Bill Cosby's lawyer is dismissed from suit claiming denials of Cosby rape claim were defamatory
A Los Angeles County judge on Tuesday indicated that Bill Cosby’s former lawyer doesn’t have to face a defamation suit filed by a model who claims Cosby drugged and raped her in Lake Tahoe in 1982.
Judge Debre Weintraub said she would grant a motion to dismiss lawyer Martin Singer from the suit, report the Hollywood Reporter, the Associated Press and Reuters. The ruling was tentative, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The woman who filed the suit claims Cosby and Singer defamed her by accusing her of fabricating the rape story. Cosby remains as a defendant.
The plaintiff initially sued Cosby and added Singer as a defendant in an amended complaint. Weintraub said the plaintiff should have named Singer in the original complaint because she knew of his action at the time of the first filing.
A hearing has been scheduled for Feb. 29 to consider a motion to dismiss the suit against Cosby under a California law protecting free speech.
In January, a federal judge in Pittsburgh dismissed another defamation suit against Cosby and Singer, saying their statements were not defamatory.
