NORRISTOWN >> Entertainer Bill Cosby’s preliminary hearing on charges he allegedly sexually assaulted a woman in his Cheltenham home has been postponed a second time so a judge can consider a defense request to dismiss the charges.
Montgomery County Administrative Judge Steven T. O’Neill issued an order on Wednesday setting Feb. 2 as the date a Common Pleas Court judge will hear arguments on requests made by Cosby’s defense team to dismiss the charges and to disqualify District Attorney Kevin R. Steele from handling the Cosby prosecution.
Cosby’s preliminary hearing had been set for Feb. 2, but now has been postponed and a new date will be set later.
It’s the second time that Cosby’s preliminary hearing has been rescheduled. The preliminary hearing originally had been scheduled for Jan. 14 before District Court Judge Elizabeth McHugh but was later rescheduled to Feb. 2 in order to give defense lawyers more time to prepare.
On Tuesday, Cosby’s lawyers filed court papers arguing the sexual assault charges should be dismissed against Cosby because current prosecutors intentionally breached a 2005 agreement that specified Cosby would never be charged.
Defense lawyers Brian J. McMonagle and Monique Pressley also want the newly-elected Steele disqualified from the case, accusing him of injecting the Cosby allegations into his recent political campaign. McMonagle and Pressley contend Steele repeatedly violated ethical rules by injecting the Cosby case into his fall election bid “that served no purpose other than to advance Mr. Steele’s political ambitions by inflaming the public against Mr. Cosby.”
Steele has said the defense requests have “no merit.”
Judge O’Neill, in his one-page order on Wednesday, gave prosecutors 14 days to file a written response to the defense requests in preparation for the Feb. 2 hearing.
William Henry Cosby Jr., as his name appears on charging documents, faces three felony counts of aggravated indecent assault in connection with the alleged sexual assault of former Temple University athletic department employee Andrea Constand at his home in the 8200 block of New Second Street in Cheltenham between mid-January and mid-February 2004. The charges were lodged against Cosby, 78, on Dec. 30, before the 12-year statute of limitations to file charges expired.
The newspaper does not normally identify victims of sex crimes without their consent but is using Constand’s name because she has identified herself publicly.
If convicted of the charges at trial, Cosby, an entertainment icon who remains free on 10 percent of $1 million bail, faces a possible maximum sentence of 15 to 30 years in prison.
The alleged assault took place in Cosby’s Cheltenham home. Constand, then 30, according to court documents, was invited by Cosby to his home to discuss her career. Over the course of the evening, Constand allegedly told Cosby she felt “drained” because she had been missing sleep. In response, Cosby allegedly gave the victim three blue pills, saying, “these will make you feel good,” and telling her they were herbal, according to the arrest affidavit.
Constand, who also allegedly was provided wine by Cosby, reported feeling odd after taking the pills, with blurred vision and unsteady legs. She told police that Cosby proceeded to sexually assault her on a couch in the home.
The victim did not report the incident to authorities until January 2005 after returning to her home in Canada.
The investigation initially was undertaken by former District Attorney Bruce L. Castor Jr., who in February 2005 determined there was insufficient evidence to prosecute Cosby, who claimed the alleged contact was consensual.
Current prosecutors reopened the investigation last July after Cosby’s deposition connected to a 2005 civil suit Constand filed against him was unsealed by a judge. In that deposition, Cosby gave damaging testimony, allegedly admitting he obtained quaaludes to give to women with whom he wanted to have sex.
The case represents the first time Cosby has been charged with a crime despite allegations from dozens of women who claimed they were assaulted by the entertainer.
