Lawyers for Bill Cosby’s wife have filed an emergency motion to halt her planned deposition in the comedian’s ongoing defamation battle against seven alleged sex assault victims.
Camille Cosby was scheduled to be quizzed by attorney Joseph Cammarata, who is representing the women, in Springfield, Massachusetts, on Wednesday, after failing to prove that she and her husband of over 50 years were protected by the state’s marital disqualification law, and, therefore, couldn’t be deposed.
The veteran actor’s lawyers have previously insisted Camille, who is also her husband’s business partner, has no information about the accuracy of the allegations against Cosby, who stands accused of acting inappropriately with the plaintiffs in decades-old incidents.
The emergency motion, obtained by People, reads in part: “Upon review of the Magistrate’s order, Mrs. Cosby immediately informed plaintiffs that she intended to appeal the order to the District Court, and asked if plaintiffs would agree to postpone the deposition during the pendency of the appeal.
“Plaintiffs refused and, among other things, threatened to seek the assistance of federal marshals to compel Mrs. Cosby’s deposition on January 6. Accordingly, Mrs. Cosby brings this motion to stay her deposition so that the District Court may have a full opportunity to review the Magistrate’s order.”
Magistrate Judge David Hennessy on Tuesday granted Cosby’s wife that emergency motion for a stay of her deposition so that she can appeal the Dec. 31 order to appear.
The move delays an earlier decision that Camille would be forced to testify in a defamation lawsuit filed by seven women who accuse the comedian of sexually assaulting them decades ago.
Lawyers for Camille Cosby claim the delay is needed because plaintiffs “intend to disclose Mrs. Cosby’s deposition testimony, including her private marital conversations to the press,” according to ABC News.
The women joined forces for the defamation suit last year, claiming Cosby allowed his representatives to portray them as liars after they went public with their sex assault allegations against him at the end of 2014 and in early 2015.
Cosby has filed a countersuit, accusing the females of making false allegations for financial gain.
Camille has stood by her embattled husband throughout the sex scandal, which hit headlines again last week when he was officially charged with drugging and sexually assaulting a woman in a separate incident in 2004 at his home near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His lawyers have called the charges unjustified.
