Judge Deals Blow To Bill Cosby In Criminal Case

[Miles Archer]

A Pennsylvania judge on Wednesday rejected entertainer Bill Cosby's request to dismiss the only criminal charge against him and said comments the entertainer once made about an alleged sexual attack can be used by the prosecution in court.

The ruling by Judge Steven O'Neill in the Philadelphia suburb of Montgomery County was a stinging defeat for Cosby's defense to the aggravated indecent assault charge. The case may now go forward, with the next step a preliminary hearing to determine if the prosecution has enough evidence for a trial.

Cosby, 78, was arrested in December on charges he drugged and molested then-Temple University women's basketball assistant Andrea Constand at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004. It’s the only criminal case to result from claims by roughly 50 women who’ve said they were sexually violated in some form by Cosby in alleged incidents going back to the 1960s.

A previous district attorney said there wasn't enough evidence to prosecute him then. But newly elected Montgomery County DA Kevin Steele followed through on a campaign promise to reexamine Constand’s accusation.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/judge-deals-blow-to-bill-cosby-in-criminal-case_us_56b2569ce4b04f9b57d826b8

[randys1]

1. The jury will see this as the one and only chance for this man to receive justice, I think.

He may well end up doing time.

[metroins]

2. I thought the immunity might have held up

This is a reason you always get things in writing.

He obviously committed some type of sexual assault, but I thought he might get the deposition thrown out.