A California judge has decided that Janice Dickinson’s case against her alleged rapist, Bill Cosby, can go forward. Dickinson brought a suit against Cosby for defamation in May 2015, after his lawyers claimed that Dickinson lied about her assault.
There’s no date for the trial yet, and Cosby’s lawyers will have the opportunity to continue to try to keep their client out of court. They tried to have Dickinson’s suit dismissed this morning, but Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Debre Katz Weintraub decided against their request. She noted that she’s not commenting on either Cosby’s or Dickinson’s credibility — that’s for jurors to decide. Jurors will also be deciding whether or not Dickinson can be awarded punitive damages.
Cosby’s legal fortunes haven’t been too shabby so far, given the number of allegations against him — one defamation suit has been dismissed, and a criminal case revolving around a charge of sexual assault has stalled pending an appeal. But in addition to Dickinson’s case and Andrea Constand’s sexual assault case, Tamara Green has sued him for libel in Massachusetts. It’s no wonder his lawyers are fighting so hard to keep these cases from ever going to trial — at this rate, and at 78 years old, Cosby could be tied up in litigation for most of the rest of his life.
[Page Six]Original by Rebecca Vipond Brink
