CHELTENHAM, PENNSYLVANIA – JUNE 30: Attorney Jennifer Bonjean and Bill Cosby speak outside of Bill Cosby’s home on June 30, 2021 in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania. (Michael Abbott/Getty Images)
Attorneys in the civil lawsuit against actor Bill Cosby, recently met for a status hearing in a Los Angeles Superior Court. Lawyers for disgraced comedian Cosby said they plan to fully vindicate him in a civil lawsuit alleging he sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl at the Playboy Mansion in 1974.
On Friday, Cosby’s team announced the defense would be led by Jennifer Bonjean, who stood before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court back in June and successfully argued for the actor’s sexual assault case to be overturned.
Some attorneys have said Cosby may choose to invoke his right to remain silent amid fears of prosecution, as his team has stressed there are plans to fully vindicate him in the lawsuit filed by his accuser, Judy Huth. Cosby’s defense also indicated they would be challenging a California civil law’s constitutionality, which allows adult victims of child sex abuse to sue their alleged perpetrators.
Cosby lawyers Jennifer Bonjean and Michael Freedman outside Santa Monica courthouse. “There's a lot of risk that what happened in Pennsylvania could happen again," Bonjean says when asked why Cosby still plans to invoke Fifth in Judy Huth civil case. pic.twitter.com/rBlhGF3n4I
— NancyDillonNYDN (@NancyDillonNYDN) August 13, 2021
Additionally, Cosby’s team said Huth’s attorneys are “determined to try this case in the court of public opinion where the rules don’t apply and where their client’s ancient accusation isn’t subject to any meaningful vetting.” Huth’s lead attorney Gloria Allread said determining the law as unconstitutional would be a major issue.
“They are saying essentially that they know the new law does apply to the point of our clients in this case. That is going to inflict significant harm, potentially, on many victims of child sexual abuse in California because in plain English, what the new law does is it opens up access to the courts for many victims of child sexual abuse who may have been victimized in prior years,” stated Allread.
In the meantime, both sides are due to return to court on Sept. 30 to discuss whether Cosby will have to testify in the civil trial in April 2022.
Source: One America News Network
