Bill Cosby waves as he arrives at the Montgomery County Courthouse for a preliminary hearing Tuesday in Norristown, Pennsylvania. Cosby is accused of drugging and molesting a woman at his home in 2004.

Bill Cosby waves as he arrives at the Montgomery County Courthouse for a preliminary hearing Tuesday in Norristown, Pennsylvania. Cosby is accused of drugging and molesting a woman at his home in 2004.

Bill Cosby ordered to stand trial for sex assault

NORRISTOWN, Pa. — Bill Cosby was ordered Tuesday to stand trial on sexual assault charges after a hearing that hinged on a decade-old police report in which a woman said the comedian gave her three blue pills that put her in a stupor, unable to stop his advances.

District Judge Elizabeth McHugh ruled that prosecutors had sufficient evidence to bring Cosby to trial in the lone criminal case brought against him out of the barrage of allegations that he drugged and molested dozens of women. No immediate trial date was set.

Cosby, 78, could get 10 years in prison if convicted.

“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.

The judge set an arraignment for July 20, at which time he could enter a plea. But Cosby waived his right to appear at that proceeding. That sets the case on a trajectory for trial.

The hearing was not the face-to-face confrontation between accuser and accused that some had anticipated: Andrea Constand, the former Temple University employee who said Cosby violated her at his suburban Philadelphia mansion in 2004, was not in the courtroom, and the judge ruled that she would not have to testify.

Instead, prosecutors had portions of her 2005 statement to police read into the record.

While authorities in recent months have paraphrased her account and quoted fragments, this was apparently the first time that large sections of her statement — or Cosby’s, for that matter — were made public.

Constand told police in 2005 that the comedian penetrated her with his fingers after giving her pills that made her legs “rubbery” and “like jelly.” “Everything was blurry and dizzy. I felt nauseous,” she said.

“I told him, ‘I can’t even talk, Mr. Cosby.’ I started to panic,” she told police.

In her statement, 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.

Constand told detectives that Cosby positioned himself behind her after telling her to lie down on the couch. She said she awoke with her bra askew and did not remember undoing it.

Cosby’s lawyers argued unsuccessfully that reading Constand’s statement instead of putting her on the stand would be hearsay and would deprive him of his right to confront his accuser. Such testimony from law enforcement officers is common practice at preliminary hearings in Pennsylvania, which have a far lower burden of proof than trials.

In his own 2005 statement to police, excerpts of which were also read in court, Cosby portrayed it as consensual sexual activity, saying Constand never said “no” as he put his hand down her pants. A seemingly relaxed Cosby said he and Constand had had other “petting” sessions before.

Cosby also told police the pills were over-the-counter Benadryl that he takes to help him sleep. He said he gave Constand one and a half pills and she did not ask what they were.

During Tuesday’s hearing, Cosby attorney Brian McMonagle questioned why Constand continued to see the comedian and even returned to the house to meet with him after the alleged assault.

Detective Katherine Hart testified that Constand told detectives in 2005 that she went back to Cosby’s home to confront him about what had happened.

Constand also told detectives she contacted Cosby after moving to Canada because she wanted tickets to one of his comedy shows. McMonagle said Constand brought a present for Cosby.

Earlier Tuesday, the comedian walked into the courthouse on the arm of an aide, waving to people waiting outside. He looked healthier than he did when he was charged in December, and was not carrying a cane this time.

Prosecutors reopened the case last year after dozens of women leveled similar allegations and after Cosby’s sealed deposition in Constand’s lawsuit was made public.

He settled her lawsuit for an undisclosed sum in 2006 after testifying about his extramarital affairs, his use of quaaludes to seduce women and his efforts to hide payments to former lovers from his wife.

The testimony and the barrage of allegations have all but destroyed Cosby’s nice-guy image from TV’s “Cosby Show.”

Cosby’s lawyers are trying to get the case thrown out, arguing that a previous prosecutor a decade ago made a binding promise that the comic would never be charged. On Monday, Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court rejected a request to delay the preliminary hearing while Cosby pursues a dismissal.

Cosby has not entered a plea since his Dec. 30 arrest. He is free on $1 million bail.

He is also fighting defamation lawsuits across the country for allegedly branding his accusers liars and is trying to get his homeowner insurance to pay his legal bills.

Constand is now a massage therapist in Toronto.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett will welcome new CEO in June

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Kelli Littlejohn, who was 11 when her older sister Melissa Lee was murdered, speaks to a group of investigators and deputies to thank them for bringing closure to her family after over 30 years on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘She can rest in peace’: Jury convicts Bothell man in 1993 killing

Even after police arrested Alan Dean in 2020, it was unclear if he would stand trial. He was convicted Thursday in the murder of Melissa Lee, 15.

Ariel Garcia, 4, was last seen Wednesday morning in an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Dr. (Photo provided by Everett Police)
Everett police searching for missing child, 4

Ariel Garcia was last seen Wednesday at an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Drive. The child was missing under “suspicious circumstances.”

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.