Cosby's drugs-sex admission could help women's suit
PHILADELPHIA — Bill Cosby’s admission that he obtained quaaludes to give young women he was pursuing for sex could bolster defamation claims lodged by his accusers, the women’s lawyers said after The Associated Press reported on newly released court documents.
Cosby in sworn testimony unsealed Monday admitted he gave the now-banned sedative to at least one of his accusers and to unnamed others. His lawyer interfered before he could answer deposition questions in 2005 about how many women were given drugs and whether they knew about it.
“If today’s report is true, Mr. Cosby admitted under oath 10 years ago sedating women for sexual purposes,” said Lisa Bloom, attorney for model Janice Dickinson, who contends she was drugged and raped. “Given that, how dare he publicly vilify Ms. Dickinson and accuse her of lying when she tells a very similar story?”
The AP had gone to court to compel the release of a deposition in a sexual abuse lawsuit filed by former Temple University employee Andrea Constand — the first of a cascade of lawsuits against Cosby that have severely damaged his image as doting TV dad Dr. Cliff Huxtable on “The Cosby Show” from 1984 to 1992.
His lawyers objected to the release of the material, arguing it would embarrass him. Ultimately, a judge seized on Cosby’s public moralizing as he unsealed portions of the deposition that had been filed in court.
“The stark contrast between Bill Cosby, the public moralist and Bill Cosby, the subject of serious allegations concerning improper (and perhaps criminal) conduct, is a matter as to which the AP — and by extension the public — has a significant interest,” U.S. District Judge Eduardo Robreno wrote.
Cosby, 77, has been accused by more than two dozen women of sexual misconduct in episodes dating back more than four decades. He has never been charged with a crime, and the statute of limitations on most of the accusations has expired.
The entertainer settled Constand’s lawsuit under confidential terms in 2006. Even the judge never saw the settlement terms, although the documents show Cosby at one point offered the accuser an “educational trust” fund.
Cosby’s lawyers insisted during the deposition two of the accusers knew they were taking quaaludes from the comedian, according to the documents.
Nevertheless, attorneys for some of the numerous women suing Cosby seized on the testimony as powerful corroboration of what they have been saying all along.
“The women have been saying they’ve been drugged and abused, and these documents appear to support the allegations,” said lawyer Joe Cammarata, who represents accuser Therese Serignese, one of three women suing Cosby for defamation. She has agreed to have her name published.
