Andrea Constand, Janice Dickinson, and 3 Other Women Can Testify at Bill Cosby's Sexual Abuse Civil Trial, Judge Rules
Opening arguments for Donna Motsinger's sexual abuse lawsuit against Cosby are expected to begin Tuesday
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Bradley S. Phillips issued an order Friday saying Andrea Constand, ex-model Janice Dickinson, and three other women who say entertainer Bill Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted them can testify at Donna Motsinger’s sexual abuse trial.
“The Court finds that, as described by both Plaintiff and Defendant, the proposed testimony of five of the witnesses – Andrea Constand, Janice Dickinson, Janice Baker-Kinney, Chelan Lasha, and Victoria Valentino – is sufficiently similar to Plaintiff’s testimony and allegations to be admitted as evidence of a common plan or design used by Defendant to commit the alleged sexual assault. Each of these witnesses would apparently testify that Defendant gave them a pill or pills to take that caused them to lose consciousness either entirely or partially and that Defendant thereafter sexually assaulted them.”
Jesse Creed, Motsinger’s attorney, had asked the judge to allow nine women to testify as so-called 1101(b) witnesses, which are witnesses who testify about a defendant’s uncharged prior bad acts to prove motive, intent, identity, or a common plan. “Plaintiff offers the ‘Me Too’ witness testimony to demonstrate Defendant’s motive to achieve sexual gratification from drugging and sexually assaulting his victims,” Creed wrote.
Jennifer Bonjean, Cosby’s attorney, argued vigorously against allowing any of the nine women to testify in a motion filed on Feb. 27. “What should be a “focused two-week trial will instead become a four-week spectacle consisting of nine separate mini-trials… and will inevitably inject reversible error into the record if granted,” she wrote.
Judges have to weigh the probative value vs the prejudicial value when making these decisions. “The Court finds… that the probative value of the testimony of the five witnesses who would testify that Defendant gave them pills is not substantially outweighed by any prejudicial effect, particularly given the ability of the Court to give limiting instructions to the jury, potentially before, during, and/or after their testimony and in closing instructions,” Phillips wrote.
Phillips excluded the testimony of the other four women – Linda Kirkpatrick, Lise Lotte-Lublin, PJ Masten, and Heidi Thomas – “because it both bears less similarity to Plaintiff’s allegations and would be cumulative and therefore increase the risk of prejudice to the Defendant,” he wrote.
Dickinson, Lasha, Baker-Kinney , Lotte-Lublin, and Thomas all testified at Cosby’s second criminal trial in April 2018 when he was convicted of drugging and sexually assaulting Constand in January 2004 when she was director of operations for Temple University’s women’s basketball team. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned that conviction in June 2021, which legal experts say was a flawed decision.
Motsinger, 84, said Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her in 1972 after inviting her to one of his shows. (I wrote in more detail about her case last week.) Jury selection for the trial is expected to conclude Monday, with opening arguments beginning on Tuesday. Cosby will not be attending the trial.
Nicki Weisensee Egan is the author of the book CHASING COSBY, host and executive producer of the podcast based on the book, coauthor of VICTIM F, and an investigative journalist. You can see more of her work, including her more than 20 years of Cosby coverage, at https://www.nicoleweisenseeegan.com/