A U.S. District Court judge in Massachusetts has denied a motion by lawyers for Bill Cosby to dismiss complaints by three women who alleged the embattled entertainer defamed them after they alleged he had sexually assaulted them.
The order, released Friday, allows the women — Tamara Green, Therese Seringnese and Linda Traitz — to move potentially move forward with their case against Cosby, including a bid for discovery and potential depositions in the coming weeks.
The motion was released on the same day that Cosby was scheduled to be deposed in a separate case. In that case, Judith Huth alleges Cosby sexually assaulted her at the Playboy Mansion in the 1970s when she was a minor.
Dozens of women have accused Cosby of sexually assaulting them years ago. Cosby has never been charged with a crime, and Cosby and his representatives have repeatedly denied the allegations.
Also, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office is currently reviewing a criminal case forwarded them by the Los Angeles Police Department, officials said.
In that case, a model — Chloe Goines — alleges that Cosby sexually assaulted her at the Playboy Mansion. Goines, 25, alleged in a civil lawsuit filed Wednesday that the assault took place in 2008.
The LAPD also investigated the allegations by Huth, but the District Attorney declined to file charges in that case, saying the statute of limitations had expired.