People: Ex-DA expected to be key defense witness at Cosby hearing
An ex-prosecutor is expected to testify that he promised Bill Cosby would never be charged over a 2005 sex-assault complaint, but a judge must decide if that constitutes an immunity deal.
Then-prosecutor Bruce Castor will be a key witness for the defense at a Feb. 2 hearing over what Cosby’s lawyers have called a “non-prosecution agreement.”
The defense argues that prosecutors who charged Cosby last month unfairly used his deposition testimony from the accuser’s civil lawsuit against him. Castor supports their position.
But Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele, the prosecutor handling Cosby’s case, said there is no evidence of a signed immunity agreement. Cosby’s lawyers did not attach one to their recent motion to dismiss the case.
On Saturday, Andrea Constand’s lawyer said she never knew of such an agreement.
“He (Castor) said … that he talked to us about it. That’s a lie,” lawyer Dolores Troiani said. “It never happened.”
Celine Dion’s brother dies just days after her husband
Daniel Dion, the older brother of pop singer Celine Dion, died Saturday, just two days after the death of the entertainer’s husband, Rene Angelil, from throat cancer.
Celine Dion’s representative Kim Jakwerth released a statement that Daniel Dion, 59, died Saturday surrounded by his family after battling cancer for several years. The statement said he died at a palliative care center in Terrebonne, Quebec, outside Montreal.
His death was announced just two days after the 73-year-old Angelil died in suburban Las Vegas after a long ballet with throat cancer. Angelil was Celine Dion’s manager for decades, molding her from a French-speaking Canadian inginue into one of the world’s most successful singers, best known for the smash hit “My Heart Will Go On,” the theme from “Titanic.”
Cher donates thousands of bottles of water to troubled Flint
Cher is donating water to the residents of Flint, Michigan, as the city struggles with a drinking water crisis linked to lead contamination.
More than 180,000 bottles will be shipped to the city starting Monday, according to a statement Cher released to the Associated Press on Saturday.
“This is a tragedy of staggering proportion and shocking that it’s happening in the middle of our country,” the Oscar winner said.
Cher said she reached out to friend Brad Horwitz, who is an investor in the water company Icelandic Glacial. He contacted company leaders who agreed to double Cher’s donation. The 181,440 bottles are expected to reach the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan starting Wednesday.