Cosby returns to court to seek dismissal of sex assault charges

Bill Cosby is set to return to a Pennsylvania Criminal Court in his latest attempt to have the sexual assault case against him thrown out. Lawyers for Cosby, 78, will argue that the accuser, Andrea Constand should be required to testify and answer questions from the defence before the case is permitted to proceed to trial. Cosby, once one of the most beloved U.S. entertainers thanks to his family-friendly persona, is facing accusations of sexual assault from dozens of women stretching back decades. The Pennsylvania case was the only criminal prosecution against him, as most of the other allegations involved incidents that were too old to produce charges. Cosby had denied assaulting anyone and had portrayed his 2004 encounter with Constand as consensual. The hearing could provide a preview of the defence’s trial strategy, which was likely to focus on undermining Constand’s credibility by attacking her story and questioning her behaviour following the alleged assault. Prosecutors in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, chose not to call Constand as a witness at a preliminary hearing in May, but instead the two police detectives took her statement in 2005. Cosby’s lawyers had argued that the use of such hearsay evidence to hold the case over for trial violated his rights. But the judge overseeing the May hearing rejected that position, citing a recent state appeals court ruling that victims do not have to testify in person at preliminary hearings. The issue is pending before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in another case. Cosby’s lawyers had asked the court to either throw out the charges or hold a new preliminary hearing at which Constand would be forced to testify and submit to cross-examination. Constand, a former basketball coach at Cosby’s alma mater Temple University, had accused him of drugging her at his home near Philadelphia in 2004 and then assaulting her on a couch. Cosby had admitted giving her the allergy medication Benadryl, but had maintained they engaged in consensual acts. Cosby’s lawyers tried unsuccessfully to have the case dismissed for various reasons and a new trial date has not been set.