NORRISTOWN, Pa. _ Lawyers in the Bill Cosby sexual assault case spent Tuesday morning arguing whether a deposition the comedian gave in a 2005 civil proceeding is admissible in his upcoming criminal trial.
As the famous defendant sat in court, his lead attorney, Brian McMonagle, said the deposition _ which was given in a civil suit filed by Andrea Constand, who accused him of sexual assault _ should be suppressed because Cosby gave it under the presumption he wouldn't be prosecuted.
"At the time they let him sit for the deposition, the promise had been made," McMonagle said, alluding to a guarantee the defense says former Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce L. Castor made to Cosby's late lawyer Walter Phillips.
The prosecution contends there was no such promise and that the civil testimony was thus given with no conditions.
Cosby has been charged with three felony counts of aggravated indecent assault as a result of a 2004 instance of sexual contact with former Temple University basketball staffer Constand in his suburban Philadelphia home. Cosby maintains the acts were consensual; the prosecution argues they weren't. Cosby is set to stand trial in June.
The deposition is considered extremely helpful to the prosecution's case. Though officially sealed, portions of it have been leaked, including Cosby's admission that he had a modus operandi of giving women Quaaludes before initiating sexual contact with them _ an admission that could move the needle with a jury.
For his part, Assistant District Attorney M. Stewart Ryan _ often bolstered by Judge Steven O'Neill's questioning of McMonagle _ argued that lawyers made no request to formalize immunity for Cosby before the deposition, suggesting that such immunity was not a factor in why Cosby testified.
The proceedings were the beginning of a four-day set of hearings scheduled for November and December that will set the rules for the Cosby trial _ or determine whether one will proceed at all.
Among the other motions being heard is a bid by the defense to dismiss the case because of a delay in arresting Cosby for more than a decade, and a motion by the prosecution to allow 13 other accusers to testify against Cosby under the so-called Prior Bad Acts clause.
The latter issue has been especially scrutinized outside the courtroom. Many of the dozens of women who have come forward to accuse Cosby of sexual assault have seen the statute of limitations on their cases expire. The opportunity for them to testify would, victims' rights advocates say, amount to a de facto day in court.
Among the lead voices is the outspoken Los Angeles lawyer Gloria Allred, who was present as a spectator in the courtroom Thursday, having caught a red-eye flight from L.A. back to her native Philadelphia.
Meanwhile, the deposition debate led to some theatrical moments, particularly over how the defense might be able to prove a promise not to prosecute without any apparent witnesses.
The judge repeatedly pressed McMonagle on the fact that Phillips, the one person in the room who may have heard any such guarantee, was no longer around to testify.
McMonagle replied: "I want to go over and ask Walter Phillips what happened," banging an empty chair to symbolize Phillips' absence. "But he's dead. And he's dead because they waited 12 years to bring this prosecution."
