Cosby's attorneys had asked the judge to toss out the charges, contending that a deal reached with former Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor spared their client from prosecution in exchange for a 2005 civil deposition.
A Pennsylvania judge says he'll decide Wednesday whether to dismiss a sexual assault case against Bill Cosby over an unwritten promise of immunity a former prosecutor says he gave the comedian's now-deceased lawyer a decade ago.
Castor found the case too weak to prosecute in 2005, but Steele's office reopened the investigation last summer, after the comedian's damaging, decade-old testimony from Constand's civil case was unsealed and dozens of other women came forward to accuse Cosby of assaulting them.
Court documents allege Cosby then fondled Constand.
Prosecutors argued the deal was neither valid nor binding and called into question Castor's credibility, while Cosby's lawyers insisted prosecutors often make no-prosecution deals with defendants.
The former DA said he believed Cosby acted inappropriately, but raised doubt about whether the jury would convict him.
There was no written agreement from Castor concerning the agreement, and Constand said she was unaware that such a discussion took place.
Kristina Ruehli, 72, of New Hampshire, filed a defamation lawsuit against Cosby last November in federal court in MA, according to the New York Times. During one of the recorded depositions, Cosby admitted to giving Constand three pills.
With the claims against him going back as far as the 1960s, in many cases Cosby can not be prosecuted because the statute of limitations has run out.
Cosby's lawyers claim Cosby never would have testified in Constand's civil case - a deposition that has introduced the closest thing there is to a smoking gun in the multitude of sexual assault allegations against Cosby - had they known criminal charges were still a possibility.
Castor was the defense's key witness on Tuesday. The judge on Wednesday ruled "there was no basis to grant the relief requested" by Cosby.
Twelve years after the 2004 encounter between Cosby and ex-Temple University employee Andrea Constand at his home outside Philadelphia, what evidence can prosecutors offer to prove Cosby committed a crime other than Constand's word against his? A spokesman said his lawyers planned to appeal the judge's decision.
Cosby has been accused of rape, drugging and performing inappropriate sex acts by over 50 women in the past 18 months.
The case against 78-year-old Cosby largely hinges on the judge's view of Castor's statements about whether Cosby would face charges.
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Source: Bill Cosby sexual assault case can proceed, judge rules
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