Cosby accusers now number 13 Women came forward after ex-Temple employee went to cops
By NICOLE WEISENSEE EGAN weisenn@phillynews.com Thirteen women now say Bill Cosby drugged and/or sexually assaulted them, according to new court papers filed in federal court here.
Twelve women came forward after ex-Temple University employee Andrea Constand went to police in January with her accusations against Cosby. Ten of the women gave statements to Constand's attorneys, Dolores Troiani and Bebe Kivitz. The attorneys also forwarded the information about those women to Montgomery County authorities. However, when Troiani and Kivitz recently received the police file through the civil lawsuit they filed on behalf of Constand, they found two other women who had contacted detectives, who had not reached out to them, a response they filed Monday says. A Cosby attorney had no comment yesterday. Constand, 31, has accused Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting her at his mansion in Elkins Park, Montgomery County, in January 2004. She waited a year before going to police. In February, Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce L. Castor Jr. declined to prosecute. Constand filed her civil suit in March. In their response, Constand's attorneys also disputed claims made by Cosby's attorneys in a motion filed last Friday. Cosby's attorneys have been asking Constand's attorneys for the identities of nine of the accusers, who are identified merely as "Jane Does" in court filings. Only one, California attorney Tamara Green, has been publicly identified. On April 11, Cosby's attorneys sent a letter to Troiani and Kivitz saying their client will not be deposed "while plaintiff is concealing the very identities of the witnesses with whom she intends to confront him," according to a copy of the letter filed with the court. Last Friday, Cosby's attorneys filed a memo stating that Troiani and Kivitz had promised to turn over the identities of the Jane Does within 14 days of a March 23 meeting between both sides. His attorneys have asked the judge to force Troiani and Kivitz to hand over the names. In their Monday response, Kivitz and Troiani say they have been clear since March 15 that they would not release the names until the judge rules on their request for a limited protective order. They have asked the judge to prohibit the disclosure of the women's identities to the media as well as prevent them from publishing their identities. "Plaintiff's position has not changed and remains the same to this day; all 11 Jane Doe witnesses, once their names are disclosed to defendant, are entitled to their privacy from the media," the response said. Furthermore, they stated, Cosby's attorneys already have many of the Jane Does' names and addresses because they are in the police file. The attorneys pointed out that in one court filing they identified the Jane Does by the state and city where they live, and sent the attorneys a letter on April 20 that identified Jane Does 10 and 11 by name. The attorneys attached a copy of that letter, with the names of the women blacked out, as an exhibit to their response. *
