Why Bill Cosby's damning testimony could help his accusers in court

After calling his accusers liars, Cosby's deposition could be a boon to their ongoing defamation lawsuits

Published July 7, 2015 2:42PM (EDT)

Bill Cosby         (AP)
Bill Cosby (AP)

With the release of previously sealed testimony from a 2005 civil suit against Bill Cosby for sexual assault, we can now confirm what so many already believed to be true: The embattled comedian purchased sedatives with the intention of drugging and raping young women.

He admitted it himself in a deposition, then proceeded to deny any wrongdoing for years. He called the women who accused him of sexual misconduct liars. And now, Cosby could have hell to pay in court for his public moralizing.

According to attorneys for several of Cosby's accusers, the star's decade-old testimony could be hugely beneficial to the women who have filed defamation suits against him for publicly denying their claims of abuse. The Associated Press reports:

Cosby in sworn testimony unsealed Monday admitted that 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 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 in Massachusetts. She has also agreed to have her name published.

Celebrity attorney Gloria Allred, representing other women, said she also hopes to use the admission in civil court cases against the comedian.

While testifying in Andrea Constand's 2005 civil suit against him, Cosby claimed he gave the woman three half-pills of Benadryl, which Constand allegedly believed to be an "herbal remedy." The comedian also admitted to obtaining more than half a dozen quaalude prescriptions in the 1970s, which he kept for at least two decades, after the drugs were banned. Additionally, he conceded that he planned to "use these quaaludes for young women that [he] wanted to have sex with," however his lawyer interjected before the star could answer whether he administered the sedative to any of the alleged victims without their knowledge.


By Jenny Kutner

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Related Topics ------------------------------------------

Bill Cosby Defamation Gloria Allred Janice Dickinson Rape Sexual Assault