A Pennsylvania judge ruled on Tuesday there is enough evidence for Bill Cosby to stand trial on sexual assault charges stemming from a 2004 incident.
Cosby nodded his head as Magisterial District Judge Elizabeth McHugh gave her ruling.
“Mr. Cosby, good luck to you, sir,” the judge said.
“Thank you,” said the former TV star, who stood up briskly after the ruling and seemed chipper and unsurprised. He hugged one of his lawyers.
Former Temple University athletic department employee Andrea Constand told authorities that Bill Cosby violated her sexually after giving 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,” 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.”
At some points, the testimony got explicit.
“I was aware that his hands were on my breast…and his fingers were in my vagina… His penis was erect,” she stated to police. “I don’t remember any kissing, any intercourse.”
Constand recalled to police, “Everything was blurry and dizzy. I felt nauseous.”
She said Cosby told her the pills were herbal medication. She said he also urged her to sip wine even though she said had not eaten and didn’t want to drink.
Cosby claimed it was consensual sexual activity.
Constand was not in the courtroom Tuesday. Law enforcement officers read her statements, which is a common practice at preliminary hearings in Pennsylvania.
“She was available to testify… it wasn’t necessary,” Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele told reporters after the hearing.
Cosby told police in 2005 that he had other “petting” sessions with Constand and at least once stopped kissing her breast when she asked him to.
He told police that Constand 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 get 10 years in prison if found guilty of indecent sexual assault.
“Obviously, this is a travesty of justice,” a lawyer for Cosby, Brian McMonagle, 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.”
Cosby has not entered a plea since his Dec. 30 arrest. He is free on $1 million bail. His next hearing is July 20th for a formal arraignment.
