Judge
blocks attempt to halt deposition of Bill Cosby's wife
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[February 22, 2016]
(Reuters) - A federal judge in
Massachusetts on Sunday night rejected attempts by the wife of comedian
Bill Cosby to halt her upcoming deposition in a defamation case brought
by seven women against the disgraced entertainer, court records showed.
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Camille Cosby's lawyers late on Saturday filed an emergency motion
to delay her deposition, scheduled for Monday, pending an appeal of
a judge's Friday ruling not to stay the proceeding. They argued the
deposition would create a "media circus" and threaten her personal
safety.
U.S. District Judge Mark Mastroianni ruled late on Sunday night that
the deposition would go ahead on Monday morning. He also ordered the
attorneys to court for a brief status conference ahead of the
meeting.
Lawyers for the seven women fired back at the Camille Cosby's motion
on Sunday, saying the claims were without merit.
"The Cosbys' last-minute filing is the latest in a series of
increasingly brazen attempts to interfere with the deposition of
Mrs. Cosby," the attorneys said in a filing. "The Cosbys should not
be allowed to indefinitely delay Mrs. Cosby's deposition by
repeatedly filing what is in substance the same motion, over and
over again."
Mastroianni earlier this month ruled that Camille Cosby would have
to talk to lawyers bringing the defamation suit against the
comedian, although she could not be compelled to reveal private
conversations with her husband.
More than 50 women have publicly accused Cosby - best known for his
role as the father in the 1980s television hit "The Cosby Show" - of
raping them, often after plying them with alcohol or drugs in
incidents dating back decades.
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Most of the alleged assaults date too far back to be criminally
prosecuted, but Pennsylvania officials late last year charged the
78-year-old entertainer with sexually assaulting a woman in 2005,
with the charges coming just days before the statute of limitations
was to expire.
Cosby has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, but a Pennsylvania judge
early this month rejected Cosby's request to dismiss the charges.
The Massachusetts lawsuit was filed in December 2014 by Tamara Green
and later joined by six other women who contend Cosby sexually
assaulted or abused and defamed them by calling them liars.
(Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Peter
Cooney and Michael Perry)
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