Former District Attorney Made Promise Not to Prosecute My Client- Bill Cosby's Lawyer

Attorney Chris Tayback told Montgomery County Judge Steve O'Neill in closing arguments Wednesday that “A promise is a promise, The current district attorney is trying to get out from underneath that promise” as he reminded the court that former district attorney made promise not to prosecute Bill Cosby.

The newly-elected Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele, who will present witnesses starting Wednesday afternoon, disagreed saying “There's no legal authority allowing a district attorney unilaterally to offer ... immunity to a defendant”.  Castor testified for nearly seven hours on Tuesday, where he repeatedly referred to himself as a sovereign who had the power to give immunity to whomever he wanted to, without the approval of a judge. Castor, the Montgomery County district attorney at the time, did not file criminal charges, but after Constand sued Cosby, she and the comedian agreed to a civil settlement in late 2006.

Constand is the former director of operations for the Temple University women's basketball team who went to authorities in January 2005 with allegations that, in January 2004, Cosby gave her pills at his house that knocked her out before sexually assaulting her. Cosby has denied this allegation, saying the sexual contact was consensual. He has denied similar allegations similar allegations from more than 50 other women.

Castor said he decided not to prosecute Cosby because of the many problems with the case which included: Constand's delay in reporting; the lack of forensic evidence; her alleged contact with civil attorneys before going to police; her phone contact with Cosby and possibly one face-to-face meeting after the alleged incident but before she went to police and discrepancies in her accounts to police.

Last month, Cosby's attorneys filed a motion to have the charges against him dismissed. In the motion, Cosby's attorneys argue that the Dec. 30 charges in Pennsylvania against Cosby violate an express agreement between Cosby and authorities, in which authorities agreed Cosby “would never be prosecuted with respect to the allegations of sexual assault made by complainant Andrea Constand”.

Steele, who recently assumed office, filed a response saying such an immunity deal would have to be authorized by a judge, which it was not.