Judge Rules Bill Cosby’s Damning Deposition Can Be Used at Trial

A judge ruled Monday that prosecutors can use damning testimony from an accuser’s lawsuit against Bill Cosby at his upcoming sexual-assault trial. The testimony includes a confession to providing young women with drugs and alcohol before sex, a statement that Cosby’s defense claims was provided only after he was promised immunity. Montgomery County Judge Steven O’Neill on Monday ruled there was no immunity agreement in place, however. The testimony stems from Cosby’s questioning over a 2004 encounter with accuser Andrea Constand, one of several women who says she was drugged and raped by the 79-year-old comedian. “I don’t hear her say anything. And I don’t feel her say anything. And so I continue and I go into the area that is somewhere between permission and rejection. I am not stopped,” Cosby said in the deposition, referring to the encounter that he has claimed was consensual. Cosby also admitted to getting seven prescriptions for Quaaludes in the 1970s to use on young women, saying he used them in sexual encounters “the same as a person would say, ‘Have a drink.’” While Monday’s ruling is a pretrial win for Cosby’s accusers, prosecutors still have to fight to get permission to call 13 accusers to the stand. “Allowing the jury to hear Mr. Cosby’s deposition testimony is another step forward in this case and will aid the jury in making its determination,” District Attorney Kevin Steele told the Associated Press after the ruling.