- Judy Huth alleges that
Bill Cosby molested her as a minor at the Playboy Mansion and filed a civil suit against him. - Cosby's legal team claims that it never occurred.
One of Bill Cosby's accusers may have relied on more passive "sexual refusal messages" to "save face," an expert forensic psychologist testified in court on Thursday.
Thursday was the second day of trial in Cosby's first civil suit since he was released from jail on June 30, 2021, after a judge vacated his conviction.
"One of the most common sexual assault myths is that women say no verbally or fight back physically," Dr. Barbara Ellen Ziv, a forensic psychiatrist, told a 12-person jury at the Bill Cosby v Judy Huth trial in Santa Monica, California.
Huth's legal team claims that Cosby molested her in 1975 at the Playboy Mansion, even after she lied and said she was menstruating. Cosby denies all sexual assault allegations.
As part of the suit, Huth's team called Ziv as an expert on sexual assault. Ziv was a blind expert asked to offer opinions on hypothetical situations but has not met or evaluated either party.
Ziv testified that "women who are sexually assaulted by someone who is known to them" typically try to use "sexual refusal messages" — such as saying they're on their period, that they have to leave, or that they have an STD — hoping it "allows a man to save face" or to "preserve social niceties."
Huth, 64, filed her lawsuit against Cosby in 2014 claiming that he molested her in 1974 when she was 15. On May 5, 2022, her team pushed forward a new court filing amending the date of the allegation from 1974 to 1975 — a move that Cosby's team called a "trial by ambush."
She claims to have met him with a friend at Lacy Park in San Marino, California, while Cosby was filming the movie, "Let's Do It Again," according to the 2014 complaint.
The complaint adds that Cosby, now 84, invited them that same day to meet him at a tennis club the upcoming weekend. At the tennis club, she claims he invited them to a house after their arrival and presented them with alcoholic beverages.
They then went to another house where Cosby said he had a "surprise" for the two girls, the court document claims. The house turned out to be the Playboy Mansion, per the complaint, and Huth alleges that Cosby told her and her friend to tell the greeters that they were 19 years old.
In a bed near a game room, Cosby "proceeded to sexually molest her by attempting to put his hand down her pants, and then taking her hand in his hand and performing a sex act on himself without her consent," the complaint alleges, calling the act "childhood sexual abuse."
Claims, Cosby denies.
Huth is seeking punitive, exemplary, and compensatory damages from Cosby for alleged sexual battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
On Wednesday, Huth's friend, Donna Samuelson, 64, who says she was with Huth on that day was the first witness to take the stand in the trial. Samuelson claimed that Huth was upset at the Playboy Mansion.
"She said 'I want to go, I wanna leave,' she was crying," Samuelson said, according to The Associated Press.
Samuelson testified that she convinced Huth to stay in an effort to help her feel better.
"I thought it would calm her down to go swimming and stuff," Samuelson testified, according to the AP. "I said, 'We'll leave as soon as he gets back.'"
Ziv stated Thursday that the decision to remain at the location after the assault is "consistent" with other cases "especially when the perpetrator is known to the victim."
Ziv added that "traumatic memories are less likely to erode over time," claiming that sexual assault victims face a "different level of scrutiny than other crimes" with victims.
Cosby will not be present throughout the trial — invoking his fifth amendment right not to testify.
Cosby's lawyer Jennifer Bonjean called Huth's allegations "a complete and utter fabrication."
"Boy did Judy and Donna enjoy themselves," Bonjean told the courtroom on Wednesday. "They stayed for 12 hours. There's no typical response to a traumatic event but partying at the Playboy Mansion does not seem consistent."
Bonjean, who has represented R. Kelly, also represented Cosby in his criminal trial.
He was released from jail last year when the Pennsylvania Supreme Court vacated his conviction claiming a previous district attorney in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, made a 2005 agreement not to prosecute Cosby.
Even if the court rules in favor of Huth, Cosby cannot be sent to jail in this civil case, because of the deal with the former district attorney.
Sixty women have accused "America's Dad" of rape, other sexual harassment, or other sexual violence allegations, but the statute of limitations for sexual assault allegations has prevented most from filing lawsuits against Cosby.
"If all 60 women who accused Mr. Cosby of assault were able to bring their cases criminally, he would have probably done a life sentence," Camille Cooper, the vice president of public policy at Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, known as "the nation's largest anti-sexual violence organization," previously told Insider.
While he was incarcerated, 11 civil cases against him had been settled — 10 of which his former insurance company was responsible for settling, according to The New York Times.