Bill Cosby’s lawyer said Thursday that the comedian will not plead guilty to sexual assault and called the charges “political football.”
“What we have is the fulfillment of a campaign promise from a prosecutor who used this case and used the climate about the allegations against my client in order to get into office,” lawyer Monique Pressley said on ABC’s Good Morning America, Reuters reports.
According to Reuters, Pressley also said of a possible plea deal: “My client is not guilty, and there will be no consideration on our part of any sort of arrangement.”
Read More: Consent, Wine and Pills Will Be Key Questions in the Bill Cosby Case
Cosby, 78, was charged Wednesday with aggravated indecent assault, stemming from an encounter he had with a Temple University employee in 2004. The second-degree felony could result in up to 10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine.
This marks the first time Cosby has been charged with a sexual crime, but more than 50 women have come forward in recent months to accuse him of assault.
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Write to Tessa Berenson at tessa.Rogers@time.com