The sexual assault case against legendary comedian Bill Cosby will go to trial, a judge decided Tuesday, after finding enough evidence in a preliminary hearing to proceed.
Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, District Judge Elizabeth McHugh found probable cause after portions of the police statement from accuser Andrea Constand were read in court. Constand was not required to testify.
Cosby, 78, faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted. His defense team had argued that the case — the only criminal case amid dozens of accusations — shouldn’t be tried.
At issue is “an accusation made many years ago about an incident that allegedly occurred 12 years ago,” Cosby’s defense attorney Brian McMonagle said during Tuesday’s hearing. “I have never once had a case where the prosecution has relied, in a sexual abuse case, on exclusively hearsay evidence in a hearing.”
“It is a complete denial of this defendant’s due process rights,” McMonagle added.
Constand, a former basketball star who worked at Cosby’s alma mater, Temple University, claims that he drugged and molested her at his Pennsylvania home in 2004. Cosby insists their sexual encounter was consensual.
Prosecutors at the time chose not to charge Cosby, but he was hit with a count of aggravated indecent assault last year after dozens of other women came forward with claims of sexual misconduct.
Cosby has denied all allegations of assault and has sued some of his accusers for defamation. He settled a lawsuit by Constand for an undisclosed sum a decade ago.
He entered the Pennsylvania courtroom Tuesday dressed in a dark suit, white shirt and a tie, and walked in with the help of an assistant, cracking a few smiles, and showed little reaction when the judge said he would be tried on all charges.
Cosby has been free on $1 million bail since he was arrested Dec. 30.
—NBC News’ Hannah Rappleye and Elizabeth Chuck contributed to this article.
Hannah Rappleye and Elizabeth Chuck contributed. This article originally appeared on NBCNews.com.
Tom Winter
Tracy Connor