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The civil case against comedian Bill Cosby on decades-old sexual assault allegations began Wednesday in Santa Monica, California, marking the first civil proceedings against the comedian after a botched deal with prosecutors led to his release from prison.
Cosby, who is not expected to appear during the two-week trial, has glaucoma that has left him blind, making travel more difficult for him, attorneys for the former television star said. The 84-year-old, whose release from custody was met with controversy amid a reneged deal with prosecutors, settled all previous civil claims, making these his first civil proceedings.
SUPREME COURT WON’T CONSIDER REINSTATEMENT OF BILL COSBY SEXUAL ASSAULT CONVICTION
Cosby forced Judy Huth, now 64, to perform a sex act on him when she was a minor at the Playboy mansion in 1975, Huth claims in court documents filed in the Santa Monica Superior Court. Huth claimed that she met Cosby with her friend in 1975 at a park where he was filming Let’s Do It Again with Sidney Poitier. A few days later, Cosby encouraged Huth to drink alcohol and took her to the Playboy mansion, owned by Hugh Hefner, according to court documents. At the party, Cosby took her to a private room and kissed her before moving his hand down into her pants, the documents claim, according to the Associated Press, and he allegedly used her hand to perform a sexual act on him.
An undated photograph confirmed the duo had been at the mansion, but Cosby’s team denies any sexual assault and claimed Huth was an adult, not 16 as she claimed.
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Almost a year ago, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned Cosby’s criminal conviction due to an agreement with a previous prosecutor barring the district attorney from filing criminal charges against Cosby in relation to a rape case in exchange for his testimony in civil proceedings. In 2015, when the case was unsealed, the new district attorney decided to use his testimony against himself to bring a criminal charge, a violation of the terms of the deal, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled last June.
Huth filed her lawsuit in 2014, but it was delayed eight years due to his criminal conviction and the COVID-19 pandemic. Dozens of other women have also made similar allegations surrounding rape, sexual battery, sexual misconduct, and drug-facilitated sexual assault, most of which were settled out of court. Huth is not requesting a certain amount of money in the case, letting the jury decide an appropriate amount instead.
