A deposition in the defamation lawsuit seven women who say her husband sexually assaulted them have filed. Camille was called to give evidence in a hotel in the northeastern state where the star turned pariah has accused seven women of lying in alleging that he assaulted them – in order to damage his reputation and exact financial reward.
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After lawyers subpoenaed Camille Cosby in early December, a magistrate rejected arguments to suppress the deposition.
The deposition was conducted under tight security, with black curtains cordoning off the wing of the Springfield Marriott and security posted at all entrances.
The lawyers spent more than seven hours in the room Monday but were able to depose Camille Cosby for only two and a half hours because of “back and forth” about marital privilege, Cammarata said.
Camille, 71, has been married to Bill for 52 years.
Camille has stood by her husband publicly since the accusations of multiple sexual-assaults over a span of fifty years became highly publicized in late 2014.
She will continue the deposition on March 14. Cosby has been accused of rape, drugging, and performing inappropriate sex acts by over 50 women in the past 18 months.
“I get the sense she didn’t want to be there”, Cammarata told reporters, describing the reluctant witness as “reserved”.
Cammarata had said he sought from to learn from her “issues important to the case” and about the entertainer’s “relationship to her, to other women”.
When asked what he hoped to gain from Camille, Cammarata said she “is his wife, she lives with him, understands the nature of his relationships”.
Defense lawyers, when requesting the delay, said Camille’s public testimony would serve, “no goal other than to harass and embarrass her”.
The Cosbys’ primary residence is an estate in Shelburne Falls, an hour north of Springfield.
In December, Bill Cosby, who played Dr. Cliff Huxtable on “The Cosby Show” from 1984 to 1992, was charged in Pennsylvania with drugging and sexually assaulting a former Temple University employee at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004.
Cosby has maintained his innocence and pleaded not guilty.
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Cosby’s lawyers have said in court papers the deposition is “nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to pressure (the) defendant in the face of subjecting his wife to the shame and embarrassment of responding to questions about his alleged infidelities and sexual misconduct”. Cosby is due for a preliminary hearing in the case on March 8. If you would like to discuss another topic, look for a relevant article.
