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Bill Cosby's sexual assault pretrial kick-starts

USA

World renowned comedian and actor Bill Cosby’s pretrial on charges of sexually assaulting Andrea Constand – former basketball team manager started on Tuesday in Norristown, Pennsylvania.

His lawyers were expected to urge the trial judge to throw out criminal charges against him , arguing that the case violates an agreement between his lawyers and the then district attorney-Bruce Castor Junior- dating back to 2005 – that Cosby would not be prosecuted if he agreed to testify under oath in a civil lawsuit Constand filed against him.

Castor did confirm that he forged an oral “non-prosecution” agreement in 2005 with Walter M. Phillips Jr., a Cosby lawyer who died last year.

But prosecutors have said in court filings that no documentation exists to corroborate any such agreement. Moreover, they argue Castor did not have the authority to bar his office forever from pursuing criminal charges against Cosby.

A judge last year revealed that testimony, in which Cosby acknowledged giving her, Benadryl, an anti-allergy medication, portrayed the encounter as consensual.

The 78-year-old is being accused by dozens of women of sexual assault and has admitted in a deposition that he had a series of affairs with young models and actresses.

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