Bill Cosby and his attorneys have filed a motion in Montgomery, PA to have charges against him dropped. As we all know, Cosby had been accused of sexual misconduct by former Temple University basketball coach, Andrea Constand back in 2004. In 2005, prosecutors declined to charge Cosby in the Constand case, citing a lack of evidence, but in the wintering months of 2015, a new district attorney, Kevin Steele, was elected and reopened the case. That is when Cosby was charged with felony assault, however Cosby’s attorneys believe that these charges were “illegally, improperly and unethically brought by District Attorney Kevin Steele and his office.”
According to CNN, there was an agreement made in 2005 in which the Commonwealth agreed that Mr. Cosby would never be prosecuted with respect to the allegations of sexual assault made by complainant Andrea Constand.
CNN:
“This agreement, made for the express purpose of inducing Mr. Cosby to testify fully in Ms. Constand’s civil litigation against him, led Mr. Cosby to give deposition testimony in 2005 and 2006 without invocation of his Constitutional rights against self-incrimination. Now, to fulfill campaign promises, the newly-elected District Attorney has repudiated the agreement and has based these criminal charges on the very testimony Mr. Cosby gave in reliance on the Commonwealth’s non-prosecution agreement,” the attorneys said.”
All that really means is that Cosby may have been set up. He was encouraged to testify in depositions from 2005-2006 and since the possibility of criminal case being filed was slim there was no need to assert the 5th Amendment right of self-incrimination (*I plead the 5th). The newly-elected DA, Kevin Steele, deliberately refused to acknowledge the aforementioned agreement, which was set up more than 10 years ago, and instead used his testimony as a justification for the charges brought against him! This man also announced these charges without being sworn-in, which means that his words should not hold water, according to the law.
If, in fact, Cosby’s attorneys cannot get the charges dismissed, they wish for Steele and his office to be disqualified from further involvement in this case. The 78-year old comedian and philanthropist is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing on January 14. If he is convicted, he could face a maximum of 10 years in jail.
There are some strange things going on in this case. Keep your eyes peeled, Roommates! Let’s chat!
TSR Intern: Talia O. @theclosetratchet on Instagram & @tallyohhh on Twitter!
Sources Cited: http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/11/us/bill-cosby-sexual-assault-charges-pennsylvania/, http://www.tmz.com/2016/01/11/bill-cosby-sexual-assault-thrown-out-d
