Decade later, Cosby could face accuser behind sex charges | iNFOnews.ca
ADVANCE FOR SUNDAY, MAY 8 - FILE - In this combination of file photos, entertainer Bill Cosby pauses during an interview in Washington on Nov. 6, 2014, and Andrea Constand poses for a photo in Toronto on Aug. 1, 1987. Lawyers for Constand say the 43-year-old Toronto resident is ready to testify in Cosby's criminal sex-assault case, but suburban Philadelphia prosecutors may try to avoid a grueling cross-examination by deciding not to call her at the 78-year-old's preliminary hearing scheduled Tuesday, May 24, 2016, in Montgomery County, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, left, and Ron Bull/Toronto Star/The Canadian Press via AP, right) MANDATORY CREDIT; TORONTO OUT; NO SALES; NO MAGAZINES

Decade later, Cosby could face accuser behind sex charges

PHILADELPHIA – The Toronto woman at the heart of Bill Cosby’s criminal sex-assault case could face the TV legend in court this month at his scheduled preliminary hearing.

Lawyers for Andrea Constand say she is ready to testify.

But suburban Philadelphia prosecutors could decide not to call her at the May 24 hearing to avoid a grueling cross-examination before trial.

They could instead use her police statement under new Pennsylvania case law that allows hearsay evidence at pretrial hearings.

The ruling spares crime victims the ordeal of repeated court appearances.

Constand is now 43 and says she was drugged and molested at Cosby’s home in 2004.

Prosecutors initially declined to arrest him, but armed with new evidence brought charges in December.

The 78-year-old Cosby has asked the state Supreme Court to delay the hearing and dismiss the case.

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