Bill Cosby appeared in court today for a pre-trial hearing, the result of felony sexual assault charges filed against the (we can now probably safely say) former comedian late last year. Surrounded by police officers and clutching a cane, Cosby was described by The New York Times as smiling as he made his way up the stairs of the courthouse in Norristown, Pennsylvania, where he was to face charges for the alleged 2004 rape of former Temple University employee Andrea Constand.
Maybe that’s because Cosby says he made a deal with the former district attorney of Montgomery County ensuring that he would never be prosecuted for the incident. The deal was the result of “insufficient credible and admissible evidence” upon which he could build a case, former DA Bruce Castor told the courtroom earlier this morning. As a result, Cosby’s lawyers are asking that the charges be dropped.
One wrinkle in this plan is that the deal between Castor and Cosby was a handshake sort of affair, and thus can’t be verified beyond the testimony of those involved. Under cross-examination, Castor also said he thinks Constand “was inappropriately touched by Mr. Cosby,” and that the deal was based on what he could prove, not his personal opinion. “Let me be clear Mr. McMonagle,” he said, addressing one of Cosby’s lawyers directly. “I’m not on your team here. I want them to win.” We’ll see how badly.
Meanwhile, over on the West Coast, Deadline reports that model Chloe Goins dropped her lawsuit against Cosby—who she says drugged and assaulted her at the Playboy Mansion in 2008—earlier today. That’s just one of the multiple lawsuits that have been filed against Cosby, however, and he’ll reportedly have to appear in court for at least one of them, the case of another woman who says Cosby assaulted her at the Playboy Mansion who is being represented by self-proclaimed “feminist lawyer” Gloria Allred. Hopefully, at least one of them will be able to hit Cosby where it really hurts.
Oh, we meant his wallet. But yeah, that too.