Defamation suit against Bill Cosby is tossed

PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 22 (UPI) -- A Pennsylvania judge dismissed a defamation lawsuit against Bill Cosby on Thursday, court records showed.

Judge Arthur J. Schwab tossed all three claims against the disgraced comedian, ruling the statements by accuser Renita Hill do not fit Pennsylvania law's definition of defamation.

Hill is one of more than 50 women who have accused Cosby of assault. She alleges in the three-month-old civil lawsuit the comedian called her a "liar" and "extortionist" in the media after her November 2014 accusation of being drugged and sexually assaulted by Cosby.

Schwab wrote the denials and claims by Cosby, his wife, Camille, and the actor's lawyers were "pure opinion" and a "far cry from labeling [Hill and the other women who have made similar public assertions] as liars or extortionists."

"None of the facts alleged by [Hill] supported her claims for defamation," Schwab continued.

Hill's lawyer said the decision will be appealed.

Despite the legal victory Thursday, the comedian is still fighting off more than a dozen lawsuits over alleged assault and a criminal charge for allegedly drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004.