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ByMaryclaireDale TheAssociatedPress ELKINS PARK, PA. Enter- tainer Bill Cosby has long maintained that his extra- marital conquests over the years were all consensual. A jury may ultimately de- cide if that's true after the 78-year-old actor was ar- rested Wednesday on felony assault charges in subur- ban Philadelphia stemming from a 2004 encounter with a former Temple Uni- versity employee less than half his age. The case marks the first time Cosby has been charged with sexual mis- conduct despite years of lu- rid allegations, and it sets the stage for perhaps the biggest Hollywood celebrity trial of the mobile-news era. Newevidence Prosecutors armed with new evidence this year be- lieve his accuser, Andrea Constand, was too impaired by the pills and wine Cosby gave her to consent to the sexual activity that followed at his home. Cosby gave a deposition after the woman sued him in 2005. He said she never told him to stop. But police now say that's because she was "frozen," "paralyzed," and "in and out of con- sciousness." "On the evening in ques- tion, Mr. Cosby urged her to take pills that he provided, and to drink wine, the effect of which rendered her un- able to move or to respond to his advances," incom- ing Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele said at a news confer- ence Wednesday morning. Hours later, Cosby ar- rived at a small courthouse to be arraigned. Holding a cane, Cosby walked slowly and un- steadily into court on the arms of his lawyers to an- swer the charges against him. He had no comment as he was released on $1 mil- lion bail. "Make no mistake: We intend to mount a vigorous defense against this unjus- tified charge, and we expect that Mr. Cosby will be exon- erated by a court of law," his attorney Monique Pressley said in a statement. Statute of limitations The decision to prosecute came just days before Penn- sylvania's 12-year statute of limitations for bringing charges was set to run out. It represents an about-face by the district attorney's office, which under a previ- ous DA declined to charge Cosby in 2005 when Con- stand first told police that the comic put his hands down her pants. Prosecutors said Cosby gave Constand pills and wine, then penetrated her with his fingers without her consent while she was im- paired, unable to resist or cry out. In court papers, they said Constand was given the cold medicine Benad- ryl or some other, unidenti- fied substance. Steele noted that Cosby has admitted giving quaaludes to women he wanted to have sex with. The former "Cosby Show" star and breaker of racial barriers was charged with aggravated indecent as- sault, punishable by five to 10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine. He did not have to enter a plea. Wearing a black-and- white hooded sweater, Cosby tripped on a curb as he made his way into court. Inside, he seemed to have trouble seeing the paperwork and finding the place to sign, and his law- yers helped him hold the pen. But he seemed at ease, laughing and chatting with his attorneys. When the judge said, "Good luck to you, sir," he shouted: "Thank you!" Prosecutors reopened the case over the summer as damaging testimony was unsealed in Constand's re- lated civil lawsuit against Cosby and as dozens of other women came forward with similar accusations. "Reopening this case was not a question. Rather, re- opening this case was our duty as law enforcement officers," said Steele, who is the top deputy in the DA's office and will take over next week. In court documents, prosecutors said there are probably other women who were similarly drugged and violated by Cosby. Steele urged them to come for- ward. Constand, now 42, lives in Toronto and works as a massage therapist. Her at- torney, Dolores Troiani, welcomed the charges. "She feels that they be- lieve her, and to any vic- tim, that is foremost in your mind: Are people going to believe me?" Troiani said. The attorney added: "Nat- urally it is troubling that it took until the eleventh hour for this day to arrive. She is hopeful that her patience has encouraged other vic- tims to come forward." Cosby also faces a raft of defamation and sexual- abuse lawsuits filed in Mas- sachusetts, Los Angeles and Pennsylvania. But in nearly every case, it is too late to file criminal charges. One exception: a 2008 case in- volving a model at the Play- boy Mansion in Los Ange- les. It is still under investi- gation by police. A key question if the Pennsylvania case goes to trial is whether the judge will allow testimony from some of those other ac- cusers to show a pattern of "bad acts." The judge could decide such testimony would be unfair to Cosby. In Los Angeles, celeb- rity attorney Gloria Allred, who represents more than two dozen Cosby accusers, pronounced the arrest "the best Christmas present they have ever received." She said her clients are willing to testify if called. Cosby in 1965 became the first black actor to land a leading role in a network drama, "I Spy," and he went on to earn three straight Emmys. Over the next three decades, the Philadelphia- born comic created TV's an- imated "Fat Albert" and the top-rated "Cosby Show," the 1980s sitcom celebrated as groundbreaking television for its depiction of a warm and loving black family headed by two profession- als, one a lawyer, the other a doctor. He was a fatherly figure off camera as well, serving as a public moralist and public scold, urging young men to pull up their saggy pants and start acting re- sponsibly. Constand, who worked for the women's basket- ball team at Temple, where Cosby was a trustee and proud alumnus, said she was assaulted after going to his home in suburban Chel- tenham in January 2004 for some career advice. SEXUAL MISCONDUCT CASE Consent amid wine, pills to be a key question in Cosby case DAVIDSWANSON—THEPHILADELPHIAINQUIRERVIAAP Actor and comedian Bill Cosby is helped as he arrives for a court appearance, Wednesday in Elkins Park, Pa. Alloffersforalimitedtime.Notallbuyerswillqualifyforindividualprograms.SeeRedBluffChrysler/Jeep/Dodge/Ramforcompletedetailsandvehiclequalificationsforallcurrentlyrunningprograms.0%and1.9%APRfinancing are not applicable on these new selected models. All rebates in lieu of special APRs offered by Chrysler. All prices plus government fees and taxes, any finance charge, any dealer document, preparation charge, and any emission charge. Subject to prior sales & credit approval. 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