Cosby DA: Chief judge’s TV interview ‘fuels’ misinformation

PHILADELPHIA — The lead prosecutor in Bill Cosby’s sex assault case believes the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overstepped its power in reversing the comedian’s conviction and added “fuel on the fire” when the chief justice gave a weekend television interview — and appeared to misstate the key issue in the appeal. “Despite the extensive investigation we conducted, we found no credible evidence that Castor had given Cosby immunity,” Steele said in a statement issued late Sunday, in response to Baer’s unusual television comments about the decision. Ferman, later asked under oath if she thought the news release amounted to a non-prosecution or immunity agreement, said, “No of course not.” Castor, as he campaigned to return to the District Attorney’s Office in 2015, insisted the decision not to prosecute Cosby was meant to be binding. The Supreme Court, in its majority opinion, said the record supports O’Neill’s finding that Castor made a charging decision, not a formal immunity agreement, but said his 2015 “attempts to explain or characterize his actions are largely immaterial.” Instead, the four-person majority found “indisputable evidence” that Castor hoped to induce Cosby to testify in the civil suit in the hope it would help Constand.