Bill Cosby has filed a countersuit against Andrea Constand, one of the women who accused him of sexual assault, for breaching a confidentiality agreement signed in the past.
Constand alleged that Cosby drugged her and sexually assaulted her. This is not, however, the first time she filed a lawsuit as she already claimed the same thing in the past, Reuters reported. However, that lawsuit was reportedly settled outside of court; hence, the breach-of-contract lawsuit the comedian has filed.
The lawsuit was filed on Monday under seal in a Philadelphia federal court on February 1. It came hours before one of Constand's lawyers, Troiani, took the stand at Cosby's February 3 criminal hearing, The New York Daily News reported.
Constand and her attorneys, Dolores Troiani and Bebe Kivitz, were named in the records. The cause of the case was listed as a "contract dispute." The mother of Constand as well as the publisher of the National Enquirer were also included in Cosby's countersuit, according to Fox News.
All of the defendants were reportedly subject to confidentiality clauses covering the settlement of lawsuit that Constand filed against Cosby back in 2005. The said case was not prosecuted in 2005, but new prosecutors reopened the case last year.
Cosby was arrested in December just days before the 12-year statute of limitations expired. As part of the investigation, Constand, her mother, and her lawyers were interviewed and files from the accuser's representatives were obtained.
Two weeks ago, Cosby and his team tried to have the criminal trial dismissed but a judge rejected it. His attorneys also failed to convince the judge that Cosby could not be prosecuted as he had an agreement with a former Montgomery County district attorney more than a decade ago.
There have been more than 50 women who came forward with their stories regarding their encounter with Cosby, which dated from 1965 to 2008.
