:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tronc/6WYQGE24L6P3BZKL64PNJUFEDM.jpg "Cosby faces sexual assault accusations again in civil trial")
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Bill Cosby will face sexual abuse allegations again Wednesday, when attorneys present opening arguments in a new civil trial against the comedian.
Lawyers for Judy Huth, 64, will describe the evidence they plan to present that Cosby forced her to perform a sexual act at the Playboy Mansion in 1975, when she was 16 years old. The case will hinge on Huth’s testimony, bolstered by photographs and other archival pieces to place the incident in time.
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Cosby’s attorneys, who say no sexual abuse occurred, are likely to stress that the burden of proving the nearly 50-year-old case falls squarely on the plaintiffs. They have acknowledged that Cosby took Huth to the Playboy Mansion, as a photo of her visit shows, but say they believe she was not a minor when it happened.
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The trial is one of the last cases Cosby, 85, faces after a Pennsylvania appeals court threw out his criminal sexual assault conviction and released him from prison 11 months ago. His insurer settled several other sexual misconduct lawsuits against the actor’s will.
Cosby will not testify after the judge ruled he could assert his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. And he has no plans to leave his home in Pennsylvania to attend the trial, which is taking place in a small courthouse in Santa Monica. Cosby’s reps say glaucoma has left him blind and made travel too difficult.
The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they have been victims of sexual abuse unless they come out publicly, as Huth has done.
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