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Lawyer Brian McMonagle argued at a hearing in Norristown that
a former Montgomery County prosecutor had promised never to
prosecute Cosby over allegations by Andrea Constand, a former
basketball coach at Cosby's alma mater Temple University, that
he attacked her at his Pennsylvania home in 2004.
Without that assurance, McMonagle said, Cosby would never have
agreed to sit for a deposition in Constand's civil lawsuit in
which he admitted giving drugs to various women before engaging
in sexual acts. Constand's case is the only one out of more than
60 to result in criminal charges.
Cosby has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
Prosecutors responded to McMonagle by saying that the promise
was never confirmed in writing and argued that Cosby's lawyers
did not reasonably rely on the so-called "promise" in any case.
The two-day hearing before Judge Steven O'Neill of the
Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas addresses several
disputes leading up to the trial scheduled for June. They
include the prosecution's request to call as witnesses more than
a dozen women who have accused Cosby.
The 79-year-old comedian, once beloved by Americans as the
father on the 1980s TV hit "The Cosby Show," has been accused by
the women of sexually assaulting them, often after plying them
with drugs and alcohol, in a series of attacks dating back
decades.
Cosby, who is legally blind and has trouble walking, wore a dark
suit and appeared attentive throughout the hearing.
The morning session focused on Cosby's sworn testimony in
Constand's 2005 civil lawsuit.
Cosby's lawyer McMonagle said his client would have invoked his
constitutional right to avoid self-incrimination absent the
promise from former county District Attorney Bruce Castor.
"This was a sitting district attorney saying, 'I’m not going to
prosecute your client, ever,'" McMonagle said.
But Assistant District Attorney M. Stewart Ryan said Castor's
own testimony on the matter at a hearing in February was riddled
with inconsistencies. Ryan said that Castor also could not
remember occasions on which he appeared to tell reporters that
the investigation could be reopened in the future.
(Reporting by Joseph Ax in New York; Editing by Grant McCool)
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