Bill Cosby will face sex abuse allegations again Wednesday as his civil trial in California begins.
Judy Huth’s lawyers will set out the evidence they expect to present to prove that Cosby compelled her to do a sex act at the Playboy Mansion when she was 16 years old in 1975. Huth’s testimony will be critical in the case, which will be strengthened by images and other archival evidence to help place the incident in context.
It is expected that Cosby’s lawyers, who claim no sexual abuse occurred, will emphasize that the plaintiffs must prove the nearly 50-year-old case. A photo from that visit shows Cosby taking Huth to the Playboy Mansion, but they say they are confident she was not a minor at the time.
The trial is one of the last for Cosby, 85, who was released from prison 11 months ago after a Pennsylvania appeals court overturned his criminal sexual assault conviction. His insurer forced him to settle several more sexual misconduct complaints against his will.
After a court concluded that Cosby could invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, he will not testify. He also had no intentions to travel from his home in Pennsylvania to attend the trial, which will be held in a small courthouse in Santa Monica.
According to Cosby’s representatives, glaucoma has rendered him blind, making travel impossible.
