NEWSMAKERS

NEWSMAKERS

Cosby’s accuser doesn’t have to testify before trial, judge rules

NORRISTOWN, Pa.

A judge on Thursday denied Bill Cosby’s effort to compel the accuser in his criminal sex-assault case to testify before trial, ruling the comedian shouldn’t get a new preliminary hearing.

Earlier, Cosby’s lawyers told the judge they need to cross-examine accuser Andrea Constand before trial because her statement to police raised more questions than it answered.

The defense asked the trial judge, Steven T. O’Neill, to dismiss the case or schedule a new preliminary hearing.

The comedian’s lawyers said a lower court found probable cause this spring based solely on decade-old police statements, and they complained that defense lawyers had no way to challenge the allegations.

Cosby lawyer Christopher Tayback said prosecutors’ use of the hearsay testimony rule “blows the doors off” due process.

“There is no rule that says, ‘The court has to follow this rule, even if it violates due process,’” he said.

Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele countered that the right of defendants like Cosby to confront their accusers in court doesn’t apply at Pennsylvania preliminary hearings.

Sarah Silverman says she’s ‘lucky to be alive’

LOS ANGELES

Comedian Sarah Silverman says she’s “insanely lucky to be alive” after undergoing surgery and spending a week in the intensive care unit due to what she calls “a freak case of epiglottitis.”

Epiglottitis is a swelling of the cartilage lid that covers the windpipe. The condition can block the flow of air into lungs and is potentially life-threatening.

Silverman wrote in a Facebook post Wednesday that she underwent surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and couldn’t be put to sleep for the recovery process due to low blood pressure. She added that she had to have her hands restrained to keep her from pulling out her breathing tube. She didn’t say when the surgery took place.

Associated Press