Bill Cosby entered a Pennsylvania court Tuesday morning for his first pretrial hearing related to assault charges.<\/p>\n
Cosby faces three counts of felony indecent assault from a 2004 case involving Andrea Constand, an employee at his alma mater, Temple University.<\/p>\n
At the preliminary hearing, it’s up to the prosecution to prove there is a preponderance of evidence that Cosby did indeed commit the crime.<\/p>\n
At the end of the hearing, a judge will decide whether there is enough evidence to proceed with a criminal trial.<\/p>\n
If convicted, Cosby could face up to 10 years in prison.<\/p>\n
The case<\/strong> She was the first person to publicly allege sexual assault by Cosby.<\/p>\n After going to police, authorities declined to charge Cosby.<\/p>\n Bruce Castor, the Montgomery County district attorney at the time of the alleged incident, did not file sexual assault charges against Cosby, citing “insufficient credible and admissible evidence.”<\/p>\n The parties reached a civil settlement in 2006, but the case was reopened as new evidence came to light, including the number of other accusers coming forward and some of his remarks during a 2005 deposition that were recently unsealed.<\/p>\n The newly elected prosecutor in Montgomery County, Kevin Steele, turned the Cosby case into an election issue. He promptly reopened it after taking office.<\/p>\n Cosby was charged with three felonies and arraigned in December, then released on $1 million bond.<\/p>\n What Cosby’s side is saying<\/strong> Cosby sued Constand in February, claiming she violated terms of the 2006 settlement.<\/p>\n On Monday, a judge denied Cosby’s requested to stay court proceedings in the case.<\/p>\n Cosby has been accused of sexual misconduct by more than 50 women.<\/p>\n On Friday, a federal judge unsealed Camille Cosby’s February deposition in a Massachusetts lawsuit filed against her husband.<\/p>\n At one point, she told a lawyer she had “no opinion” on whether Cosby’s admission to the alleged procurement of Quaaludes for women he wanted to have sex with violated their marriage vows.<\/p>\n Cosby has denied he sexually assaulted any women.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n Source: CNN<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Bill Cosby entered a Pennsylvania court Tuesday morning for his first pretrial hearing related to assault charges. Cosby faces three counts of felony indecent assault from a 2004 case involving Andrea Constand, an employee at his alma mater, Temple University. At the preliminary hearing, it’s up to the prosecution to prove there is a preponderance […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":216808,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[137],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nConstand, a former basketball coach at Temple, said that during a 2004 visit to the comedian’s Philadelphia home, she was given pills and wine that left her hardly able to remain conscious — let alone consent to sex.<\/p>\n
\nCosby denies the allegations, and his lawyers contend that the new charges should be dismissed because, among other things, Castor announced in 2005 that Cosby wouldn’t be prosecuted.<\/p>\n