, that his crimes have hurt more than just the physical victims. Not that he wasn’t loved and respected by the white community too, but he was an icon in the black community and a massive let down to those who believe in his guilt.
Bill Cosby is not going to jail.
You are correct, I don’t think he will wind up in jail.
He’ll see a pine box before he lands in jail.
There is no way that skinny little stick he’s carrying would serve as an adequate cane. If he needed it for real support it would snap right in two, unless it’s metal painted to look like wood. He’s beyond disgusting.
I asked someone about that cane yesterday and was told it’s made of bamboo.
Than by all means, please lean on it Bill. Like, put all your weight on it at the top of the court steps.
Oh Happy Day!!! I have been waiting with baited breath for this. I’m hoping it will snowball, but even if he only faces charges for what he did to Andrea Constand, it’s better than not facing charges for anything he did to any of his victims. Funny, his wife isn’t with him standing by her rapist husband and denouncing his crimes and discrediting his victims. Where are you now Camille?
All this because Hannibal Burress stood up for himself during a comedy routine. Good on him!
The tiny cane is back!!
GOOD.