Prosecutors Slam Cosby's Bid to Dismiss Charges

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Bill Cosby, accompanied by Andrew Wyatt, departs after a pretrial hearing in Cosby's sexual assault case at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown on Aug. 22, 2017. Photo: Matt Rourke/AP[/caption] Prosecutors said Monday that Bill Cosby's allegations that they concealed and destroyed evidence are untrue, and that his plea to dismiss the charges against him should not be granted. In a response to Cosby's pretrial motion to dismiss sexual assault charges, the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office said in court filings that the evidence Cosby pointed to never existed in the first place, and recent events in the news related to sexual assault should not be grounds for dismissal. Cosby had argued in his motion that "the commonwealth now gets a second bite at the apple, with Mr. Cosby's ability to obtain a fair trial diminishing, to the extent it even exists." The motion cited allegations against movie producer Harvey Weinstein, and said Cosby is facing his retrial in an "increasingly hostile" climate. "Defendant, after casting blame on everything but his own conduct and everything but himself, now claims Harvey Weinstein is to blame for his continued prosecution," the prosecutors' response, filed Monday, said. "There is, of course, no basis in law for defendant to claim that because a subject is 'emotionally charged' an offender cannot be brought to justice." With regard to Cosby's allegations that the DA's office destroyed evidence, the DA said Cosby "seems disinterested in reality." "In defendant's latest motion, sworn to and submitted by his newest team of lawyers, he trots out poorly repackaged and tired complaints in yet another effort to avoid his criminal charges," the prosecutors' response said. "In doing so, he raises claims that are demonstrably false." Cosby is set to be retried on aggravated indecent assault charges in April, based on Andrea Constand's allegations that he drugged and sexually assaulted her in 2004. Last month the defense asked to admit testimony from Marguerite Jackson, a former co-worker of Constand's, asserting that Constand had told Jackson she could lie about her alleged assault in order to secure a payout. According to the DA's response filing, prosecutors did not have any notes from an interview with Jackson, so they could not have destroyed notes, as Cosby's lawyers have alleged. Additionally, prosecutors said, Constand did not perjure herself when she testified that she did not remember Jackson during Cosby's first trial in June. And, they said, prosecutors did not coach Constand in her responses to questions about Jackson, as Cosby alleged in his motion. "Allegations like these are very serious; and they should not be made carelessly or, even worse, disingenuously," the prosecutors' response said. "But that is what defendant has done." A spokesman for Cosby's legal team declined to comment on Monday's filings.