Legal Expert: Cosby's Self-Incriminating Deposition Carries Significant Weight
PHILADELPHIA (CBS/AP) -- Cosby's admission in a deposition about giving women quaaludes before having sex could be difficult for him to defend, according to former Pennsylvania deputy attorney Linda Dale Hoffa.
After months of accusations by dozens of women, Bill Cosby faces criminal charges for allegedly drugging and sexual assaulting former Temple University staffer Andrea Constand in 2004.
"On the evening in question, Mr. Cosby urged her to take pills that he provided to her and to drink wine. The effect of which rendered her unable to move or respond to his advances and he committed aggravated indecent assault upon her," Montgomery county District Attorney-elect Kevin Steele said in an afternoon press conference.
Officials say Constand first told police that the comic drugged her and violated her by putting his hands down her pants at his mansion in suburban Philadelphia, But the district attorney at the time didn't think that was enough evidence to prosecute.
Constand filed a civil suit and earlier this year, The Associated Press persuaded a judge to unseal documents from the suit, and they showed the long-married Cosby acknowledging a string of affairs and sexual encounters.
Cosby testified that he obtained quaaludes in the 1970s to give to women he wanted to have sex with. He denied giving women drugs without their knowledge and said he had used the now-banned sedative "the same as a person would say, 'Have a drink.'"
In the deposition, Cosby said he put his hands down Constand's pants that night and fondled her, taking her silence as a green light. Constand maintains she was semi-conscious after he gave her pills he said would relax her.
"I don't hear her say anything. And I don't feel her say anything. And so I continue and I go into the area that is somewhere between permission and rejection. I am not stopped," Cosby testified.
Criminal Defense Attorney Linda Dale Hoffa told Eyewitness News that while 12 years is a long time for witnesses to accurately recall words and events, Cosby's self-incriminating deposition will carry significant weight.
"His words are clear here. It's not, he told some something to somebody and it's repeated. When it's in a deposition, it is transcribed under oath. Is Bill Cosby a predator or a playboy? And really the issue is, was the woman the victim or did she consent?" Hoffa said.
Cosby had no comment on his way in and out of court, but we did speak with his attorney Wednesday night outside of his Montgomery County home.
"It's sad for his legal team, for his family, that he would be dragged through this, that this would be a political maneuver, that this would be a fulfillment of a campaign promise, as opposed to something that is necessary for justice," Monique Pressley said.
A charge of aggravated indecent assault is punishable by five to 10 years behind bars and a $25,000 fine. Cosby did not have to enter a plea and was allowed to remain free on $1 million bail until another hearing set to take place on January 14.
(TM and Copyright 2015 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2015 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
