Bill Cosby is hoping to get charges against him dismissed over an unwritten promise of immunity that he received a decade ago. Former district attorney Bruce Castor who declined to bring sex-crime charges against Cosby testified on Tuesday about the said non-prosecution agreement.
"For all time, yes," Castor said when pressed about the duration of the alleged agreed immunity.
Prosecutors called Castor to the witness stand to clarify the seemingly inconsistent statements he made on the issue on whether or not Cosby is immune from prosecution. Castor admitted that the promise has been put in a 2005 press release but made no formal immunity agreement in writing. He also said that Cosby's lawyers then did not insist on putting it in writing.
In response, current district attorney Kevin Steele insists that there is no record of such promise. He said that to be immune from the suit, the agreement must be evidenced by a formal document.
Voice of America reported that Castor testified that his decision not to bring criminal charges against Cosby was because of a serious defect in the case. He said that his decision gave a certain measure of justice to the victim by being able to collect damages in a civil suit.
In his decision to protect Cosby from prosecution, the 78-year-old comedian cannot invoke his constitutional right against self-incrimination. He suggested that Cosby and his then-lawyer understood the immunity because Cosby would not have said the self-incriminating statements brought against him, Associated Press reported.
Cosby is facing charges for allegedly drugging and violating former Temple University athletic department employee Andrea Constand at his mansion in 2004. Castor said that he believed Constand's story but proving it then would have been problematic because she filed the case a year after the alleged crime has been violated.
Cosby has long denied the allegations thrown against him and asked the judge to dismiss the case. Constand's allegations are the only ones to have resulted in criminal charges against the comedian who is also facing a series of civil lawsuits for analogous charges, Reuters reported.
The proceedings will continue on Wednesday. Common Pleas Judge Steven T. O'Neill said that he hopes to come up with a decision on the case. If convicted, Cosby faces 10 years of incarceration.
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