Judge Orders Camille Cosby to Give Deposition, Rejecting Her Latest Effort to Delay Testimony in Defamation Case Against Husband

Rejecting Camille Cosby’s latest effort to delay, a federal judge ruled Friday that she must testify Monday in a defamation lawsuit filed against her husband Bill Cosby by seven women who claim they were victims of his alleged assaults.

The testimony Monday will take place outside of court, reports WWLP.

In a document filed Friday in U.S. District Court, Mrs. Cosby’s lawyers had sought to postpone her deposition, writing, “Mrs. Cosby renews her motion for a protective order staying her deposition until the parties and the purported spokespeople have been deposed, and limiting the scope of Mrs. Cosby’s deposition to discoverable topics that are not addressed by these deponents.”

The request came a week after U.S. District Judge Mark Mastroianna ruled Feb. 11 that Mrs. Cosby must answer at least some questions in a deposition about the case, rejecting the argument by Mrs. Cosby’s legal team that marital privilege protects her.

The defamation suit was first brought by Andrea Constand and then joined by the others, all of whom say Cosby, 78, drugged and/or sexually assaulted them.

Cosby has separately been charged with allegedly drugging and sexually assaulting Constand in January 2004 at his Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, home. More recently, Cosby filed a breach of contract lawsuit Feb. 1 against Constand and her mother, claiming they violated a confidentiality agreement negotiated in 2006.

Cosby’s breach of contract suit also names Constand’s attorneys and the National Enquirer for reporting on claims by Constand and others “despite its clear contractual obligations to not publish any stories relating to certain allegations against Mr. Cosby.”

Constand’s settlement and confidentiality agreement were reached after Constand had sued Enquirer-publisher American Media, Inc., and Cosby for defamation in 2005.

The criminal case against Cosby is based in part on revelations shared by Constand when she spoke to the Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, district attorney’s office last summer about the alleged 2004 incident. Although no criminal charges were filed when Constand initially raised her allegations, she later was joined by a chorus of more than 50 women who allege they, too, were victims of the entertainer, who personally or through his attorneys has denied each allegation.