Bill Cosby arrives for 2nd day of proceedings

A judge on Tuesday ordered Bill Cosby to attend a second deposition and respond to questions in a lawsuit filed in California by a woman accusing the comedian of sexually abusing in the 1970s when she was underage.

“A secret agreement that allows a wealthy defendant to buy his way out of a criminal case isn’t right”, Steele told the judge.

On Tuesday, Judge Steven T. O’Neill puzzled over testimony from former Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor, who claimed he gave an unwritten promise of immunity for Cosby to his now-deceased lawyer.

However, Castor said the two lawyers did not have “an agreement” that Cosby would testify in exchange for not being prosecuted.

The former D.A.is scheduled to testify on behalf of Cosby… saying he indeed made the promise not to prosecute. She also noted that they hoped further motions would not be necessary, though they would not hesitate to file for them if needed.

Bill Cosby’s top lawyer says he thought criminal charges were off the table when he let the comedian testify in a lawsuit over a Pennsylvania woman’s claim he sexually assaulted her. He said he steered the matter to civil court so Constand could become “a millionaire”. “I want them to win”.

During cross-examination, there was also a tremendous amount of detailed scrutiny of quotes and documents attributed to Castor.

Cosby later stated in the deposition he was only referring to one unnamed woman.

He acknowledged that he didn’t draw up a formal immunity agreement filed with a judge because, he said, Cosby was afraid that would make him look bad. Cosby’s lawyers had accused Steele of making a “political football” out of Cosby during the campaign.

Cosby, who has not entered a plea, was charged December 30 with aggravated indecent assault against Constand, who went to authorities in 2005.

Castor said that Andrea Constand, the former Temple University employee and alleged victim, did not behave like a victim of sexual assault and that there was a “credibility issue”.

With the decision Wednesday, the case now moves to a preliminary hearing to see if prosecutors have enough evidence to prove Cosby assaulted the accuser at his Philadelphia-area home in 2004.

Constand’s civil suit alleged battery, sexual assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The news from the courthouse is that the judge will rule on where Cosby stands today.

That deposition was sealed for the last decade, but a federal judge unsealed parts of it last summer. In that hearing he gave a deposition he gave Quaaludes to women he wanted to have sex with.

Castor testified that he believed Constand’s story but found serious flaws in the case in 2005 and declined to bring charges.

Castor said this is because the announcement took away Cosby’s fight to invoke the Fifth Amendment, or the right against self-incrimination. M. Stewart Ryan said after Castor intimated as much.

Be Civil – It’s OK to have a difference in opinion but there’s no need to be a jerk. “Within days, she changed the day when it happened from March back to January ’04”.

Castor said Constand’s delay was of “enormous significance” in his consideration of the case. “I am not analyzing back in 2005 as to what I think”.

Both spoke as Cosby’s first pretrial hearing in Norristown neared its end.

CNN’s Aaron Cooper reported from Norristown; CNN’s Jason Hanna wrote from Atlanta.