[Keilar:] In same week Bill Cosby was arrested on sex assault charges, his wife, Camille, learned she must testify in a defamation case against him. Cosby's wife of nearly 52 years will be under oath Wednesday in the civil case. Seven women say Bill Cosby portrayed then as liars when they came forward and accused him of drugging and sexually abusing them. Mrs. Cosby's attorneys argue that the couple's private conversations are privileged but the plaintiffs say they subpoenaed Mrs. Cosby because she was her husband's business manager. Bill Cosby is free on $1 million bail. He was arrested Wednesday on charges that he drugged and raped a woman named Andrea Constand, the first of 50 women who publicly accuse Cosby of assaulting them over the last four decades. Criminal defense attorney, Danny Cevallos, joining me to talk about this. Danny, Camille Cosby, people are surprised to learn about this, that there are exceptions, I guess because it is a civil case, but is there any chance that she testifies, this testimony becomes public and it's used against him in this criminal case in Pennsylvania?
[Danny Cevallos, Cnn Legal Analyst:] Let's talk, first, about the fact that anyone testifies under oath could potentially be used against them, in virtually any proceeding with some exceptions. But, number one, will she testify? The judge ruled that, in this case, her claim that her communications were privileged was not exactly right. Instead, under Massachusetts law, it's an issue of competence. So in other words, the law looks at her as being incompetent to testify against her husband. And, this is a nuance distinction, but when it comes to depositions, discovery in a civil case, the scope of discovery's much broader than that which is ultimately admissible at a trial. And just because a witness like Mrs. Cosby may not ultimately be competent to testify against her husband, even if her testimony may not be admissible at trial, she can certainly appear for a deposition because that information may lead to the discovery of other admissible evidence, and that is the standard under which civil depositions are held.
[Keilar:] How much will the defense play up his public persona as America's dad?
[Cevallos:] I think they'll do that. But they have so much more in terms of defending this case that they can rely on. Number one, certainly use America's dad, but whatever goodwill he's built on the reputation as arguably been tarnished beyond repair. Instead, focus on the defensible of the case. This is a defensible criminal case. Number one, there is no scientific evidence. It's all testimonial evidence. So attack the credibility of those witnesses, impeach their testimony. And in doing so, the entire commonwealth's case is based on the recollections of a witness from over a decade ago. That's the kind of testimony that can be cross-examined and can be damaged.
[Keilar:] What about this I mean, obviously, I interviewed Bill Cosby's lawyer this week. She's going to make the case that this is all political, this is what authorities there campaigned on, they were going to take down Bill Cosby. The statute of limitations would have expired not long after these charges came forward, after Bill Cosby was arrested and charged. She'll probably make an issue of that, too, right?
[Cevallos:] There's an interesting defense, an interesting motion that the defense may consider here. Although we know that the statute of limitations prescribes to the amount of time in which a criminal case can be prosecuted, sometimes, even cases brought within the statute of limitations or the cases of murder, which obviously isn't here, which has no statute, anytime the prosecution intentionally delays, if they intentionally delay to gain a tactical advantage, the supreme court has said, in some cases, that may that the due process clause may require dismissal of that case. That's an exceedingly large motion to win but it's something the defense will make here because they'll argue that politically there are many reasons why this case originally was investigated and a deliberate decision was made not to prosecute. Now, almost more than a decade later
[Keilar:] Danny, I'm sorry. I've got to cut you've there because we're running up I want to give "Smerconish" all of his time. Happy New Year to you, Danny.
[Cevallos:] Happy New Year.
[Keilar:] I'm Brianna Keilar, in Washington. I'll meet you back in an hour. "Smerconish" starts right now.