Prosecutor says defense lawyer lobbed F-word at sex-crimes victim in deposition
A prosecutor said in court on Friday that a defense lawyer lobbed the F-word at a sex-crimes victim after she said during a deposition that he seemed worse than her accused rapist.
Herb Cohen, the defense lawyer for the defendant, millionaire developer Louis Bianculli, denied to Local10 that he made the comment to the accuser. “I never said anything to this girl nor would I,” he said of the 22-year-old woman making the accusations. “She’s had a hard enough life, a hard enough time. I wish her absolutely the best.”
Judge Michael Rothschild had previously sealed the transcript of the deposition, but agreed on Friday to unseal it at the request of the Broward prosecutor, Katie Bogenschutz, according to the Local10 story. Bogenschutz said she wanted the transcript unsealed because she wanted to file a bar complaint against Cohen.
Local10 said it already had a copy of the transcript, obtained from a confidential source not connected to the prosecution. The broadcast station provides this from the transcript:
Cohen (to the alleged victim): “Can you be in the room with me?”
Victim: “No. You’re just like Lou, but worse.”
Cohen: “F— you.”
According to News10, the victim was allegedly walking out the door when Cohen spoke. Cohen said he made the comment under his breath, while his co-counsel said he didn’t believe the victim heard it.
