Bill Cosby to Stand Trial for Sexual Assault, Judge Rules

Comedian/actor Bill Cosby performs at the Treasure Island Hotel & Casino on September 26, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Bill Cosby (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

A Pennsylvania judge on Tuesday ruled there is enough evidence for Bill Cosby to stand trial on sexual assault charges involving a 2004 incident. As Magisterial District Judge Elizabeth McHugh handed down her ruling, Mr. Cosby just nodded his head.

“Mr. Cosby, good luck to you, sir,” Judge McHugh said to the 78-year-old actor and comedian.

“Thank you,” the former TV star responded, before standing up in a strangely chipper and unsurprised manner. Mr. Cosby then hugged one of his lawyers.

Prosecutors brought charges against Mr. Cosby on December 30, 2015 after former Temple University athletic department employee Andrea Constand told police that he drugged and sexually assaulted her at his home near Philadelphia in 2004. He had not entered a plea since his arrest and is free after posting 10% of a $1 million bail in cash. His next hearing is July 20th for a formal arraignment.

Ms. Constand said he gave her pills that made her dizzy and left her legs feeling “like jelly,” according to a police report read at a court hearing Tuesday.

“I told him, ‘I can’t even talk, Mr. Cosby.’ I started to panic,” Ms. Constand told police in 2005, according to statements read in court. “I was laying on my left side with my knees bent. That is the last thing I remember… I recall Mr. Cosby’s body near mine. I was in and out.”

Dozens of other women have come forward with similar accusations against the once-beloved actor who played Dr. Cliff Huxtable from TV’s “The Cosby Show.” The testimony on Tuesday got explicit.

“I was aware that his hands were on my breast…and his fingers were in my vagina… His penis was erect,” she told police in a statement. “I don’t remember any kissing, any intercourse. Everything was blurry and dizzy. I felt nauseous.”

Ms. Constand, who was not in the courtroom on Tuesday, said Mr. Cosby claimed the pills were just herbal medication and he also pressured her to drink wine even though she said had not eaten and didn’t want to drink. He claims it was consensual sexual activity. Law enforcement officers read her statements, which is a common practice at preliminary hearings in Pennsylvania.

“She was available to testify, but it wasn’t necessary,” Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele told reporters after the hearing.

He previously admitted under oath to drugging several women with the intent to having sex with them, though he claimed to have consensual sex. Pennsylvania law gives prosecutors up to 12 years for some sex crimes, with the clock running out on this case in January. Mr. Cosby told police in 2005 that he had other “petting” sessions with Constand, stopped kissing her breast at least once when she asked him to and that she never said “no” as he put his hand down her pants and fondled her on the night in question in 2004.

The TV star, known as America’s Dad, could now get 10 years in prison if found guilty of indecent sexual assault.

“Obviously, this is a travesty of justice,” Brian McMonagle, a lawyer for Mr. Cosby told reporters outside of the courthouse after the ruling. “They had 12 years to bring a case. They didn’t, and what they presented today was evidence of nothing. The inconsistencies that plagued this case from the beginning continue to plague it now. This case should end immediately.”

A request for comment was not returned Wednesday, but the allegations that have long plagued the comedian are now taking a serious toll. On November 19, NBC became the second outlet following Netflix to cancel projects with Bill Cosby, which came only one day after famous model and well-known TV host Janice Dickinson told “Entertainment Tonight” that she was sexually assaulted by the comic in 1982.

Mr. Cosby recently filed a lawsuit alleging seven of the woman who accused him of sexual assault engaged in “nothing more than an opportunistic attempt to extract financial gain from him.” The comedian is seeking an unspecified amount in monetary damages and claimed the women inflicted emotional distress. As a result of the revelations, Boston University announced last November that it was rescinding an honorary degree they awarded to the entertainer in May 2014.

A poll taken in the wake of the cancelations and rash of new allegations found that—even though nearly half of Americans said they think it’s likely the rape allegations against comedian Bill Cosby were true—networks shouldn’t have cancelled his shows until he was found guilty of an actual crime. But now, according to the most recent survey conducted by Rasmussen Reports, just 21% of American adults now have a favorable view of Bill Cosby.