Photo courtesy of The Huffington Post
Summary: An appeals court denied Bill Cosby’s request to reseal his 2005 deposition regarding his relationship with Andrea Constand.
Having already lost in the court of public opinion, Bill Cosby has lost again—this time in official court.
The comedian, famous for the family television program The Cosby Show, attempted to have his old deposition re-sealed in federal appeals court, but he was denied on Monday.
The 3rd U.S. Court of Appeals in Philadelphia stated that since the information had already been made public, the re-sealing was a moot point.
“The contents of the documents are a matter of public knowledge, and we cannot pretend that we could change that fact by ordering them re-sealed,” the court stated.
Last summer, The Associated Press asked to unseal the 2005 deposition that Cosby, now 79, gave during a lawsuit brought on by Andrea Constand, a Temple University employee at the time who said he drugged and raped her in 2004. The Associated Press’ request was granted by U.S. Judge Eduardo Robreno, and horrid details from the alleged incident were immediately published online. These admissions included that he gave another woman Quaaludes, a powerful sedative that some argue would make one incapable of consent, and that he had had several extramarital affairs over the years.
Cosby has stated that the sex with Constand was consensual.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the unsealed deposition “paved the way for an aggravated indecent assault charge against Cosby, who continues to fight the possibility of going to jail for his behavior towards former Temple University employee Constand in 2004.”
Cosby had previously settled with Constand for an undisclosed amount; but in 2015, Philadelphia prosecutors decided to charge Cosby with felony rape. They had just barely missed the statute of limitations for the case.
The Washington Post has stated that a total of 60 women have now publicly come forward and accused Cosby of rape.
What do you think will happen with Constand’s case against Cosby? Let us know in the comments below.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter