Cosby’s Sex Attack Victim Wins Legal Victory As Judge Approves Lawsuit Against Ex DA
Oct. 27 2018, Updated 4:59 p.m. ET
Andrea Constand won a battle in court after a federal judge ruled she could move forward with her defamation suit against the former Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor, who declined to file charges against Bill Cosby in 2005, RadarOnline.com can exclusively reveal.
Constand filed the defamation complaint against Castor back in October 2015, but the case had been stalled because of various motions and Cosby's criminal case. However, a federal judge on October 16 denied Castor's motion to toss out the complaint and ordered a final pretrial conference for December 4.
The judge also ordered both sides to prepare their pretrial memos, voir dire questions, and verdict forms and file those documents by Nov. 5, 2018. Vincent Champion, Cosby's attorney, filed a request with the court on Oct. 18, 2018 to include his appearance on the record.
Cosby, once known as "America's Dad," was sentenced to three to 10 years in state prison for sexually assaulting Constand 14 years ago. He is now classified as a "sexually violent predator."
As RadarOnline.com readers know, a federal judge in Philadelphia unsealed excerpts from Cosby's deposition in Constand's civil suit against the comedian, which led Montgomery County District Attorney Lisa Vetri Ferman to reopen the case in December 2015.
According to her civil complaint, Constand said Castor broke the law when the former D.A. failed to notify her prior to releasing a press release about his decision not to file charges against Cosby. She also claims Castor used her allegations against Cosby in his political campaign.
Constand also claimed Castor tried to thwart the 2015 investigation. Castor left the DA's office in 2006.
In his answer to the complaint, Castor denied the defamation claim and said all of his comments to the media concerning Constand were true and therefore could not be used to argue the defamation claim.
In an affidavit, Castor said there were inconsistencies in Constand's statements to police and her civil complaint, including the date of events and how long she had known Cosby.
In his Oct. 16 order, however, Judge Eduardo C. Robreno found Castor's statements could be "capable of defamatory meaning" because Castor implied that Constand lied about her allegations against Cosby.
Referring to Castor's statement in a Sept. 23, 2015 Associated Press article, Robreno wrote, "When viewed in context and in the light most favorable to Plaintiff, this statement is capable of defamatory meaning. Specifically, the average reader could interpret Defendant's statement alongside his decision not to prosecute Mr. Cosby to mean Plaintiff lied, possibly for pecuniary gain. The implication that Plaintiff lied in her civil complaint is capable of defamatory meaning."
The judge also ruled that just because Castor claimed his statements about Constand were true and were his opinions, it doesn't mean they were not defamatory.
"Even if the Court characterized the statement as an opinion, it would nevertheless be actionable because Defendant has not disclosed the basis for his assertion that Plaintiff is a liar," Robreno wrote. "The mere fact that the civil complaint and statement to the police were technically publicly available does not mean that Defendant disclosed the justification for his opinion."
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The judge also added other details in both Constand's civil suit and her interview with police remained consistent, including her allegation that Cosby digital penetrated her.
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