Fallen funnyman Bill Cosby may be a free man, but he is still entangled within the American judicial web.
Superior Court Judge Craig Karlan of Los Angeles County decided that a woman’s civil lawsuit against Cosby can go forward to a jury on April 18, 2022 — even though the alleged sexual assault took place at the Playboy Mansion nearly 50 years ago.
According to court documents obtained by the New York Daily News, a woman named Judy Huth claims that Cosby, 84, sexually assaulted her when she was a teen in 1974. Huth has stated that the disgraced comedian took her to what she believed was the home owned by late Playboy founder Hugh Hefner.
While at the mansion, Huth said in the documents that Cosby attempted to kissed her, put his hand down her pants and later took her hand and forced her to perform a sex act on him.
This decision to move forward with the case comes two months after Cosby’s sexual assault conviction against Andrea Constand was shockingly overturned in Pennsylvania, freeing him immediately. Huth originally filed the case back in 2014, but the judge in the case delayed the case until his legal matters were resolved in Pennsylvania.
Huth is being represented by well-known celebrity attorney Gloria Allred who has represented other Cosby accusers. She said she is looking “forward to continuing the battle for our very brave client.”
Cosby’s defense attorney Jennifer Bonjean said Cosby will plead the fifth during the upcoming deposition. There is fear by Cosby that his testimony in the civil suit could lead to criminal prosecution, just as it did in Pennsylvania.
