Bill Cosby and his legal woes have been the focus of much speculation and intense discussion via the media and otherwise. The heavily accused entertainer and his legal team are embroiled in an effort to get a 2004 rape charge tossed out of court, claiming the case was built upon “hearsay.”
As reported by Deadline, Cosby is facing criminal charges of drugging and raping Andrea Constand in 2004 and is the lone criminal charge he faces thus far. Cosby’s legal team believes that the Pennsylvania courts should toss the case or give Cosby a new preliminary hearing based on their claims that a May 24 hearing was improperly conducted.
From Deadline:
After striking out in both the Superior Court and Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in the last few months, the 78-year old Cosby and his attorneys now are saying they were denied the proper process in a May 24 hearing in Norristown, PA. That hearing before Judge Elizabeth McHugh ruled for a trial to start later this year on three felony second-degree aggravated indecent assault charges the actor was charged with in late 2015.
“During this hearing, the Commonwealth relied solely upon hearsay evidence to establish the elements of the charged offense, without providing Mr. Cosby an opportunity to confront and cross-examine his accuser,” says the petition filed in Montgomery County today by Brian McMonagle, Christopher Tayback of LA’s Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP and D.C.-based Monique Pressley. “Mr. Cosby objected and requested permission to cross-examine his accuser, but the court overruled the objection and allowed the Commonwealth to proceed based upon hearsay.” If he can’t get the case dismissed, Cosby wants Constand to take the stand in a new preliminary hearing to be set later this year.
Constand’s statements were heard during the May 24 hearing and it’s been confirmed by District Attorney Kevin Steele that she would testify at the trial but won’t take the stand in a preliminary hearing.
Cosby and Constand previously settled the matter between each other in 2006, but Cosby’s lawyers are fighting to have the settlement monies returned after they said the other side broke their confidentiality agreement. Last month, Constand’s lawyers filed a dismissal motion for Cosby’s case against herself, her mother, her attorneys and America Media which owns the National Enquirer.
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Photo: WENN.com
