The Latest: Cosby’s Pennsylvania preliminary hearing on hold
By AP, The Washington Post | January 13, 2015, 6:05PMWORCESTER, Mass. — The latest on a hearing over whether materials gathered in a defamation lawsuit filed by seven women against Bill Cosby can be kept out of the public eye (all times local):
4:55 p.m.
Bill Cosby’s preliminary hearing on criminal sex assault charges in Pennsylvania has been put on hold until a judge hears arguments on a defense bid to dismiss the case.
A judge will hear the motion to dismiss the case Feb. 2.
Cosby’s lawyers call the criminal charges illegal and politically motivated. They say Cosby had a deal that he would never be charged in the 2005 criminal probe and therefore gave a deposition in the accuser’s lawsuit.
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele says there is no evidence of any such deal.
Steele’s office arrested the 78-year-old Cosby last month over a 2004 sexual encounter at his home.
A former Temple University employee says she was drugged and molested by the man she considered a mentor.
[...]
12:05 p.m.
A judge in the Massachusetts defamation suit filed against Bill Cosby by seven women who accuse him of sexual assault has rejected a proposal by the comedian’s lawyers that would have kept a significant amount of material in the case out of the public eye.
U.S. Magistrate Judge David Hennessy said Wednesday that protocol to protect potentially sensitive material like Social Security numbers and bank accounts from becoming public should be put in place in the case.
But he said the “blanket protective order” that Cosby’s lawyers proposed wasn’t appropriate.
Instead, the judge proposed more limited protections focused on information disclosed in depositions.
Both sides agreed to put the procedure in writing.
A lawyer for the women says he thinks the judge’s directions are appropriate.
Cosby’s lawyers declined to comment.
[...]
8 a.m.
Bill Cosby’s lawyers want materials gathered in a civil defamation lawsuit filed by seven women who claim Cosby sexually assaulted them decades ago kept out of the public eye.
A federal magistrate in Massachusetts will hear arguments Wednesday on a confidentiality agreement proposed by lawyers for Cosby, who denies the allegations.
More at link:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/celebrities/the-latest-cosby-seeks-postponement-in-defamation-case/2016/01/13/01173ef8-ba0f-11e5-85cd-5ad59bc19432_story.html