Scandal-plagued comedian Bill Cosby was dealt a heavy blow in the looming sexual assault trial against him, as a judge ordered that potentially damaging deposition testimony that Cosby gave in 2005 and 2006 can be used in the case.
Cosby’s team had sought to suppress the deposition testimony, claiming that previous Montgomery County, Pennsylvania district attorney Bruce Castor had agreed not to prosecute him for the alleged sexual assault of former Temple University employee Andrea Constand.
However, in an order handed down Monday, Judge Steven. T. O’Neill shot down that line of argument.
“Instantly, this Court concludes that there was neither an agreement nor a promise not to prosecute only an exercise of prosecutorial discretion,” the order reads. “This Court finds that there is no Constitutional barrier to the use of the Defendant’s civil deposition testimony.”
The testimony, portions of which leaked to the media last year, stemmed from Constand’s lawsuit against Cosby, which the pair ultimately settled. The testimony gained widespread attention in part because Cosby, who has been accused of drugging and raping or sexually assaulting numerous women, admitted that he had obtained Quaaludes to give to women with whom he wanted to have sex.
Cosby is accused of drugging and assaulting Constand at his home in 2004. Last December, the comedian was charged with aggravated indecent assault, following the election of a new district attorney who made the Cosby case a prominent part of his campaign.
Cosby has denied the allegations.
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.