Cosby loses latest bid to get sex assault charges dismissed

O’Neill said at the conclusion of a three-hour hearing in the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas that the case should proceed to trial on those counts

A Pennsylvania, United States of America judge on Thursday denied Bill Cosby’s latest bid to have the sexual assault charges against him thrown out.
The court ruled that the 78-year-old comedian must stand trial in the case.
Judge Steven O’Neill rejected Cosby’s arguments that prosecutors violated his rights by refusing to call the accuser, Andrea Constand, as a witness at a preliminary hearing in May, thus shielding her from cross-examination.
O’Neill said at the conclusion of a three-hour hearing in the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas that the case should proceed to trial on those counts.
Cosby is facing accusations of sexual assault from dozens of women stretching back decades.
Constand’s allegations that Cosby assaulted her at his home in 2004 had resulted in the only criminal prosecution against him, as most of the other claims involved are too old to produce charges.
Cosby, who wore a pinstriped tan jacket and used a cane to walk, denied assaulting anyone and had portrayed the encounter with Constand as consensual.
Brian McMonagle, a lawyer to Cosby, said after ONeill’s ruling: “Today, someone who has given so much to so many had his constitutional rights trampled once again.”
At the hearing, prosecutors chose not to call Constand as a witness but instead two police detectives who took her statement in 2005.
Christopher Tayback, one of Cosby’s lawyers, said prosecutors were using “hearsay evidence” improperly, robbing Cosby of his constitutional right to confront his accuser.
The proceeding stemmed from a preliminary hearing in May to determine whether enough evidence existed to hold Cosby over for trial.
Reuters/NAN.