A federal appeals court on Monday rejected an effort by the comedian Bill Cosby to reseal court documents that helped support a ream of recent sexual assault cases against him.
The 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia ruled that Cosby’s appeal was moot after the contents, including “damaging” admissions he had made in a 2005 deposition regarding his sexual behavior, received wide publicity.
“Resealing the documents would not provide Cosby with any meaningful relief, and thus this appeal is moot,” the court said. “The contents of the documents are a matter of public knowledge, and we cannot pretend that we could change that fact by ordering them resealed.”
Cosby, 78, once one of the most beloved US entertainers thanks to his family-friendly persona, has been accused by more than 50 women of sexually assaulted them, often after plying them with drugs and alcohol, in attacks dating back decades. He has denied having non-consensual sex with any of them.
The documents include comments Cosby made in a deposition about his sexual behavior in connection with a complaint filed in US District Court by Andrea Constand. (Reuters)