Matt Rourke / AP
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA — Bill Cosby's lawyers at a pretrial hearing on Tuesday could get a chance to fight to keep out evidence — such as a damaging deposition from his accuser's 2005 lawsuit, where he said he felt like "a dirty old man with a young girl" — from his upcoming criminal trial.
Cosby, 79, was charged in December 2015 with drugging and assaulting Andrea Constand, an employee at his alma mater, Temple University, in 2004. This was the first time criminal charges have been brought against Cosby, though dozens of women have accused him of sexual assault. His lawyers unsuccessfully tried to have the charges dropped in February.
The judge may also set a trial date for the case during Tuesday's hearing. It's still unclear if he will hear arguments on issues such as which evidence can be admitted.
Andrea Constand
Toronto Public Library / Getty Images
At Tuesday's hearing in Montgomery County Court in Pennsylvania, Cosby's lawyers may ask the judge to throw out the comedian's 2005 deposition in Constand's civil lawsuit against Cosby, which was later settled out of court.
In the deposition, Cosby described his 2004 sexual encounter with Constand at his home in Pennsylvania. "I got her skin and ... it's just above where you can go under the pants," he said in the deposition. "I don't hear her say anything. And I don't feel her say anything. And so I continue and I go into the area that is somewhere between permission and rejection. I am not stopped."
He also testified that he gave Constand three half-pills of Benadryl, and admitted to obtaining quaaludes, a sedative, with the intent of giving them to women he wanted to have sex with.
Cosby's lawyers on Tuesday could also ask the judge to suppress testimony about a phone call between Cosby and Constand's mother, where he said he didn't want to talk to her about what he gave her daughter, the AP reported.
"And I'm apologizing because I'm thinking this is a dirty old man with a young girl," Cosby said in the deposition. "I apologized. I said to the mother it was digital penetration."
Constand was the first woman to publicly accuse Cosby of sexual assault. Nearly 60 women have since made similar allegations. The pretrial hearing may also determine if the jury will be allowed to hear from potentially dozens of Cosby's other accusers during the trial — a key factor that could determine the comedian's fate.
Kevin Steele, the Montgomery County District Attorney, reopened Constand's case in 2015, after testimony from her 2005 civil lawsuit was unsealed earlier that year.
Constand, who was an employee at Temple University between 2001 and 2004, considered Cosby her "mentor and friend" when the two established a relationship through her work for the women's basketball team. She had rejected two sexual advances that Cosby made before the alleged assault, according to the criminal complaint.
Constand said that she felt dizzy and nauseous after Cosby gave her pills and wine. She told investigators that she felt "frozen" and "paralyzed" while Cosby fondled her breasts, put his hands into her pants ,and penetrated her vagina with his fingers, without her consent.
LINK: Bill Cosby’s Crucial Pretrial Test: Will Other Sex Assault Accusers Be Allowed To Testify?
LINK: Here’s How Sexual Assault Laws Are Changing In The US After The Bill Cosby Allegations
LINK: Here Are All The Women Who Have Accused Bill Cosby Of Sexual Assault
LINK: Bill Cosby’s Wife Refused To Answer At Least 98 Questions Under Oath
LINK: The Long Road To Criminal Charges Against Bill Cosby
LINK: Pennsylvania Prosecutors Charge Bill Cosby With Felony Assault
LINK: Bill Cosby Admitted To Getting Drugs To Give Women For Sex, Court Records Show
LINK: 18 Moments That Led To Bill Cosby’s Stunning Downfall
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