By Lisa Richwine
SANTA MONICA, Calif. (Reuters) – Closing arguments began on Wednesday in a civil trial against Bill Cosby, with his accuser’s attorney arguing she had provided sufficient evidence of a sexual assault at the Playboy Mansion in 1975 and should receive damages for emotional distress.
Judy Huth, who filed her lawsuit in 2014, testified that the comedian forced her to perform a sex act at the famous residence in Los Angeles when she was 16 years old and Cosby was 37.
“You have to hold him fully accountable,” Huth’s attorney, Nathan Goldberg, said to the jury.
Goldberg added that there was no fixed formula for determining what someone is owed for emotional distress, urging the jury to “use your best judgment” on what Huth should receive.
“Four years of misery. What is that worth to someone? $1 million a year? $2 million a year?” he said.
Cosby’s defense team is set to present their closing arguments later on Wednesday.
The actor and comedian has not appeared in person at the trial, but jurors were shown a roughly 10-minute video of Cosby answering questions from one of Huth’s attorneys during a deposition in 2015.
While Cosby said he did not remember Huth, he said the incident could not have happened because he would not have pursued sexual contact at that time with someone who was 15.
In cross-examination of Huth, Cosby attorney Jennifer Bonjean challenged her account, including her revised timeline.
When the lawsuit was filed in December 2014, Huth said the incident occurred in 1974, when she was 15. She testified this week that she recently concluded that she had been mistaken about the year and now believes it happened in 1975.
The civil trial in California took place 11 months after Cosby was freed from prison when Pennsylvania’s highest court threw out his sexual assault conviction in a different case.
Cosby, 84, is best known for his role as the lovable husband and father in the 1980s television comedy series “The Cosby Show,” earning him the nickname “America’s Dad.”
But his family-friendly reputation was shattered after more than 50 women accused him of sexual assaults over nearly five decades.
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by David Gregorio)
