Attorneys for scandal-plagued comedian Bill Cosby have asked for the case against him be dismissed, alleging in court papers that prosecutors failed to disclose and destroyed evidence.
Cosby is currently awaiting retrial in the case — which alleges that Cosby molested former Temple University worker Andrea Constand in 2004 at his home outside of Philadelphia — after the jury deadlocked and a mistrial was declared in the initial trial last year.
However, Cosby’s legal team filed papers this week alleging that prosecutors engaged in misconduct serious enough to warrant a dismissal of the case.
“The Court should dismiss all charges brought against William H. Cosby Jr. because, by the Commonwealth’s own admission, they have not only failed to disclose, but have destroyed exculpatory evidence,” the court papers read.
“Specifically, the prosecution recently disclosed for the first time that, prior to the first trial in this case, a prosecutor and two detectives interviewed a critical witness, Marguerite Jackson, who told them that in 2003 or 2004, the complaining witness, Andrea Constand, a co-worker and friend, had told her that she had not been sexually assaulted but she could say she had, file charges, and get money.
“Yet, the prosecution failed to disclose to the defense that they met with this witness and that they destroyed the notes of their meetings,” the papers continue.
In an affidavit from Jackson filed as an exhibit in the papers, Jackson — who states that she has been an employee at Temple University for the past 31 years — says that Constand initially told her during a conversation in a hotel room that she had been victimized by a “very powerful man” but, when pressed on whether the victimization actually occurred, replied, “No, it didn’t but I could say it did … I could say it happened, file charges and get money to go to school and open a business.”
TheWrap has reached out to the Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, district attorney’s office for comment on the Cosby team’s accusations.
Alleging that the prosecution “committed multiple violations of its ethical responsibility and violated Mr. Cosby’s constitutional rights,” the court papers add, “Such misconduct warrants dismissal of the charges.”
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.