What's next for Bill Cosby after sex assault charge?
Bill Cosby was arraigned Wednesday in the case of Andrea Constand, who accused him of drugging and sexually assaulting her at his home 12 years ago - the first criminal charges against the disgraced comedian despite similar allegations by dozens of other women over the course of more than 30 years.
The second-degree felony charge of aggravated assault stemmed in part from a 2005 deposition, in which Cosby admitted that he obtained Quaaludes - a popular 1970s drug that is now illegal - with the intention of giving them to women before having sex.
But his lead attorney, Monique Pressley, firmly defended her client and dismissed the drug allegations.
"It's not even something that could be obtained and I'm certain -- even this hungry DA trying to keep a campaign promise - isn't going to assert that Mr. Cosby has had hiding somewhere in his medicine cabinet Quaaludes that are 30, 40, almost 50 years old," Pressley told "CBS This Morning" Thursday.
CBS News legal expert Rikki Klieman said Cosby's attorneys are "doing exactly what they should be doing now."
"Back in the '70s and '80s, Quaaludes were often used by consenting adults, so that's what this lawyer is talking about."
But Klieman added that the drug allegations were the "least" of the attorneys' worries. The greater challenge, she said, lies in finding an impartial jury for a fair trial, given the extensive publicity of some 50 women who have come forward with accusations of sexual assault.
"The vast majority of the public believes that all of these other alleged victims are people who suffered exactly the same fate that his woman, Andrea Constand, said she suffered, even though the details may be different...the devil is in the details here," Klieman explained. "The defense has got to be fast and furious and slow and deliberate, all at the same time."
The charges in the Andrea Constand case may open doors for the other women to file charges against Cosby. According to Klieman, in order to protect Cosby, his attorneys must seek to limit the trial to only what happened between Constand and Cosby.
Pressley dismissed the other allegations, saying they had no "corroborating evidence."
"Allegations from decades ago, allegations from women who never bothered to go in and make a complaint to police and in most instances, claim that they didn't tell another living soul," Pressley said. "So if a judge chooses to consider from a prosecutor such testimony, then we will deal with that at that time."
Cosby walked free Wednesday on $1 million bail remain free on $1 million bail until his next court hearing Jan. 14.