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25 Jun, 2015

Claims he is not public figure to keep records sealed

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In Pennsylvania, Cosby defends against the Associated Press’s call to unseal nine-year-old Constand court documents, saying he is not a public figure, there’s no public interest in the case, and that confidentiality should be maintained on materials described as posing a “real, specific threat of serious embarrassment.” After the settlement, AP challenged the sealing of certain motions brought in the case, but they were denied. Now AP is asking for the motions to be disclosed base on a local rule of civil procedure that presumes an unsealing of records after two years unless a judge disagrees. Cosby’s lawyer:

Moreover, unlike a deposition in a typical case, there is a voracious media appetite for Defendant’s deposition, and public release of it would quickly become widespread public knowledge of it. There is no doubt that public disclosure of the motions and Defendant’s sworn deposition testimony, which delves into the most intimate subjects imaginable, would generate a firestorm of publicity.

[Cosby] is not a public official, nor is the relevant information important to public health or safety… Defendant’s status as a well-known comedian and entertainer does not render him a ‘public’ person within the meaning of the law.

AP’s brief:

The defendant is the only party who objects to unsealing the record. However, now that the circumstances that he relied upon to gain preliminary sealing in this matter are nothing more than historic references, bypassed by recent public events, the files at issue should be unsealed.

Adding that Constand has waived her right to anonymity, the various Jane DFoes’ mentioned in her suit have come forward, and that

[Cosby is] unquestionably a public figure [and his conduct] a legitimate matter for public scrutiny.

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