Bill Cosby loses bid to throw out sexual battery lawsuit involving Playboy Mansion
More than 50 women have accused Cosby of sexually abusing them. He has denied any wrongdoing.
A Los Angeles judge has rejected a bid by Bill Cosby to dismiss a molestation lawsuit brought by a Riverside woman who accused the entertainer of sexually assaulting her when she was 15, according to her lawyer.
Judy Huth’s lawsuit alleges that Cosby gave her alcohol and then sexually abused her at the Playboy Mansion in 1974. The plaintiff is seeking compensation and damages for sexual battery as well as intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
Cosby’s attorneys argued before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Craig Karlan that the case should be thrown out for various procedural reasons, including the statute of limitations.
On Thursday, Karlan ruled that the suit may proceed, although he dismissed the claim of negligent infliction of emotional distress.
“In the court’s view if Mr. Cosby did what Ms. Huth alleges, then that conduct would be intentional, and therefore not negligent,” said Gloria Allred, Huth’s lawyer.
Allred, who announced the ruling in a news release Tuesday, said she plans to depose Playboy founder Hugh Hefner in May.
Also on Tuesday, a New York judge rejected Cosby’s demand that New York magazine surrender reporting notes, video and audio tapes used in a story it published last year about 35 women who claimed they were sexually assaulted by the comedian.
Cosby’s lawyers said they wanted to use the notes to find inconsistencies in statements by six of the seven women who filed a defamation lawsuit against him in Boston. Federal Judge Paul Gardephe called the request a “fishing expedition” that bordered on the frivolous.
To date, more than 50 women have accused Cosby of sexually abusing them, with some charging that he drugged and raped them. Cosby has denied any wrongdoing.
FULL COVERAGE: Bill Cosby sex assault allegations and charges >>
Former supermodel Janice Dickinson is among the women. In March, a Los Angeles judge allowed Dickinson to move forward with a defamation lawsuit against Cosby.
Cosby is facing three felony counts of aggravated indecent assault stemming from an alleged interaction in 2004 involving drugs and alcohol with former Temple University basketball staffer Andrea Constand.
Cosby’s lawyers did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
Staff writer Richard Winton and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
For breaking news in California, follow VeronicaRochaLA on Twitter.
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