A new report from a Philadelphia news organization has further thrown into question the credibility of Andrea Constand, the woman who accused comedian Bill Cosby of sexual assault more than 12 years ago.
Cosby faces a second criminal trial in April in the wake of Constand’s allegations, after the initial trial ended in a hung jury.
However, the YC, a news organization that provides the means for college students to perform investigative journalism, reported that Constand visited the Montgomery County (Pa.) Court of Common Please Law Library daily for nearly a year in 2015 during the campaign of District Attorney Kevin Steele.
What was she doing there?
The report comes after former District Attorney Bruce Castor sued Constand, saying that she defamed him because of her statements during his re-election bid against Steele.
Castor said Constand made numerous inconsistent comments to investigators in 2005, including the nature of her relationship with Cosby and how she continued to call the comedian more than four dozen times after she alleged that he assaulted her.
Further, Constand sought out civil attorneys before waiting one year to make allegations against Cosby, Castor said.
Constand, a Canadian resident and citizen traveled to the Montgomery courthouse, a location that became the spotlight of networks and media outlets around the globe.
During the criminal trial earlier this year, conflicting testimony, inconsistent statements, bizarre facts and the political pull had jurors deadlocked for a number of days until Judge Steven O’Neil finally declared a mistrial after 10 days of deliberation, the YC reported.
The news organization noted that the criminal case stemmed in 2005, when Constand filed a civil suit after Castor didn’t criminally prosecute Cosby, following a thorough criminal investigation.
“Constand was trying to gain a tactical advantage with the election in order to get Kevin Steele put in so that she could get Cosby prosecuted,” James Beasley Jr., Castor’s attorney representing him in the lawsuit against Constand told reporters.
Castor lost the race to Kevin R. Steele, following Constand’s participation in the election, who ran TV ads criticizing Castor’s handling of the 2005 investigation into Cosby, who has maintained his innocence even turning down what was termed as a “sweetheart plea offer.”
Constand filed a lawsuit against Castor just months before Election Day, giving Steele the “October Surprise,” which Castor alleges influenced the outcome of the election and gave her an opportunity to bring criminal charges against Cosby, the YC reported.
Castor told interviewers during the election that the story Constand told investigators in Montgomery County were drastically different from the story she described in the civil suit against the entertainer, therefore resulting in Castor not bringing criminal charges against the entertainer in 2005.
“That’s not to say she lied in her civil suit,” Castor said in early 2005.
“Her lawyers wrote out allegations that they hoped to be able to prove in court. We have to worry about what we can prove beyond a reasonable doubt.”
In 2015, Constand made headlines after she filed a civil suit against Castor just 10 days before the election and after her daily courthouse visits.
That federal deposition from 2015 is sealed, but may very well contain information that would be relevant to the criminal case against Cosby, in which case the public has a right to know.
It’s led to questions such as, why did Constand change her story several times? The question became a matter not of whether she had lied, but rather who she was lying to, The Cheltenham, Pa., Police or Montgomery County detectives.
Did she lie in the civil deposition or on the witness stand during the criminal trial?
If the Philadelphia federal court grants access to the transcript and all files relating to the civil case filed against Castor, these questions could finally be answered, thus putting together more pieces of the puzzle this case has become.