Appeals court to consider defamation case against Bill Cosby

A federal appeals court is set to examine a defamation lawsuit filed against Bill Cosby by a woman who claims he raped her decades ago. (Photo By The World Affairs Council of Philadelphia, CC BY 2.0)

BOSTON — A federal appeals court is set to examine a defamation lawsuit filed against Bill Cosby by a woman who claims he raped her decades ago.

Katherine McKee is asking the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston on Wednesday to reinstate her lawsuit against Cosby, which a federal judge in Massachusetts dismissed in February.

The former actress says Cosby defamed her in a letter that his lawyer sent to the New York Daily News demanding a retraction of a 2014 story about McKee’s rape allegations.

McKee’s lawyer says the letter was a “purposeful attack” on her character and reputation made with “ill will, malevolence and evil intent.”

The judge who dismissed the lawsuit said Cosby’s letter was protected by the First Amendment.