Cosby loses appeal bid, criminal case to resume

PHILADELPHIA - A state appeals court Monday said it won't hear Bill Cosby's bid to dismiss sexual assault charges against him and instead returned the case to Montgomery County to resume its path toward a trial.

In a three-sentence order, the Superior Court panel rejected the 78-year-old entertainer's request for a rare pretrial appeal. The court also lifted a temporary stay it had put on all court proceedings, paving the way for a pretrial evidentiary hearing in Norristown.

Cosby's lawyers had petitioned the higher court after Montgomery County Court Judge Steven O'Neill rejected their arguments in February that former Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce L. Castor, Jr., had pledged the office would never prosecute Cosby over sexual assault allegations lodged by Andrea Constand in 2005. Castor said he made the deal in part to ensure Cosby's testimony in a civil lawsuit brought by Constand.

The current district attorney, Kevin R. Steele, says no such nonprosecution agreement existed. In arguments to the appellate court, he also contended that Cosby did not have the right to appeal O'Neill's ruling before trial.

The defense said the petition was appropriate because there would be no trial if the appeals court sided with them.

Monday's ruling paves the way for Steele's office to move forward with a preliminary evidentiary hearing in the case that previously was postponed. No new date has been announced.

Cosby is accused of drugging and assaulting Constand, a former Temple University women's basketball manager, at his Cheltenham mansion in early 2004. He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of aggravated indecent assault.

Through his lawyers, he has denied any wrongdoing.