Bill Cosby and his lawyers were denied a request to be tried again in a sexual assault case involving a 1970s incident at the Playboy Mansion, according to a decision by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge on Tuesday.
Judge Craig Carlan said in the ruling, “Cosby has failed to establish that he received an unfair trial or that insufficient evidence exists to establish his responsibility for plaintiff’s damages.” The court heard arguments on September 23 at the Santa Monica Courthouse.
Cosby lost a lawsuit brought in June by plaintiff Judy Huth, who alleged that Cosby sexually assaulted her at the Playboy Mansion in 1975, when she was 16 years old. Huth claimed that Cosby instructed her to say she was 19 if anyone asked. The actor and comedian was earlier produced in the case in October 2014.
Cosby was ordered to pay $500,000 at the time. However, Cosby’s attorney tried to have the case dismissed and then sought a retrial on Huth’s grounds, initially stating that the assault took place in 1974, but later revised the timeline to 1975, Which means she will be 16 years old. Cosby’s team tried unsuccessfully to have that change case settled out of court.
“Once again we won and Bill Cosby lost,” Huth’s attorney, Gloria Allred, said in a statement. “Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge, Craig D. Carlan, rejected Bill Cosby’s motion for a new trial. Instead, the judge decided that Bill Cosby had received a fair trial and that there was no basis for a new trial. We believe that Mr. Cosby should be deeply disappointed by the outcome, but this will not change the judge’s decision. The jury found that Bill Cosby was responsible for the sexual battery of a child. Child sexual abuse is reprehensible. Mr. Cosby should be judged by the jury. Instead of continuing to oppose the decision, we should take responsibility for which our law firm fought and won.
“Judge Carlan had expected a new trial, denying Mr. Cosby, but it is unfortunate that this judge overlooked discrepancies in Ms. Huth’s testimony during the cross-examination, and the mere fact that Ms. Huth took the 11th hours before the trial.’ The after glow for Mr. Cosby is that he maintains his innocence and vehemently denies all alleged allegations against him. ,
Wyatt further said that Cosby intends to move forward with appealing the decision.
Cosby was released last June, after he served three years of a Pennsylvania state prison sentence ranging from three to 10 years on a felony charge since 2018. Overturning the sentence, the state Supreme Court ruled that Cosby could not be withdrawn and that the prosecutor who brought the case was bound by an agreement with his predecessor not to bring charges.
It was one of Huth’s last remaining legal claims after Cosby’s release from prison, and he does not face prison after this case.
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.
