A Pennsylvania judge on Tuesday ordered comedian Bill Cosby to stand trial for the alleged sexual assault of a woman in 2004.
According to CNN, Montgomery County Magistrate Judge Elizabeth McHugh ruled that enough evidence existed in the case to charge Cosby with three counts of felony indecent assault over charges brought by Andrea Constand, the first of dozens of women who have since accused the comedian of sexual assault and rape.
Portions of Constand’s decade-old statements to police were reportedly read in court as the 78-year-old comedian, who has faced health problems recently, listened quietly. Constand herself did not appear in court.
Constand, a former Temple University basketball employee, told police that Cosby drugged and sexually abused her at his home in Cheltenham Township near Philadelphia in 2004. According to the statement she gave to police, Cosby allegedly gave the woman wine and two pills to “take the edge off” and later proceeded to sexually assault her.
Montgomery County Police Detective Katherine Hart read portions of Constand’s statement aloud in court on Tuesday.
“I got scared. I thought I was having a bad reaction to something,” the original statement read, according to the New York Post. “My legs felt rubbery and like jelly. I was a little spacey. Everything was blurry and dizzy. I felt nauseous (and) couldn’t keep my eyes open. (I) had no thought to call 911.”
But the woman alleged that “his hands were on my breasts. His hands were in my pants and his fingers in my vagina.”
Cosby’s defense team reportedly attempted to highlight discrepancies in Constand’s initial statement to police.
“You’re basically told here to tell us what somebody told another detective 11 years ago about what happened 12 years ago,” an attorney for Cosby asked Hart after establishing that she was not present to take Constand’s full statement.
“Yes,” Hart reportedly answered.
Cosby settled a civil suit with Constand in 2006 for an undisclosed sum. But the comedian’s deposition in the case was published by the New York Times in July of last year, in which Cosby detailed the extent of his relationship with Constand and admitted to giving the woman a tablet and a half of Benadryl to relieve stress, later kissing and engaging in sexual contact with her.
Cosby later sued Constand for what he claimed was a breach of the 2006 settlement.
New details from the depositions were made public on Monday. Cosby reportedly admitted to at least one sexual encounter with a teenage girl, and said an agency used to regularly send “five or six” models to his hotel room while he was filming an undisclosed television show.
Cosby is expected to appear in court again on July 20, though it was unclear when his trial would begin.
The comedian has been accused of sexual misconduct by more than 50 women.
Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum