Skip to content
News
Link copied to clipboard

L.A. district attorney reviews case against Cosby, too

Prosecutors in Los Angeles acknowledged Friday that they have begun reviewing sexual-abuse allegations against Bill Cosby, raising the possibility that the comedian could face criminal charges in more than one state.

Prosecutors in Los Angeles acknowledged Friday that they have begun reviewing sexual-abuse allegations against comedian Bill Cosby.
Prosecutors in Los Angeles acknowledged Friday that they have begun reviewing sexual-abuse allegations against comedian Bill Cosby.Read more

Prosecutors in Los Angeles acknowledged Friday that they have begun reviewing sexual-abuse allegations against Bill Cosby, raising the possibility that the comedian could face criminal charges in more than one state.

Los Angeles police presented a case to prosecutors Wednesday involving a 24-year-old woman who claims Cosby assaulted her in 2008.

The Los Angeles review comes as the clock ticks on a decade-old case in Montgomery County.

District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman has neither confirmed nor denied that she is revisiting allegations from a former Temple University employee that Cosby, 78, drugged and molested her in Montgomery County in 2004. But Cosby has quietly contacted Philadelphia-area criminal defense attorneys, sources have said, and Andrea Constand's attorney has said she would be willing to participate in a revived case. The 12-year statute of limitations on felony sex crimes will expire in January for Constand's accusations.

More than 50 women have accused Cosby of sexual misconduct, but most allegations are decades old and fall outside the time limits for prosecution.

Los Angeles police "presented a case regarding Bill Cosby to our sex-crimes division on Wednesday, and it's under review," said Ricardo Santiago, a spokesman for the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office.

Santiago said Friday that he did not have additional details about the case and did not know when prosecutors would conclude their review.

Chloe Goins, the woman accusing Cosby in Los Angeles, claims he drugged and assaulted her in a bedroom of the Playboy Mansion in 2008. It is unclear what charges are under consideration or whether they would fall under the statute of limitations. California has a 10-year statute of limitations for rape, but a six-year limit for other sex crimes.

Los Angeles prosecutors declined to bring charges in another woman's allegations against Cosby last year, citing an expired statute of limitations.

An attorney for Cosby did not respond to a message Friday. Cosby and his attorneys have repeatedly declined to discuss allegations against him beyond denying that he has assaulted any woman.

In Montgomery County, then-District Attorney Bruce L. Castor declined to charge Cosby in 2005.

But legal experts have said excerpts released this summer of a civil deposition Cosby gave in 2005 for Constand's civil lawsuit against him, along with the additional women who have accused him of sexual misconduct, could strengthen a criminal case.

Ferman has stayed quiet about the Cosby case, but she said in a statement to The Inquirer last month that prosecutors have "a responsibility to review past conclusions" when new information is available.

lmccrystal@phillynews.com

610-313-8116

@Lmccrystal

This article contains information from the Associated Press.