Summary: On Tuesday, a judge ruled that a jury will get to decide on the defamation case between Janice Dickinson and Bill Cosby.
Janice Dickinson, the self-proclaimed “world’s first supermodel,” had a victory on Tuesday when a judge ruled her defamation lawsuit against comedian Bill Cosby can go to trial.
According to the New York Daily News, Dickinson sued Cosby last May after he denied her allegations that he drugged and raped her in 1982 at Lake Tahoe. Supreme Court Judge Debre Katz Weintraub said that a jury can determine the credibility of the 61-year-old model’s claim.
Dickinson said the decision was a “victory” for women and that she is prepared to fight.
“I want Bill Cosby in court,” Dickinson said on Tuesday. “I want him to stand under oath.”
Dickinson’s attorney, Lisa Bloom, echoed her client’s sentiment, saying they will fight the case “until the end.”
Cosby’s legal team has opportunities to challenge the case before the court date. They had been trying to dismiss Dickinson’s lawsuit for quite some time, claiming she changed her story in the past. In her lawsuit, the model said she felt victimized that Cosby’s lawyer portrayed her as a liar after she had come forward with the sexual assault allegations.
Because the alleged crime took place more than thirty years ago, the statute of limitations for legal action against the actual rape has passed. More than 50 other women claim Cosby raped them, but the majority of those cases’ statutes of limitations has also passed.
A trial date for the Dickinson case has not been set yet.
The 78-year-old comedian is currently out on $1 million bail for another rape case that is still pending. In 2004, Cosby allegedly assaulted an employee at Temple University, Andrea Constandt. Like Dickinson, Constandt said Cosby drugged and raped her. According to JD Journal, she filed criminal charges in Pennsylvania, and in December, he was charged with three counts of felony aggravated indecent assault. His legal team, led by Monique Pressley, is appealing the case.
Source: New York Daily News
