After a two-day hearing, Bill Cosby's defense team was dealt a blow Wednesday after a Pennsylvania judge, Steven O'Neill, denied its request to throw out a sexual assault case against Cosby, according to CNN.
On top of denying the request to throw out the case, the judge also refused to remove District Attorney Kevin Steele from the case. Cosby's attorneys accused Steele of making the case a political spectacle.
Cosby's lawyers argued that his case should be thrown out because of a deal with the previous district attorney handling the case. But Steele said that Cosby should never have been granted the immunity deal by the prior district attorney.
The case in question stems from allegations made by former Temple University employee Andrea Constand. Constand says that in 2004, she was drugged and sexually assaulted by Cosby in his Pennsylvania home.
In 2005, then-District Attorney Bruce Castor decided that there wasn't enough evidence to seek prosecution. After court documents from Constand's testimony in a civil trial were unsealed last year and numerous women came forward with similar stories about Cosby, the state felt it had enough evidence to move forward. In December, Cosby was arrested and officially charged in Constand's case.
The comedian, who denies any wrongdoing, faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.