In any given week, teams of high-priced lawyers fan out across the country to defend Bill Cosby amid a cascade of sexual assault allegations, defamation claims and insurance disputes.
The disgraced TV star is spending millions in a frenzied bid not just to stay out of prison but to salvage what is left of his reputation. Legal experts say he has nothing to lose.
“This thing’s going to be tied up in litigation anyway, so you might as well look like you’re the aggrieved party,” said Professor Laurie Levenson of Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. “The best defense is a good offense.”
The biggest threat facing the comedian is the lone criminal case against him, involving allegations he drugged and sexually violated Andrea Constand at his suburban Philadelphia home more than a decade ago. Cosby, 78, could get 10 years in prison if convicted.
Unless he can convince the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that a previous district attorney made a binding promise that Cosby would never be prosecuted, the comic and his cadre of high-priced litigators will be back in court Tuesday for his long-delayed preliminary hearing.
Cosby also is contending with two sexual assault lawsuits, two disputes over whether his homeowner policies should cover his legal expenses, and a dozen defamation claims brought by women who came forward too late to sue over sexual assault but say they were smeared by Cosby or his representatives.
The criminal and civil cases have generated countless spinoff battles over such things as whether Cosby’s wife can be questioned at a deposition and whether Constand’s recent cooperation with police violated the confidentiality agreement surrounding the financial settlement she reached with Cosby in 2006.
The lawsuits stretch from Los Angeles to Pittsburgh to Worcester, Massachusetts, not too far from where Cosby and his wife, Camille, have a home. In the past two years alone, some two dozen Cosby lawyers have done his bidding in a variety of courts, arguing in front of local magistrates, a state supreme court and federal appeals court judges.
His attorneys have flown from California to Philadelphia, for example, for a brief hearing over who can see the file from Constand’s original 2005 police complaint. And they have gathered from Los Angeles, Washington and Philadelphia to pack the defense table for the so-far unsuccessful bid to get the criminal charges thrown out over the purported non-prosecution agreement.
“I’m sure he’s angry that he thought he made a deal with someone … and then all of a sudden the whole thing blows up on him and his whole reputation is ruined,” said celebrity lawyer Larry R. Feldman of Los Angeles, who is not involved in the Cosby case but represented a 13-year-old who sued Michael Jackson. “I’m not worried about him financially, but nobody at this stage of his life and his career, I’m sure, wants to be defending these types of claims.”
Joseph Cammarata, a lawyer for seven women suing Cosby in Massachusetts, said he isn’t concerned about the size of Cosby’s legal team, which he jokingly called an “economic recovery plan for lawyers.”
“Only one person can speak at a time. In no way, shape or form do I think I am at a disadvantage,” Cammarata said.
A spokesman for the legal team, Andrew Wyatt, told The Associated Press that none of the lawyers could comment on the scope of Cosby’s legal battles. However, Cammarata said in court that he was told that Cosby’s insurance company shelled out $2 million in one 15-month period for Cosby’s legal bills in his case alone.
Cosby’s insurer, AIG, is fighting Cosby’s efforts to have two $1 million homeowner policies, along with $35 million in excess liability coverage, kick in. AIG argues that its policies exclude coverage for sexual assault cases; Cosby’s lawyers say these are defamation cases.
The litigation filed around the country is almost dizzying.
In California, for example, Cosby faces a lawsuit filed by Judy Huth, who says she was sexually assaulted at the Playboy Mansion around 1974 when she was 15. In a defamation case, model Janice Dickinson claims Cosby drugged and raped her in Lake Tahoe in 1982. Cosby has denied any wrongdoing.
In Massachusetts, Cosby faces three defamation lawsuits by nine women who say they were branded liars. His wife has been forced to give a deposition, though Cosby was granted a delay because of the criminal case.
“I feel like I have a great big scarlet ‘L’ painted on me,” plaintiff Kristina Ruehli, 72, of Windham, New Hampshire, told the AP. “How do you get that off?”
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Bill Cosby lost his career and reputation over these claims. He stands to lose most of his wealth. His relationship with these women turned out to be rather costly.
Consequences should be assessed before the deed is done. Not a tough concept but especially in celebrity settings one’s ego may delay such an assessment. These so called STARS feel their presence alone is a great gift. Seems like this guy had problems with his urges. For every action there is a reaction. If you study that premise you should be well prepared to pay for playing.
Being raped is hardly a relationship!
All these super stars that are being charged for criminal sexual behavior have really screw’d up. “NO” means just that. The screw’n they’re going to get is not worth the screw’n they got !
Bill Cosby, because of his own personal desire for beautiful young women, has sudenly got him trying to defend himself worldwide. Hey, you gotta give it to the man, while at the same time, feeling for the Wife (maybe). Hey Guys, normally, if you’re screwing around on my wife, and you’re known worldwide like this is suppoed to be, then you can bet your ‘sweet bippie’ my wife would have figured it out. So Bill’s wife did in fact know what was happening. So by all appearances she ignored his ‘little games’ and simply ‘kept her eye on the money’. Look when you have millions and millions, you are not apt to give it up because your horney husband wants something younger – you eventually go for the money.
And that’s what she’s doing while Bill is simply wanting to survive without serving prison time. If he should go to prison you can bet your ‘sweet bippie’ she has enough salted away somewhere that she will be able to survive nicely. If not then she deserves what she doesn’t get. Simply, Jack
I would suggest that all current Hollywood superstars pay for the services of one of those Hollywood Madams. This will be a lot less expensive in the long run.
Bill Cosby was by far one of the best comedians ever. That being said, no one believes he’s innocent. Imagine, parading himself as America’s # 1 TV dad. I hope they thro the proverbial book at him. Am I remembering correctly? Did UMASS take his Doctorate away? If not maybe they should.