Last month, lawyers for the seven women suing Bill Cosby for defamation in Massachusetts federal court subpoenaed his wife, Camille, to appear at a deposition to question her about matters related to their suit. On December 14 Cosby filed a defamation countersuit against his accusers, and then Camille Cosby’s lawyers responded with a request to the judge that she be excused from attending the deposition.
Mrs. Cosby’s layers argued that forcing her to answer questions about her husband would violate Massachusetts’ marital disqualification law in that any information gotten from her that could be used in court would be outweighed by the public’s interest in protecting communications between husband and wife.
The judge disagreed, saying he found no merit to Mrs. Cosby’s contentions. He also refused to limit the scope of the deposition questions.
