Cosby's Criminal Case Can Resume After Court Rejects Appeal
PHILADELPHIA (CBS/AP) — A Pennsylvania appeals court has rejected Bill Cosby's attempt to halt his criminal case because of what he called a decade-old deal not to prosecute him.
The mid-level state Superior Court ruled Monday that the criminal sex-assault case against Cosby can proceed.
The 78-year-old Cosby is facing trial over a 2004 encounter at his home with a then-Temple University employee. The woman says she was drugged and molested. Cosby says they engaged in consensual sex acts.
Former prosecutor Bruce Castor has said he promised he would never prosecute Cosby and urged him to testify in the woman's civil lawsuit.
The release of that testimony last year led a new prosecutor to arrest him.
The long-married Cosby acknowledged a series of affairs and said he got quaaludes to give to women he hoped to seduce.
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele released the following statement on the ruling:
'Today we received two orders from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The first, at the Commonwealth's request, quashed the Cosby defense team's pretrial interlocutory appeal. The second, also at the Commonwealth's request, denied their appeal of Judge O'Neill's refusal to certify an interlocutory appeal. We did not believe that the defense had a right to appeal at this stage, and are gratified that the Court came to the same conclusion. The effect of both of these orders is that we can now hold a preliminary hearing. We are ready for that hearing and look forward to the Court setting a date so we can present our case.'
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