Judge Rules Prosecutors Can Use Cosby's Deposition At Trial
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (CBS) — A judge has decided testimony Bill Cosby gave in a civil deposition can be used against him at his sex assault trial in Montgomery County.
Montgomery County judge Steven O'Neill has denied a defense motion to suppress the deposition. It's a big blow to the defense, as this is the deposition that, once unsealed last summer, prompted authorities to reopen the investigation against Cosby. They asked it be suppressed along with any evidence derived from it.
Cosby sat for the deposition as part of a civil trial in 2005 and 2006, and among other things, said he would get Quaaludes to give to women, and also discussed how he would seduce women at his Cheltenham mansion.
But his attorneys point to what's called a "promise" from then-district attorney Bruce Castor. Castor testified he promised Cosby he would never be charged over his 2004 encounter with Andrea Constand, and with that promise, Castor testified Cosby could not plead the fifth in the civil trial and was forced to give the deposition.
Prosecutors argued there is no record of such an agreement pointing to inconsistencies in testimony from Castor.
The judge's order says the court concludes there was neither an agreement nor a promise not to prosecute, rather, as the order puts it, an exercise of prosecutorial discretion.
The 79-year-old Cosby is charged with drugging Constand at his Cheltenham mansion in early 2004, then molesting her while she was incapacitated. She didn't bring the allegations until a year later. Castor opted not to file charges back then. But in December, then-Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Ferman announced the charges.
A trial date is set for June, but the judge has indicated that could be moved up.
Cosby is due back in court for two days next week, as the two sides will argue whether or not prosecutors can put 13 women on the stand who have brought similar allegations against him.