A defamation suit filed by former model Janice Dickinson against television comic Bill Cosby can go forward, a Los Angeles judge has ruled, according to US media.
Dickinson said Cosby raped her in 1982 in a Nevada hotel room, then called her a liar when she told her story publicly. The judge's decision on Tuesday clears the way for her lawyers to question Cosby in the case.
More than 50 women have accused the comedian of drugging and sexual assault. Cosby, 78, is facing criminal charges for a 2005 alleged sexual assault in Pennsylvania. Most of the other allegations date back decades and fall outside the window for criminal prosecution.
Eight other alleged victims are suing Cosby for defamation on similar grounds in Massachusetts.
Another woman, Judy Huth, has sued Cosby in California for childhood sexual abuse over an alleged sexual assault that occurred in the 1970s when she was 15 years old.
Cosby's lawyers have asked a judge to postpone trial in the Huth case pending the resolution of Cosby's criminal trial. A hearing on that question is scheduled for Wednesday in Los Angeles County court.
