Allegations of Mass Assault in Germany on NYE
VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. The mayor of a German city, Cologne is advising women to stay an arm's length away from male strangers and people are furious about that comment which came after dozens of women say they had been sexually assaulted or robbed by Arab or North African men at New Year's Eve celebrations. CNN's Fred Pleitgen has the latest.</s>FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A day after the allegations of mass sexual assault were made public, Cologne continues to search for the perpetrators and for answers. How could things get so out of hand? More victims are coming forward and describing their harrowing experiences. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE</s>PLEITGEN: Police and witnesses continue to speak of a group of up to 1,000 men, groping and often robbing women at Cologne's main railway station on New Year's Eve. More than a hundred criminal complaints have already been filed. Germany's Interior Minister criticized the police's slow response to the violence and said authorities must do better in the future. THOMAS DE MAIZIERE, INTERIOR MINISTER OF GERMANY</s>PLEITGEN: With Germany now announcing the country took in about 1.1 million asylum seekers in 2015, the New Year's Eve incidents are causing many to criticize Angela Merkel's Open-Arms Policy. But authorities say there are no indication refugees were involved. Meanwhile, Cologne's mayor is under fire for suggesting women need to be more careful. HENRIETTE REKER, COLOGNE MAYOR</s>PLEITGEN: As the search for the perpetrators continues, questions still remain as to how this night of celebration turned sour so quickly. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, London.</s>VAUSE: Over 50 women have accused comedian Bill Cosby of sexual assault, but he will not be charged in two cases here in Los Angeles. The District Attorney's office now says the statute of limitations in those cases has expired and in one case his prosecutors say there just was not enough evidence. Cosby is still facing charges in a separate case in the State of Pennsylvania but he's now out on bail and denies all of the allegations. Criminal defense attorney Darren Kavinoky joins us now with more on this. Okay, so two cases here, both thrown out because they're essentially old. They couldn't meet the statute of limitations but here is a second case, Chloe Goins, and there are evidentiary issues here.</s>DARREN KAVINOKY, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Right. So, these cases both didn't survive the statute of limitations, which is an artificial time limit that says, look, you've got -- it's only fair for you to bring these claims within a certain amount of time...</s>VAUSE: In timely manner?</s>KAVINOKY: Exactly, and that had expired. But even more on that other case, on the Goins case, there was review that suggested that the District Attorney's office could not meet their burden and here's how this works -- that prosecutors who have this obligation to seek justice aren't supposed to file a case unless at the time of filing they believe they have evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that that crime has been committed, that they can prove and win that case. And what they found when they did their investigation is that there were a lot of conflicts in the evidence such that they couldn't meet their filing burden, even if it was timely.</s>VAUSE: They (ph) went through the video at the party they were both meant to be at. They couldn't find them.</s>KAVINOKY: Right.</s>VAUSE: Cosby was saying was on the (ph) list, that kind of stuff.</s>KAVINOKY: Right, and then there was a time when she said that an incident happened when he was provably not even in the state.</s>VAUSE: Right. So, does this decision in Los Angeles by the D.A. impact in any way what's happening in Pennsylvania?</s>KAVINOKY: Well, it's very interesting. Frankly, I would not be surprised to know that authorities in both Pennsylvania and Los Angeles were in conversation about this. In a way, the Pennsylvania filing took the pressure off Los Angeles because there already is that filing out there now and I think that these victims or alleged victims out here in California can actually be more useful to the prosecution in Pennsylvania because prosecutors there are going to try to get evidence, testimony from many, many women to parade ...</s>KAVINOKY: This is going to be the source of much legal argument as trial draw nears because generally speaking, you're not. Prior acts of misconduct generally aren't admissible to show conduct in conformity there with. But -- but, if it is so unique as to be a signature, if there is something there that is unique that makes it more reliable, then it comes in. So, that's where the fight is going to be.</s>VAUSE: Flip that around. Can the defense say, "Listen, this case was thrown out. The evidence in the Chloe Goins, it just wasn't there. This is (ph) by these women who are making up these allegation against our client."</s>KAVINOKY: Well, I think we can expect to hear arguments just like that and obviously if Ms. Goins hits the witness stand in the Pennsylvania courtroom...</s>VAUSE: It will be critical.</s>KAVINOKY: ... you can expect her to be vigorously cross-examined.</s>VAUSE: Very quickly, Camille Cosby will not be deposed. This is a defamation case. A judge issued a state, does that makes you to never give evidence in that case?</s>KAVINOKY: No, no. This is a temporary relief for Ms. Cosby -- Mrs. Cosby -- Camille. I think ultimately it's highly likely that she will ultimately be deposed, but what this legal ruling is, is it's an opportunity for an Appeals Court to now weigh-in on whether or not setting her deposition was proper. She was arguing that it was improper and because of the law there that shields spousal communications, that she shouldn't have to give the deposition. On the other side, the judge in the initial ruling saying that no, you do have to be deposed, said that didn't apply, that that was something for trial, but couldn't keep her off the deposition.</s>VAUSE: To say deposition, does her evidence hurt or help Cosby. She wasn't at by his side when he turned on to Pennsylvania.</s>KAVINOKY: You know it's interesting. I think at the end of the day, because she was also his business manager, she's likely going to be deposed and I don't think it's going to hurt Cosby that badly. I expect her to be expertly prepared and I think we're going to get a lot of I don't remembers on...</s>VAUSE: I do not recall.</s>KAVINOKY: You bet.</s>VAUSE: Darren, always good to speak to you.</s>KAVINOKY: Yes. Thank you.</s>VAUSE: Thanks for coming in, appreciate it. Also to come here, drivers in Los Angeles are logging through a very wet commute as bad weather sets in. We'll tell you what's caused (ph) after the break. Also someone out there may have a whole -- maybe a whole lot richer right now (ph) here. We'll look at the winning numbers from Wednesday's $500 million U.S. Powerball lottery when we return.