Monday, January 4, 2016

Bill Cosby's Wife Asks Court To Prevent Her From Having To Testify Against Her Husband

Lucas Jackson / Reuters

Bill Cosby's wife filed an emergency motion Monday to stop her pending deposition until a higher court rules on whether she can be compelled to testify against her husband in a defamation lawsuit brought by seven women.

Camille Cosby has been fighting efforts to testify against her husband since last year. Her latest filling, however, comes days after Bill Cosby was charged in Pennsylvania with three counts of aggravated indecent assault, a second-degree felony.

The charges stem from an investigation into an alleged sexual assault at the Cosby home in Cheltenham in 2004. Bill Cosby has been accused of sexual assault by more than 40 women over the years, but the action filed by the Montgomery County district attorney last week was the first criminal case to emerge as a result.

Camille Cosby had previously filed a motion to block her deposition in the defamation case — which is scheduled for Wednesday — on the grounds that that her conversations with her comedian husband were protected under a marital "disqualification rule." But the judge overseeing that case denied the request on Dec. 31, finding the marital rule only applies during trial and not during pre-trial discovery.

In her latest court filing, Camille Cosby also asked that her deposition be postponed because she believes the women suing her husband want to disclose intimate details about her marital life and husband's sexual "proclivities."

The attorney representing the seven women, Joseph Cammarata, opposes any appeal or stay of the deposition. And told he court in filings that if Camille Cosby fails to appear, he will consider it a violation of her obligation under the subpoena and "she will be subject to the consequences."

"I am still expecting the deposition to go forward," he told BuzzFeed News on Monday.

Bill Cosby is also being sued for defamation in separate claims filed by Kristina Ruehli, Renita Hill, and former supermodel Janice Dickinson.