Soon, the world will watch as once-beloved entertainer Bill Cosby becomes the most famous celebrity to be tried on criminal charges since the late Michael Jackson after a US judge ordered him to stand trial for alleged sexual assault.
READ: Bill Cosby countersues 7 women who claim he sexually assaulted them
During the hearing, Mr Cosby’s lawyer had a heated argument with the judge over police reading a statement from the accuser, Andrea Constand.
Also Read: Bill Cosby’s statue removed from Disney’s Hollywood Theme Park
His lawyer argued that Ms Constand, who lives in Toronto, should have testified in person and called her statement ‘hearsay’.
Ms Constand described how Mr Cosby allegedly sexually violated her after giving her three blue pills. She said the pills made her dizzy and made her legs ‘like jelly’.
‘I told him, ‘I can’t talk, Mr Cosby’. I started to panic,’ she said.
Mr Cosby said in a statement read in court that she never told him to stop during the encounter.
ALSO READ: How three more women accuse Bill Cosby of sexual assault
Mr. Cosby, who sat flanked by his three lawyers throughout the hearing, stood at the end and said, ‘Thank you.’
Mr. Cosby was helped from the courtroom by his aides without speaking further. His lawyers got into a separate car and, when asked how Mr. Cosby was feeling, said nothing beyond one of them offering a thumbs-up.
Cosby, 78, faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
The judge’s decision marks a stunning turn of events for the once-beloved sitcom star, who thus far had avoided trial from sexual assault allegations from various women.
