Cosby accuser sues ex-DA alleging he defamed her
A Bill Cosby accuser who failed to persuade a Pennsylvania prosecutor to charge Cosby with rape 10 years ago now is suing the ex-DA for defamation — a week before his closely contested election to get his old job back.
Cosby himself is battling a half-dozen civil lawsuits stemming from accusations that he drugged and raped nearly 60 women in episodes dating back decades. Now his legal woes are spawning new lawsuits against others and spilling into politics.
Andrea Constand, a former Temple University employee who says Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her in his home outside Philadelphia in 2004, tried to get then-Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor to file criminal charges against Cosby in 2005.
Castor declined, saying there was not enough evidence. Constand went on to the settle a civil suit against Cosby for undisclosed terms in 2006. The case was sealed, until it spilled into public view earlier this year with a leak of Cosby's deposition in the case.
Castor was quoted as saying that Constand did not tell police all the details she later provided in the civil suit, and that he might have acted differently if she had.
Constand and her lawyer, Dolores Troiani, were furious, demanding Castor retract his remarks and apologize.
Castor did not. The Republican is locked in a close race against Democrat Kevin Steele for the open district attorney post in Montgomery County. Steele has been running 30-second ads attacking Castor for failing to charge Cosby and for allegedly not supporting rape victims.
On Monday, Constand sued Castor, saying he defamed her and invaded her privacy by his recent comments regarding her and Cosby, and made her "collateral damage for his political ambitions."
"He said that she enhanced her statement for monetary gain (in the civil case)," Troiani told the Associated Press. "This is outrageous that a victim of a crime could be treated this same way — twice — by the same man."
Castor told The Philadelphia Inquirer that Constand and her lawyer are engaging in "quite despicable behavior" and attempting to influence the outcome of the election.
Meanwhile, the current DA for Montgomery County, Risa Vetri Ferman (Steele's boss), who is stepping down to run for judge, is considering whether to revive the criminal investigation of Constand's 2005 case. The statute of limitations for criminal charges in Pennsylvania runs out in January.
Cosby has denied all wrongdoing and has not been charged with a crime. Most of the accusations against him are so old the statutes of limitation have run out.
Prosecutors in New Jersey have already rejected a demand to charge him criminally in a case there, but prosecutors in California are considering whether to file felony rape charges in a case in Los Angeles.
Contributing: The Associated Press