Accuser's court filing blasts Cosby's 'media blitz'
Bill Cosby performs at Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Lincoln, California, in September 2014. Image from Randy Miramontez / Shutterstock.com.
Lawyers for Bill Cosby’s accuser in a 2005 sex-abuse case say Cosby’s legal filings are part of a “media blitz” that should trigger the plaintiff’s right to speak about the case.
In a new legal filing (PDF), lawyers for Cosby’s accuser say they are not to blame for the release of Cosby’s deposition to the New York Times. The legal filing by the plaintiff also disclosed that she is gay. Publications with stories include the Legal Intelligencer (sub. req.), the Associated Press and the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The court reporting service provided the Times with the deposition, in which Cosby bragged that he was adept at reading women, after a judge ordered release of a legal memorandum that quoted from the deposition. Cosby’s lawyers filed a notice of appeal of the judge’s decision Monday, Philly.com reports.
The plaintiff had alleged she went to Cosby’s home to discuss a career change, and he offered her what she believed to be an herbal medication for stress. She claims she lost consciousness and woke up feeling sore. Cosby said he gave the woman Benadryl and they kissed and had sexual contact, according to the New York Times story on the deposition. The civil suit settled under a confidentiality agreement.
The court reporter has stated he released the deposition because he believed it had been unsealed by the court, the plaintiff’s filing says. “The court reporter has stated that he did not contact plaintiff’s counsel prior to doing so,” according to the filing, “nor was plaintiff’s counsel aware of the release until after it occurred.”
The document also contends Cosby took the plaintiff’s tweets out of context. Cosby “alleges that plaintiff violated the agreement, and that his violations do not harm her,” the filing says. “In his narcissistic view of the world, defendant believes that plaintiff’s every tweet must be about him.
“He is as perceptive in this belief as he claims to be in his interpretation of nonverbal cues from women he wants to seduce. The tweets do not include any hash tags and were sent during the time period that there was extensive publicity about gay marriage. As defendant admits in his deposition, despite his talent for interpreting female reactions to him, he did not realize plaintiff was gay until the police told him.”
