Actors

Bill Cosby Accuser Fights to Void Decade-Old Secrecy Pact

Andrea Constand accused Cosby of drugging and molesting her at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004

The accuser in Bill Cosby's criminal sexual assault case in Pennsylvania wants a judge to void the secrecy clause surrounding their 2006 settlement since each side accuses the other of violating the pact.

A hearing Friday in federal court is set to weigh that issue and the breach-of-contract lawsuit Cosby filed against accuser Andrea Constand, her mother and her lawyer.

Constand's lawyer, Dolores Troiani, says Cosby is using the court system to try to intimidate witnesses.

Cosby's lawyers, meanwhile allege the Constand camp has violated the secrecy pact by cooperating with officials who reopened her police complaint last year.

Constand accused Cosby of drugging and molesting her at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004.

Her complaint wasn't prosecuted at the time, but new prosecutors reopened it last year and arrested Cosby in December, just before the 12-year statute of limitations expired. As part of their investigation, they interviewed Constand and her mother and obtained files from her lawyer.

The judge also is hearing motions Friday in Constand's defamation suit against Bruce Castor, the former suburban Philadelphia prosecutor who declined to arrest Cosby in 2005 and now says Constand enhanced her story when she filed suit.

Cosby has repeatedly denied all allegations of sexual misconduct.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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