Judge: Cosby's old deposition won't be part of new suit

Confidential material from Bill Cosby's 2006 settlement with a woman who accused him of sexual misconduct will not be released to three of the entertainer's other accusers now suing him for defamation.

A federal judge in Philadelphia late last week quashed a subpoena requesting documents from the civil suit filed by Andrea Constand, a former Temple University employee who accused the now 78-year-old comedian of drugging and groping her in 2004.

Three Cosby accusers - Tamara Green, Therese Serignese, and Linda Traitz - had sought the deposition Cosby gave in Constand's case among other items to support their claims in a defamation suit they filed against the entertainer last year in Massachusetts.

Cosby's lawyers maintained that the documents were subject to a confidentiality agreement Constand signed with the comedian in 2006 and should not be handed over.

In deciding to refuse the request of the Massachusetts accusers Friday, U.S. District Judge John R. Padova said he was not making any final judgment on whether that confidentiality agreement should bar the documents' release.

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