Consent amid wine, pills to be a key question in Cosby case

Actor and comedian Bill Cosby is helped as he leaves after a court appearance, Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2015, in Elkins Park, Pa. Cosby was arrested and charged with drugging and sexually assaulting a woman at his home in January 2004. The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP

ELKINS PARK, Pa., United States—Bill Cosby has long said that his extramarital conquests were all consensual.

A jury may ultimately decide if that’s true after the 78-year-old actor was arrested Wednesday on felony assault charges in suburban Philadelphia.

READ: Bill Cosby is charged with sexually assaulting a woman
Prosecutors say a former Temple University employee was too impaired by the wine and pills Cosby gave her in 2004 to consent to the sexual activity that followed.

They reopened the case armed with new evidence this year that includes Cosby’s deposition from the woman’s civil lawsuit. Cosby said the woman never told him to stop.

Prosecutors say she was “in and out of consciousness” at the time. Dozens of other women have made similar complaints about Cosby.

Defense lawyers promise to aggressively fight the charges.

Cosby is free on $1 million bail pending a Jan. 14 preliminary hearing.