Actor Bill Cosby could face civil trial again in sexual assault case

He could go back to prison. A Los Angeles County judge on Friday paved the way for the possibility of another sexual assault trial for comedian Bill Cosby, fresh out of jail, lawyers said for a woman who had filed a civil complaint in 2004. The man who for years embodied the ideal father in the “Cosby Show” was released from prison on June 30, after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned his sentence to a minimum of 3 years in prison for sexually assaulting Andrea Constand, a woman who worked for Temple University in Philadelphia in 2004.

This case is the only one to have been the subject of criminal proceedings, but Bill Cosby has been implicated by dozens of women, including Judy Huth, who had filed a civil complaint on December 2, 2014. She claims to suffer from psychological consequences since the comedian allegedly sexually assaulted her in 1974, when she was only 15, in the famous Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles.

A possible trial in April 2022

In this case, the judge had ordered the stay of the proceedings, because of the criminal proceedings against Cosby.

This reprieve was almost completely lifted on Friday, except on the issue of a possible deposition of the 84-year-old comedian, explained the plaintiff's lawyers, Gloria Allred, John West and Nathan Goldberg, during a press conference.

The latter stay "will remain in effect until September 30," the time to know if the decision of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is challenged in the Supreme Court of the United States, explained John West.

He said the judge had set a possible trial for April 18, 2022.

Read also Bill Cosby: 5 minutes to understand the annulment of his conviction for sexual assault

Lawyers for Bill Cosby, who could not be reached immediately, have already said their client will come under the protection of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees not to be sued twice for the same crime or not to incriminate oneself.

In its decision, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania recalls that a prosecutor had decided not to prosecute Bill Cosby in criminal proceedings in the Andrea Constand case, while encouraging him to testify in civil proceedings.

Bill Cosby had admitted to having given Andrea Constand a powerful sedative and to having carried out touches on her, judging that she was consenting, because she had not reacted.

This testimony was then used against him during his criminal trial, when a new prosecutor had decided to relaunch the case.