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956 KB

Extraction Summary

5
People
4
Organizations
3
Locations
3
Events
2
Relationships
4
Quotes

Document Information

Type: Legal filing / court exhibit (excerpt from pa supreme court opinion filed in us v. maxwell)
File Size: 956 KB
Summary

This document is an excerpt from a legal filing in the Ghislaine Maxwell case (1:20-cr-00330-PAE), specifically referencing the Pennsylvania Supreme Court opinion regarding Bill Cosby ([J-100-2020]). It details former D.A. Bruce Castor's explanation to D.A. Ferman regarding his 2005 decision not to prosecute Cosby; Castor explains this was a strategic move to strip Cosby of his 5th Amendment protections, thereby forcing him to testify in a civil suit filed by Andrea Constand. This document was likely filed by Maxwell's defense to establish legal precedent regarding the binding nature of Non-Prosecution Agreements (NPAs).

People (5)

Name Role Context
Bruce Castor Former District Attorney (Montgomery County)
Author of the email/statement explaining the non-prosecution agreement with Cosby.
Bill Cosby Defendant
Subject of the non-prosecution agreement and investigation.
Andrea Constand Victim / Civil Plaintiff
Referred to as [Constand]; recipient of settlement money.
Risa Vetri Ferman District Attorney
Referred to as D.A. Ferman; corresponded with Castor regarding the binding understanding.
Mr. Phillips Attorney
Cosby's lawyer at the time of the agreement.

Timeline (3 events)

Early 2005
Investigation of Cosby.
Montgomery County
February 2, 2016
Exhibit D-5 referenced (likely testimony or evidentiary submission).
Court
January 2004
Sexual offense incident occurred.
Cheltenham Township

Locations (3)

Relationships (2)

Bruce Castor Prosecutor / Subject Bill Cosby
Castor made the decision not to prosecute to force civil deposition.
Bruce Castor Colleagues / Successors Risa Vetri Ferman
Exchange of letters/emails regarding the history of the Cosby case.

Key Quotes (4)

"The attached Press Release is the written determination that we would not prosecute Cosby."
Source
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Quote #1
"The reason I agreed and the plaintiff’s lawyers wanted it in writing is so that Cosby could not take the 5th Amendment to avoid being deposed or testifying."
Source
DOJ-OGR-00004830.jpg
Quote #2
"I think Cosby would have an action against the County and maybe even against you personally."
Source
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Quote #3
"I signed the press release for precisely this reason, at the request of [Constand’s] counsel, and with the acquiescence of Cosby’s counsel"
Source
DOJ-OGR-00004830.jpg
Quote #4

Full Extracted Text

Complete text extracted from the document (2,905 characters)

Case 1:20-cr-00330-PAE Document 310-1 Filed 07/02/21 Page 18 of 80
believe any state judge would allow that deposition into evidence, nor
anything derived therefrom. In fact, that was the specific intent of all parties
involved including the Commonwealth and the plaintiff’s lawyers. Knowing
this, unless you can make out a case without that deposition and without
anything the deposition led you to, I think Cosby would have an action
against the County and maybe even against you personally. That is why I
have publically suggested looking for lies in the deposition as an alternative
now that we have learned of all these other victims we did not know about
at the time we had made the go, no-go decision on arresting Cosby. I
publically suggested that the DA in California might try a common plan
scheme or design case using [Constand’s] case as part of the res gestae in
their case. Because I knew Montgomery County could not prosecute Cosby
for a sexual offense, if the deposition was needed to do so. But I thought
the DA in California might have a shot because I would not have the power
to bind another state’s prosecutor.
Some of this, of course, is my opinion and using Cosby’s deposition in the
CA case, might be a stretch, but one thing is fact: the Commonwealth,
defense, and civil plaintiff’s lawyers were all in the agreement that the
attached decision from me stripped Cosby of this Fifth Amendment privilege
against self-incrimination, forcing him to be deposed. That led to Cosby
paying [Constand] a lot of money, a large percentage of which went to her
lawyers on a contingent fee basis. In my opinion, those facts will render
Cosby’s deposition inadmissible in any prosecution in Montgomery County
for the incident that occurred in January 2004 in Cheltenham Township.
Bruce
N.T., 2/2/2016, Exh. D-5.
Replying by letter, D.A. Ferman asserted that, despite the public press release,
this was the first she had learned about a binding understanding between the
Commonwealth and Cosby. She requested a copy of any written agreement not to
prosecute Cosby. D.A. Castor replied with the following email:
The attached Press Release is the written determination that we would not
prosecute Cosby. That was what the lawyers for [Constand] wanted and I
agreed. The reason I agreed and the plaintiff’s lawyers wanted it in writing
is so that Cosby could not take the 5th Amendment to avoid being deposed
or testifying. A sound strategy to employ. That meant to all involved,
including Cosby’s lawyer at the time, Mr. Phillips, that what Cosby said in
the civil litigation could not be used against him in a criminal prosecution for
the event we had him under investigation for in early 2005. I signed the
press release for precisely this reason, at the request of [Constand’s]
counsel, and with the acquiescence of Cosby’s counsel, with full and
[J-100-2020] - 17
DOJ-OGR-00004830

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