Bill Cosby‘s attorneys are going on the offensive against the prosecution in the criminal case brought against him in Pennsylvania.
The scandal-plagued comedian’s lawyers filed legal papers Thursday calling for the dismissal of the charges against him — or, barring that, the removal of Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele from the case.
In the filing, Cosby’s attorneys claim that the former “The Cosby Show” star entered into a non-prosecution agreement with former Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor.
The filing claims that Cosby’s attorney at that time has since died, and that evidence of the agreement has been lost.
“Mr. Castor’s emails confirm this, stating that ‘with the agreement of the defense lawyer … I intentionally and specifically bound the Commonwealth that there would be not [sic] state prosecution of Cosby,” the motion reads.
Thursday’s filing also claims that Steele “irreparably prejudiced Mr. Cosby through a barrage of politically motivated, improper public condemnations, even before bringing charges.”
Steele made the Cosby case a notable part of his campaign for the DA’s office last year, with a campaign ad tearing into Castor for not prosecuting Cosby.
The comedian is facing criminal charges stemming from the alleged assault of former Temple University employee Andrea Constand. Constand sued Cosby in 2005, but later settled the suit.
“Unless Mr. Steele and the Office are disqualified, their involvement will prejudice every proceeding that takes place,” Cosby’s lawyers assert. “Mr. Steele’s’ TV commercial plainly labels Mr. Cosby a ‘sexual predator’ and asserts that any failure to prosecute Mr. Cosby was tantamount to ‘not looking out for the victims.”
Cosby has been accused of rape or sexual assault by dozens of women, with many of the women claiming that the comedian drugged them beforehand.
The comedian’s former attorney, Martin Singer, has denied the allegations. In addition to the criminal charges against him, Cosby faces multiple lawsuits filed by women who say he assaulted them.
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.