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 It marks the first time Cosby, 78, has been directed to testify
under oath in response to a complaint of sexual misconduct against
him since a deposition he gave in a separate Pennsylvania case he
settled out of court nine years ago.
The latest order, made public on Wednesday, a day after a Los
Angeles Superior Court judge entered it, requires Cosby to submit
under oath to questions from the lawyer of his Los Angeles accuser,
Judy Huth, on Oct. 9. Now in her 50s, Huth must likewise answer
questions from his attorneys on Oct. 15.
Huth gained somewhat of a tactical advantage from the judge's
decision compelling Cosby to go first.
The precise times and places were not revealed, but Huth's lawyer,
Gloria Allred, has said she expects to depose Cosby in
Massachusetts, where he resides.
The way for the depositions, a key part of the discovery process in
civil litigation, was cleared when the California Supreme Court last
month denied Cosby's petition to review the case, dealing a final
blow to his efforts to fend off Huth's lawsuit.
 Her complaint, brought in December 2014, charged that Cosby sexually
abused her by putting his hand down her pants and then "taking her
hand in his hand and performing a sex act on himself without her
consent."
Huth alleged the encounter occurred days after she and a female
friend met Cosby at a park where he was filming a movie. According
to her account, Cosby invited the girls the following weekend to his
tennis club, where they all had drinks together before he led them
on to the Playboy Mansion.
Cosby's attorney Martin Singer has called Huth's allegations false
and "defamatory".
Huth is one of more than 40 women who have come forward in the past
year to say that they were raped or molested by Cosby after he gave
them alcohol or drugs in incidents dating back decades.
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In 2006 Cosby reached a confidential settlement for an undisclosed
sum with a former Temple University employee, Andrea Constand, who
accused him of sexual assault. Parts of the deposition he gave in
that case were made public last month.
Huth's complaint is one of at least four pending civil suits against
Cosby stemming from such accusations.
However, Allred has said Huth's is the only one seeking damages for
the alleged misconduct itself, citing repressed psychological
injuries that she claims were only discovered in the last three
years, and therefore are allowed under the statute of limitations.
The other plaintiffs are suing for defamation instead.
Cosby has never been criminally charged. He and his lawyers
acknowledge marital infidelity on his part but have consistently
denied allegations of criminal wrongdoing.
(Editing by Sandra Maler, Eric Walsh and Ken Wills)
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