Music producer Quincy Jones could be deposed in a Massachusetts libel case against Bill Cosby. Tamara Green, and six other women, are suing the comedian for libel over denials by his reps that they were sexually assaulted. According to a motion filed Monday, the accusers believe Jones may have knowledge of Cosby’s history of alleged assaults.
Jones isn’t the only person being called to testify, the plaintiffs will also depose and/or subpoena Cosby’s former attorneys Martin D. Singer and John P. Schmitt and his publicist David Brokaw. According to the motion they also intend to subpoena documents from William Morris Endeavor.
Last month, Cosby’s attorneys filed a motion to pause the civil suit in order to focus on another sexual assault case in Montgomery County, Pa. The case is in connection to a 2004 incident involving Andrea Constand, a former Temple University employee, who contacted police in January 2005, claiming Cosby drugged her and forced her to touch him intimately.
“Defendant is not entitled to put a hold on this entire case, merely because he has been criminally charged for an alleged sexual assault that occurred ten years after any of the alleged sexual assaults underlying this case,” said Joseph Cammarata, attorney for the accusers, in Monday’s motion.
Cosby’s attorney, Christopher Tayback, argued last month that the civil case should be put on hold pending the results in Constand’s criminal case.
“The state’s case relies on Defendant’s previously sealed testimony, given by Defendant in a civil case that was made public — demonstrating the direct impact that civil litigation can have on criminal matters,” wrote Tayback in a Feb. 9 brief. “It is precisely for such reason, i.e., the preservation of Defendant’s right against self-incrimination, that this civil action should be stayed during the pendency of Defendant’s criminal case.”
