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About 50 women have accused Cosby, 79, of sexual assault. But
the accusation from 2004 by Andrea Constand, the former
university employee, is the only one to result in a criminal
prosecution.
Cosby has denied any wrongdoing, but the accusations have
shattered his image as an icon of family-friendly entertainment.
Constand worked with the women's basketball team at Temple
University, where Cosby, a university alumnus, befriended her.
She says Cosby drugged her and sexually assaulted her when she
visited him at his home in Pennsylvania. Cosby says the
encounter was consensual.
Montgomery County prosecutors had asked in December to have up
to 13 other women who have accused Cosby speak at the trial as
"evidence of prior bad acts," arguing it showed a pattern of
behavior. Cosby's defense lawyers fought the request, calling it
a "bandwagon" of uncorroborated accounts.
Judge Steven O'Neill of the county's Court of Common Pleas ruled
that only the woman identified as Prior Alleged Victim Six
should testify.
She worked as an assistant for one of Cosby's agents in the
1990s and said she became friends with him, according to
prosecutors. She said Cosby invited her to lunch in 1996 to
discuss her career, but instead forced her to swallow a pill
before sexually assaulting her while she drifted in and out of
consciousness.
Evidence of "prior bad acts" is typically disallowed to avoid
unfairly prejudicing jurors. But prosecutors can be permitted to
introduce such evidence if it shows a clear pattern of behavior.
"This ruling is important as the jury will now be allowed to
assess evidence that is relevant to establishing a common plan,
scheme and design of sexual abuse and an absence of mistake by
the defendant," Kevin Steele, the county's district attorney,
said in a statement.
Andrew Wyatt, Cosby's publicist, declined to comment on the
ruling.
The court will hold a hearing on Monday on Cosby's attempt to
change the venue of the trial.
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