Pennsylvania judge says he will not make Cosby's accuser testify
NORRISTOWN, Pa. -- A Pennsylvania judge has denied Bill Cosby's effort to compel a woman accusing him of sex assault to testify before trial.
Prosecutors say the right of defendants like Cosby to confront their accusers in court doesn't apply at Pennsylvania preliminary hearings.
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said Thursday he's using a recent rule change to spare Cosby accuser Andrea Constand and other sex crime victims from being re-traumatized.
Cosby's lawyers are arguing that the 2013 rule change deprives him of constitutional due process rights. They asked the judge to dismiss Cosby's sex assault case or schedule a new preliminary hearing.
Prosecutors relied heavily on Constand's decade-old police statements in convincing a judge to send Cosby's case to trial.
The 78-year-old Cosby is accused of drugging and molesting Constand in 2004.