Court papers: Cosby declines; deposition
Bill Cosby is refusing to be deposed in the sex-assault civil case that has been filed against him by a former Temple University employee, papers filed in federal court here yesterday say.
"Defendant has now taken the position that he will not be deposed - despite earlier discussions between the parties concerning back-to-back depositions of defendant and plaintiff," a footnote in the paperwork said. Andrew Schau, one of Cosby's attorneys, would not comment on whether his client is refusing to be deposed.
"We will respond to that when we file our legal papers," Schau said yesterday. Cosby accuser Andrea Constand's attorneys made the statement in a memorandum denying that they are refusing to turn over the names of nine women who say Cosby drugged and/or sexually assaulted them, too.
Dolores Troiani and Bebe Kivitz, Constand's lawyers, said in the memo that they will give Cosby the women's names, addresses and phone numbers once the judge rules on their motion for a protective order to keep the identities secret from the media.
Troiani and Kivitz provided a list of expected witnesses to the attorneys but identified nine of the women only as "Jane Does" and their contact as Joyce Dale, an attorney in Media. The list does contain the cities where the women live, which include Las Vegas; Toledo, Ohio, and Corralitos, Calif.
"The anticipated testimony of the Jane Doe witnesses relates to the obviously sensitive subject matter of sexual assaults and/or druggings," Troi-ani and Kivitz wrote. "Of equal concern is that disclosure of the witness' identities may place them at risk of further physical and psychological harm from media exposure or from overly zealous fans and supporters of the celebrity defendant."
Constand, 31, has accused Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting her at his Elkins Park, Montgomery County, mansion in January 2004.
She reported it to police a year later. In February, Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce L. Castor Jr. declined to file criminal charges against the entertainer. Constand filed her civil suit last month. *
