The Latest: Accuser’s lawyers say Cosby words support claims

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Here are the latest developments from the release of court documents indicating Bill Cosby admitted in 2005 to obtaining Quaaludes with the intent of giving them to women with whom he wanted to have sex:

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8:50 p.m.

A lawyer for a woman who says Bill Cosby drugged and assaulted her when she was 19 says the unsealing of portions of his 2005 testimony is a “significant and positive step.”

Therese Serignese went public with the allegations last November. She says Cosby assaulted her after a show in Las Vegas around 1976.

She says she went backstage and when the two were alone he gave her two pills and a glass of water.

Cosby admitted giving her quaaludes and having sex but wasn’t asked in the testimony if the encounter was consensual.

The Associated Press went to court to compel the release of the documents, which were made public Monday. Cosby’s lawyers had objected on the grounds it would embarrass him.

Serignese and two other women are suing Cosby for defamation after his representatives strongly denied their allegations. Her lawyer says the unsealed documents appear to support allegations the women were drugged and abused.

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6:55 p.m.

Lawyer Gloria Allred says she hopes to use Bill Cosby’s newly unsealed testimony from 2005 in other court cases against the comedian.

She said in an interview with The Associated Press on Monday evening that “this confirms the allegations of numerous victims who have alleged that he had used drugs to sexually assault them.”

She says “this admission is one that Mr. Cosby has attempted to hide from the public for many years and we are very gratified that it is now being made public.”

Bill Cosby admitted in the 2005 deposition that he obtained quaaludes with the intent of giving them to young women he wanted to have sex with. He admitted giving the sedative to at least one woman. The AP had sought release of the documents, which were unsealed Monday.

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This item has been corrected to show that Gloria Allred made her comments in an interview, not a statement.

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6:40 p.m.

The lawyer for model Janice Dickinson says “now we know why” Bill Cosby has failed to appear for a deposition in her defamation lawsuit against him.

Dickinson sued him in May, saying denials made by the comedian’s representatives after she accused him last year of raping her in 1982 were defamatory.

Given his testimony in 2005, lawyer Lisa Bloom said in a statement Monday evening, “how dare he publicly vilify Ms. Dickinson and accuse her of lying when she tells a very similar story?”

She says “it is time for Mr. Cosby to stop hiding behind his attorneys and publicists and to publicly apologize to Ms. Dickinson and the 46 other women who have publicly accused him of sexual assault.”

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5:20 p.m.

Bill Cosby admitted in a 2005 deposition that he obtained quaaludes with the intent of giving them to young women he wanted to have sex with. He admitted giving the sedative to at least one woman.

The Associated Press went to court to compel the release of the documents, and they were made public Monday. Cosby’s lawyers had objected on the grounds that it would embarrass their client.

The 77-year-old comedian was testifying under oath in a lawsuit filed by a former Temple University employee. He says he gave her Benadryl. Cosby’s lawyers say two other women said they knowingly took Quaaludes from Cosby.

Cosby settled that sexual-abuse lawsuit for undisclosed terms in 2006. More than a dozen women have since accused him of sexually assaulting them. Some believe they were also drugged. Cosby has never been criminally charged, and most of the accusations are barred by statutes of limitations.

Cosby’s lawyers in the Philadelphia case did not immediately return phone calls.

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This item has been corrected to show that Cosby’s lawyers, not his accusers, say two women knowingly took quaaludes from him.

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