Cosby Attorneys File Motion for Dismissal of Playboy Mansion Assault Lawsuit

Attorneys for Bill Cosby filed a motion today calling for dismissal of a lawsuit accusing the actor-comedian of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl at the Playboy Mansion in 1974, saying the complaint amounts to “extortion.”

Cosby’s lawyers state in their court papers that Judy Huth tried and failed a decade ago to get money from a tabloid by telling the same story that is now the subject of her lawsuit, which was filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court. Ten years later and 40 years after the alleged assault, Huth “rushed to the courthouse and filed this baseless, time-barred lawsuit once she knew that she and her lawyer had been accused of engaging in a shakedown,” according to court papers filed by Cosby’s attorneys.

“This is a case where plaintiff through her lawyer engaged in extortion,” according to the dismissal motion.

In addition to seeking dismissal of the lawsuit, Cosby’s lawyers also want their client to be reimbursed for about $33,300 in legal fees and costs.

In her complaint, Huth contends she and a friend met Cosby in 1974 when they walked to the set of a film being shot in San Marino. She and her friend, who was 16 at the time, spoke to the actor and he invited them to his tennis club the following Saturday, according to the lawsuit.

When the girls went to the club, Cosby directed them to follow him to a house, where he gave them alcohol and they played billiards. He then led them to another house, which turned out to be the Playboy Mansion, according to the lawsuit.

At some point, Huth told Cosby she needed to use the bathroom, according to the lawsuit.

“Cosby directed her to a bathroom within a bedroom suite near the game room,” the lawsuit states. “When plaintiff emerged from the bathroom, she found Cosby sitting on the bed. He asked her to sit beside him. He then proceeded to sexually molest her by attempting to put his hand down her pants, and then taking her hand in his hand and performing a sex act on himself without her consent.”

Huth contends she has suffered “psychological damage and mental anguish” throughout her life, but only recently discovered the problems were “caused by the sexual abuse perpetrated by Cosby.”

The lawsuit alleges sexual battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent infliction of emotional distress. The complaint seeks unspecified damages.

But in a sworn declaration, Cosby’s attorney, Martin Singer, states that Huth’s lawyer told him on Nov. 26 that his client would refrain from “pursuing criminal or legal claims or going to the media with her claims” if Cosby paid the plaintiff $250,000.

“He stated for the $250,000, ‘you’ll get anything you want,”’ according to Singer.

Huth’s lawyer asked for $100,000 just the day before, according to Singer.

Singer also states that Cosby is a “lifelong non-drinker” and would not have given anyone alcohol. He also claims Huth’s lawyer acknowledged that the woman tried to sell her story to a tabloid.

—City News Service

Image: Courtesy of @Variety via Twitter