The Latest: Cosby lawyer: High court should reverse ruling

NORRISTOWN, Pa. — The Latest on Bill Cosby asking a Pennsylvania judge to throw out his criminal sex assault case or force his accuser to testify (all times local):

5 p.m.

Bill Cosby’s lawyer says he’s confident Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court will reverse a judge’s decision to deny Cosby’s effort to compel the accuser in his criminal sex assault case to testify before trial.

Cosby’s legal team wanted the chance to cross-examine Andrea Constand before the 78-year-old actor is held for trial.

Cosby lawyer Brian McMonagle says Cosby “had his constitutional rights trampled upon.”

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The judge made the ruling Thursday, saying Cosby shouldn’t get a new preliminary hearing.

Prosecutors have instead used Constand’s police statement at a May preliminary hearing that upheld the charges.

The state high court is reviewing whether that type of secondhand testimony can be used as evidence before trial.

Cosby is accused of drugging and molesting Constand at his home near Philadelphia in 2004.

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4:25 p.m.

A Pennsylvania judge has denied Bill Cosby’s effort to compel the accuser in his criminal sex assault case to testify before trial.

The judge made the ruling Thursday, saying Cosby shouldn’t get a new preliminary hearing.

Cosby’s legal team wanted the chance to cross-examine Andrea Constand before the 78-year-old actor is held for trial.

Prosecutors have instead used her police statement at a May preliminary hearing that upheld the charges.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is reviewing whether that type of second-hand testimony can be used as evidence before trial. Cosby’s lawyers may point to that pending case to try to delay the trial.

Cosby is accused of drugging and molesting Andrea Constand at his home near Philadelphia in 2004. Prosecutors reopened the case last year amid new evidence.

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3:30 p.m.

Prosecutors say the right of defendants like Bill Cosby to confront their accusers in court doesn’t apply at Pennsylvania preliminary hearings.

Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said Thursday he’s using a recent rule change to spare Cosby accuser Andrea Constand and other sex crime victims from being re-traumatized.

Cosby’s lawyers are arguing that the 2013 rule change deprives him of constitutional due process rights. They asked the judge to dismiss Cosby’s sex assault case or schedule a new preliminary hearing.

Prosecutors relied heavily on Constand’s decade-old police statements in convincing a judge to send Cosby’s case to trial.

The 78-year-old Cosby is accused of drugging and molesting Constand in 2004.

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2:25 p.m.

Bill Cosby’s lawyers say they need to cross-examine his accuser before trial because her police statement raises more questions than it answers.

The defence Thursday has asked a Pennsylvania judge to dismiss Cosby’s sex assault case or schedule a new preliminary hearing.

They say a lower court found probable cause this spring based solely on decade-old police statements.

Prosecutors say Pennsylvania law allows hearsay testimony before trial to avoid re-traumatizing victims of violent crime. Cosby was held for trial in May based on his and accuser Andrea Constand’s police statements from 2005.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has agreed to review a similar case involving the use of hearsay at an evidence hearing.

The 78-year-old Cosby is accused of drugging and molesting Constand in 2004.

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1:05 p.m.

Bill Cosby has arrived at a Pennsylvania courthouse where he’ll ask a judge to either throw out his criminal sex assault case or force his accuser to testify before trial.

The 78-year-old comedian arrived just after 1 p.m. Thursday in a tan suit jacket and tie, holding onto the arm of an aide.

He is charged with felony sexual assault and accused of drugging and molesting a female friend in 2004.

Authorities reopened the case last year after learning Cosby had acknowledged in a deposition that he had given the woman pills and then engaged in sex acts with her.

Cosby calls the encounter with Andrea Constand consensual.

A judge found enough evidence to send the case to trial after hearing the statements that Cosby and Constand gave police.

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2 a.m.

Bill Cosby’s lawyers will ask a Pennsylvania judge to either throw out his criminal sex assault case or force his accuser to testify before trial.

Cosby is due back in court near Philadelphia on Thursday to appeal a ruling that let the woman’s police statement be used at the preliminary hearing.

The 78-year-old comedian is charged with felony sexual assault for allegedly drugging and molesting a female friend in 2004.

Authorities reopened the case last year after learning Cosby had acknowledged in a deposition that he had given the woman pills and then engaged in sex acts with her.

Cosby calls the encounter with Andrea Constand consensual.

A judge found enough evidence to send the case to trial after hearing the statements that Cosby and Constand gave police.

The Associated Press