|
 Tamara Green sued Cosby in December 2014, accusing him of lying
when he publicly denied having sexually assaulted her, and six other
women have since joined in the lawsuit. Cosby, 78, filed a
countersuit in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts last month,
accusing the women of defaming him.
The seven are among more than 50 women who have come forward to
publicly accuse Cosby of sexually assaulting them after plying them
with drugs or alcohol in alleged attacks carried out over a number
of decades.
The accusations toppled Cosby from his pedestal as one of America's
most-admired comedians, who built a long career on family-friendly
humor. He was best known for his role as the dad Heathcliff Huxtable
in the long-running 1980s television hit, "The Cosby Show."
 Cosby has repeatedly denied wrongdoing. Last month prosecutors in
Pennsylvania charged him with a 2004 sexual assault days before the
statute of limitations on that alleged crime was to expire.
He faces several civil suits.
Cosby's attorneys are scheduled to argue before U.S. Magistrate
Judge David Hennessy in Worcester, Massachusetts, that any testimony
related to the lawsuits be kept under seal until trial.
"The law is clear: trial — not discovery — is the 'fact-finding'
process in which the public has a common law and constitutional
interest," Cosby's attorneys wrote in a filing this week. "Mr.
Cosby's undisputed privacy interest and his need for protection from
annoyance, embarrassment, and undue prejudice establish good cause
to enter the limited protective order he seeks."
[to top of second column] |
Attorneys for the women have argued that the request is unjustified.
"Cosby himself has sought out publicity when it suits him – for
example, by defaming the plaintiffs as liars in 2014," lawyers for
the seven women wrote. "That being so, the public should know all of
the material facts surrounding this case, regarding whether
defendant Cosby's private conduct comports with his public persona."
Cosby testified in 2005 that he had obtained the sedative drug
Quaaludes, popular in the 1970s, intending to give them to young
women he desired to have sex with, according to court documents
unsealed in July as part of a separate legal proceeding.
(Reporting by Scott Malone; Editing by David Gregorio)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
