Bill Cosby won a small legal victory at a Superior Court in Los Angeles. The former actor won the right to delay providing evidence in an ongoing case against him in Massachusetts. He is accused of defaming women who brought allegations of sexual misconduct against him.
A federal judge who heard the case ruled in favor of delaying evidence. The judge said Cosby's disclosures during the hearing could affect another ongoing criminal case. The comedian's legal team claimed a risk of disclosed facts being used against their client by prosecutors in another criminal case against him in Pennsylvania, Reuters reported.
Cosby became popular in the 80s owing to his portrayal of the character, "Dr. Huxtable" in the hit family series "The Cosby Show." In 2004, he was charged with sexually assaulting a female basketball coach Andrea Constand.
In addition, he has been sued by nine women for sexual abuse. Of the nine women, seven of the women have brought charges against Cosby in Massachusetts, the news agency report claimed.
Craig Karlan, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge ruled that Cosby will temporarily not have to give evidence under oath in a deposition put forward by Judy Huth, the report claimed. Huth, a resident of California alleges Cosby forced her into a sex act when she was 15. She alleges they were both at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles in 1974.
The ruling will buy more time for Cosby to resolve a criminal case he faces before answering more questions from the Huth case. However, judge Karlan was quoted by the agency report as saying the Huth case was not being put on hold "indefinitely."
"The court recognized the dilemma faced by a defendant who must choose between defending civil litigation by providing testimony on one hand, and losing the case by asserting the constitutional right to remain silent on the other hand, " Cosby's lawyer Monique Pressley said a statement obtained by US Today.
Pressley told the American publication, Cosby is still under orders of being deposed. She said the court wanted the lawsuit to be moved along to 2017.
Furthermore, more than 50 women have accused Cosby of rape and other charges of sexual wrongdoing. Media reports claim that most of these charges were brought up simultaneously in the span of two years.
In addition, many accusers allege encounters with Cosby that date back a decade or more. Most of these cases have exceeded the statute of limitations where legal action is possible.
Currently, Cosby is free on bail regarding a case pending in Pennsylvania. Owing to legal limitations of the case brought against him the one in Pennsylvania is the only criminal prosecution he faces, media reports claim.
Watch a clip which traces the beginnings of the Cosby scandal :