Model’s suit against Cosby can proceed, judge rules

LOS ANGELES — Janice Dickinson’s defamation lawsuit against Bill Cosby should move forward, a judge ruled Tuesday, saying a trial can determine the truthfulness of the model’s claims that the comedian raped her in 1982.

A jury can decide the credibility of Dickinson’s allegations and whether a statement by Cosby’s former lawyer branding her a liar was defamatory, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Debre Katz Weintraub said.

The judge said in her ruling that she was not assessing the credibility of either Dickinson or Cosby. It also allows for the possibility that Dickinson could recoup punitive damages if she wins the case.

Dickinson sued Cosby in May after he denied her claims that he drugged and raped her in Lake Tahoe in 1982. She says she tried to include the story in a 2002 memoir, “No Lifeguard on Duty: The Accidental Life of the World’s First Supermodel,” but her publisher refused.

Cosby’s attorneys tried to dismiss the suit, arguing Dickinson’s story had changed over the years. His legal team will have several opportunities to challenge the case before it goes to trial, whose date has not been set.

Christopher Tayback, an attorney for Cosby, declined to comment after the hearing.

Dickinson’s suit says she felt victimized again after Cosby’s former lawyer, Marty Singer, denied the allegations.

Letters that Singer sent to reporters threatening to sue if they published Dickinson’s claims are protected legal communications and cannot be used at trial, Weintraub also ruled.

The judge said her review of the evidence so far shows that while Singer offered an opinion on Dickinson’s credibility, there is no indication he investigated whether the rape occurred.