Judge Makes Decision On Cosby Sex Assault Case

By Kara Seymour and Justin Heinze:

NORRISTOWN, PA -- Sex assault charges against Bill Cosby can go forward, a Montgomery County judge decided Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.

At the conclusion of a two-day preliminary hearing, Judge Steven T. O’Neill tossed aside Bill Cosby’s request to dismiss the sexual assault charges on the basis he had an immunity deal with the former district attorney.

The hearing began Tuesday to determine whether or not charges against Cosby could move forward. Testimony centered around former Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor’s claims that his alleged non-prosecution agreement with Cosby was binding.

Cosby was charged in December in connection with a 2004 assault in Cheltenham Township. Authorities say the actor drugged and sexually assaulted Andrea Constand, a former Temple University employee, at his home.

Castor, who said he declined to press charges against Cosby in 2005 because he thought it would clear the way for the plaintiff to win millions in a civil suit, gave extensive testimony Tuesday. The former district attorney said that Constand did not behave like a victim of sexual assault and that there was a “credibility issue,” according to USA Today.

“The behavior detailed within (police interviews) was inconsistent with a person who had been sexually assaulted,” Castor said in court, according to USA Today. “Her actions, on her own, including going to a lawyer before going to police, had created a credibility issue for her that could never be improved upon.”

The former DA also noted that his decision to publicly announce that he would not press charges against Cosby prevents the actor and comedian from being charged in the same case. Castor said this is because the announcement took away Cosby’s fight to invoke the Fifth Amendment, or the right against self-incrimination, 6ABC reported from the court room.

Castor and current District Attorney Kevin Steele have been battling since Steele defeated Castor in the election for District Attorney last fall. Constand threatened to press defamation charges against Castor, who alleged that Steele used Cosby as a political prop during the 2015 campaign.

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Norristown was transformed in preparation for the preliminary hearing, which has garnered national media attention. Satellite trucks and crews began to arrive in the area Monday night as members of the media and the general public flooded into the neighborhood around the courthouse.

If convicted, Cosby could face as many as 10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine.

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