Judge rejects Bill Cosby's request for a new trial in sexual assault case

Bill Cosby has failed in his effort to get a new trial after a jury found he sexually assaulted a 16-year-old girl.

A judge on Tuesday denied the disgraced comedian a new trial in the civil case brought by Judy Huth, according to Variety. In June, a California jury found Cosby sexually assaulted Huth at the Playboy Mansion in 1975, when she was 16 years old. She has said Cosby was aware she was underage. Cosby wasn't facing criminal charges, as this was a civil case, but the jury awarded Huth $500,000 in damages.

Cosby has denied Huth's allegations. In pushing for a new trial, his attorneys pointed to the fact that Huth adjusted the timeline of the alleged assault. But the judge ruled that Cosby "failed to establish he received an unfair trial or that insufficient evidence existed to establish his liability for plaintiff's harm," Rolling Stone reports.

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The civil trial came after Cosby was previously convicted of sexually assaulting Andrea Constand, only to be freed from prison after a court overturned his conviction.

Cosby's spokesperson, Andrew Wyatt, told Variety that "we have always stood the ground by saying, 'this was a trial by assassination against Mr. Cosby,'" while Huth's attorney, Gloria Allred, said, "Once again we won and Bill Cosby lost," she said. "We believe that Mr. Cosby must be bitterly disappointed with the outcome, but that won't change the judge's decision."