Bill Cosby defense to cite Dauphin Co. case in attempt to get charges dropped
HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHP) -- Bill Cosby will again attempt to get the sexual assault charges against him dropped this week.
A high-profile case in Dauphin County may just help the comedian.
At Cosby's preliminary hearing, the defense team immediately brought up the case of Dave Ricker, a man accused of shooting a state trooper two years ago at his West Hanover Township home.
Ricker won a hearing before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court because his accuser never took the stand against him in the preliminary hearing, a move his defense says violated his constitutional right to face his accuser.
The Cosby team thinks it applies to their case, too.
Neither Ricker nor Cosby saw their accuser on the stand at their preliminary hearings. Instead, a tape recording was played at Ricker's, while police officers read a statement by Cosby's accuser, Andrea Constand.
A state appeals court has said police can read the accuser's statement instead.
"There is something fundamentally unfair about that because, although the preliminary hearing is not a trial stage, it is an important stage," Ricker's defense attorney William Costopoulos said.
Prosecutors say they really want to test Constand's credibility.
Cosby, 78, must show up for the scheduled session Thursday in Montgomery County.
If both Ricker and Cosby win, they could get new preliminary hearings, forcing the cases to start all over again.
