Bill Cosby’s criminal sex-assault case was temporarily halted days before a key hearing while a Pennsylvania appeals court considers his effort to have the case thrown out before trial.
The Pennsylvania Superior Court granted Cosby a postponement Tuesday while the court decides whether to hear Cosby’s pretrial appeal. His preliminary hearing had been set for next week.
Cosby, 78, is accused of drugging and molesting a Temple University employee in his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004.
He said he had a promise from a former district attorney that he would never be charged over his encounter with Andrea Constand. However, a different district attorney reopened the case last year and filed charges in December, weeks before the statute of limitations expired.
The preliminary hearing to determine if probable cause exists to send the case to trial had been set for March 8. The hearing seemed likely to be postponed unless the Superior Court quickly decided to quash his appeal.