Cosby admission may help legal suits

Bill Cosby’s admission that he obtained quaaludes to give to women he was pursuing for sex could bolster defamation claims lodged by his accusers, the women’s lawyers said after The Associated Press reported on newly released court documents.

In sworn testimony unsealed on Monday, Cosby admitted he gave the now-banned sedative to at least one of his accusers and to unnamed others. His lawyer interfered before he could answer deposition questions in 2005 about how many women were given drugs and whether they knew about it.

“If today’s report is true, Mr Cosby admitted under oath 10 years ago sedating women for sexual purposes,” said Lisa Bloom, attorney for model Janice Dickinson, who contends she was drugged and raped. “Given that, how dare he publicly vilify Ms Dickinson and accuse her of lying when she tells a very similar story?”