Cosby Ordered to Stand Trial
(24 May 2016) US Actor Bill Cosby was ordered on Tuesday to stand trial on sexual assault charges after a hearing that hinged on a decade-old police report in which a woman said the comedian gave her three blue pills that put her in a stupor, unable to stop his advances. District Judge Elizabeth McHugh ruled that prosecutors had sufficient evidence to bring Cosby to trial, and she set his arraignment for July 20, at which time the TV star will enter a plea and a trial date will be set. The hearing was not the face-to-face confrontation between accuser and accused that some had anticipated: Andrea Constand, the former Temple University employee who said Cosby violated her at his suburban Philadelphia mansion in 2004, was not in the courtroom, and the judge ruled that she would not have to testify. Instead, prosecutors had portions of her statement to police read into the record. She told police in 2005 that the comedian penetrated her with his fingers after giving her pills that made her dizzy, blurry-eyed and sick to her stomach, her legs "like jelly." In his own statement to police, also read in court, Cosby portrayed it as consensual sexual activity, saying Constand never said "no" as he put his hand down her underwear. Cosby's lawyers argued unsuccessfully that reading Constand's statement instead of putting her on the stand would be hearsay and would deprive him of his right to confront his accuser. Such testimony from law enforcement officers is common practice at preliminary hearings in Pennsylvania, which have a far lower burden of proof than trials. Earlier on Tuesday, the comedian walked into the courthouse on the arm of an aide, waving to people waiting outside. Prosecutors reopened the case last year after dozens of women levelled similar allegations and after Cosby's sealed deposition in Constand's lawsuit was made public. He settled her lawsuit for an undisclosed sum in 2006 after testifying about his extramarital affairs, his use of quaaludes to seduce women and his efforts to hide payments to former lovers from his wife. Cosby has not entered a plea since his December 30 arrest. He is free on 1 million US dollar bail. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
