Cosby's lawyers deny he has refused to be deposed His legal team wants to know names of witness
By NICOLE WEISENSEE EGAN weisenn@phillynews.com
Bill Cosby is not refusing to be deposed in a civil suit lodged against him by a former Temple employee, his attorneys said in court papers filed in federal court here yesterday. Attorneys for Cosby accuser Andrea Constand made that claim in a motion filed on Tuesday. But Cosby's attorneys said the entertainer simply wants to know the identities of nine women who are accusing him of drugging and/or sexually assaulting him before he's deposed. "Plaintiff's statement that defendant 'has now taken the position that he will not be deposed' is misleading," the memo said. "Rather, in an April 11, 2005 letter, defendant's counsel stated that he 'will not be producing defendant for a deposition while plaintiff is concealing the very identity of the witnesses with whom she intends to confront him. ' " Dolores Troiani, one of Constand's attorneys, said she has not seen the motion but "obviously we don't believe we misrepresented anything. " In an April 6 report following a March 23 conference between both sides, Constand's attorneys asked the judge to admit testimony from at least 10 other women who say the comedian drugged and/or sexually assaulted them. They also asked for a limited protective order to keep the media from knowing or publishing the identities of the women. Only one, California attorney Tamara Green, has made her identity public. Troiani and Kivitz listed the others as "Jane Does. " In their motion, Cosby's attorneys said Troiani and Kivitz said they would turn over the women's identities within 14 days of the March 23 meeting but didn't. Troiani said that is not true. "They're manufacturing this issue because most of the names are in the police report, which they have, because we gave the names to the police," she said. "We wanted an agreement from them that they wouldn't turn those names over to the media and they wouldn't do that. Our concern is to prevent a smear campaign, like they conducted against Tamara Green. " Andrew Schau, one of Cosby's attorneys, had no comment. He said earlier this week that responses will be made in legal papers that are filed in court. In her lawsuit, Constand, 31, said Cosby sexually assaulted and drugged her at his Elkins Park, Montgomery County, mansion in January 2004. She went to police a year later. In February, authorities here declined to prosecute. Constand's attorneys, Troiani and Bebe Kivitz, filed her civil suit against Cosby the following month. *
