Judge Refuses — Again — to Dismiss Bill Cosby's Sexual Assault Charges

Montgomery County Judge Steven O'Neill on Wednesday refused to dismiss the sex assault charges against Bill Cosby and ruled against him on two more motions

Photo: KENA BETANCUR/AFP/Getty

Montgomery County Judge Steven O’Neill on Wednesday refused to dismiss the sexual assault charges against Bill Cosby and ruled against him on two other motions.

O’Neill also promised to rule before the next court hearings, scheduled for Dec. 13-14, on whether Cosby’s depositions in a long-settled civil suit against him may be used in his criminal case. And the judge denied Cosby’s request for competency hearings and in-camera interviews with 13 women who prosecutors want to have testify at his trial.

Cosby, 79, is charged with three counts of aggravated indecent assault for allegedly drugging and sexually assaulting former Temple University employee Andrea Constand, now 43, in January 2004 at his mansion in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania.

He has pleaded not guilty to those charges and has denied similar allegations from more than 50 women. He has previously moved to have the charges against him dismissed — and similarly been denied.

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In October, he filed a motion asking the judge to dismiss the charges against him, saying his due process rights were violated by the lengthy delay in his arrest. (In a motion earlier this year, Cosby’s attorneys unsuccessfully argued that he should not be prosecuted based on an alleged promise by the former Montgomery County district attorney.)

O’Neill heard arguments from both sides on Cosby’s latest motion to dismiss during hearings on Nov. 1 and 2 in Norristown, Pennsylvania.

He denied it without prejudice.

A Cosby spokesman declined to comment on the ruling. In a statement, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele said, “The Judge’s rulings today get us one step closer to presenting our evidence at trial and furthers our pursuit of justice for the victim in our case.”

Cosby’s trial is scheduled to begin in June.