Image: Actor Bill Cosby attends the American Comedy Awards in New York April 26, 2014. REUTERS/Eric Thayer
By Daina Beth Solomon
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A Los Angeles judge ruled on Wednesday that Bill Cosby’s upcoming deposition in a lawsuit brought by a woman accusing the veteran comedian of sexually abusing her will be sealed at least until December, said an attorney for the accuser.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Craig Karlan said he would determine at a December hearing which parts of the deposition could be made public after reviewing the transcript, according to attorney Gloria Allred, who represents accuser Judy Huth.
The civil lawsuit, filed last year, alleges that Cosby sexually assaulted Huth when she was aged 15 in 1974 at Hugh Hefner’s Los Angeles Playboy Mansion.
Karlan’s decision came after Cosby, 78, requested a protective order to keep his Oct. 9 deposition confidential, a move that Allred opposed, telling reporters last week, “There should be transparency.”
Representatives for Cosby declined to comment on Wednesday. Previously, the comedian’s attorney Martin Singer had called Huth’s allegations false and “defamatory.”
This will mark the first time Cosby has been directed to testify under oath in response to sexual misconduct complaints since a deposition he gave in a Pennsylvania case he settled out of court nine years ago.
In the past year, more than 50 women have come forward with allegations against Cosby including drugging, sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape, but as most incidents date back decades, it puts them outside the statute of limitations for legal action.
Huth’s case, however, cites repressed psychological injuries that she claims were only discovered in the last three years, allowing legal action under the statute of limitations, according to Allred.
According to Allred, Judge Karlan on Wednesday denied Cosby’s request to dismiss the case and fine her client $45,000 in sanctions.
Cosby also faces a second civil lawsuit bringing sexual assault claims against him.
On Tuesday, a 25-year-old woman who said Cosby sexually assaulted her at the Playboy Mansion in 2008 when she was a minor filed a lawsuit seeking a jury trial and at least $75,000 in damages.
(Editing by Piya Sinha-Roy and Steve Orlofsky)
Copyright 2015 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.
