Bill Cosby to stand trial, judge rules

Credit: Jennifer Brett

Credit: Jennifer Brett

"Mr. Cosby, good luck to you, sir," said District Judge Elizabeth McHugh, who set his arraignment for July 20. He will enter a plea and a trial date will be set at that time, the AP reports.

A judge ruled in February that the case against Cosby, charged in a 12-year-old sexual assault, could proceed. Cosby's lawyers had argued that he had been granted immunity years ago.

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Earlier this month Cosby and Playboy founder Hugh Hefner were sued in Los Angeles Superior Court by a dancer who said she years ago went to a party at the Playboy Mansion, accepted a drink from Cosby she suspects was tainted and woke up naked with her toes in Cosby's mouth. Chloe Goins' lawsuit accuses them both of sexual battery, gender violence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress and conspiracy to commit sexual battery.

“As Goins witnesses Cosby removing her toes from his mouth, she also saw him stand up and pull up his pants which were previously removed," she claimed in court documents. "Cosby then left the room.”

At the time, Goins says in her lawsuit, she heeded the advice of a friend who dissuaded her from calling the police or otherwise going public, “reasoning that if Goins told the police or anyone else, they would never be invited to large, celebrity-filled parties such as Hefner’s again.”

The slew of lawsuits by women accusing Cosby of sexual impropriety prompted Goins’ legal action, the suit says.