Bill Cosby Loses Appeal, Case Headed for Evidence Hearing

A judge denied Cosby’s latest effort to throw the charges out.

Bill Cosby enters the Montgomery County Courthouse for a court appearance in Norristown, Pennsylvania. (Photo: AP)

Bill Cosby’s criminal sexual assault case appears to be headed towards an evidence hearing after a judge denied his latest effort to throw the charges out.

In a ruling on Tuesday, the judge who refused to dismiss the case earlier this month denied Cosby’s appeal of that decision.

The 78-year-old TV star is accused of drugging and violating an ex-Temple University employee at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004 and could get 10 years in prison if convicted. The defense insists Cosby had extracted a promise from a previous district attorney that he would never be charged over the 2004 encounter.

Montgomery County Judge Steven O’Neill, though, found the evidence of such an agreement lacking after hearing from the ex-prosecutor and others at a two-day hearing. He said the issue didn’t warrant an immediate appeal that would delay the scheduled 8 March preliminary hearing.

An immediate appeal from these orders would not materially advance the ultimate termination of the matter.

<b>Judge Steven O’Neill’s Order</b>

A spokesman for Cosby’s lawyers said it was unclear if they would appeal to the state Superior Court.

Dozens of women in recent years have come forward and accused Cosby of sexual impropriety spanning decades. Cosby, who played Dr. Cliff Huxtable on The Cosby Show  from 1984 to 1992 and has been married for decades, has denied the women’s accusations. The statute of limitations has expired in most of the cases against him.

Cosby, whose legal residence is in western Massachusetts, remains free on a $1-million bail.