‘Donkey Kong defense’ introduced in Bill Cosby sex assault trial in Santa Monica

SANTA MONICA  — The “Donkey Kong defense” came into play Monday at a civil trial over sexual assault allegations against Bill Cosby by a woman who claims he forced her to commit a sex act at the Playboy Mansion when she was 16.

The Donkey Kong issue relates to the testimony of witness Donna Samuelson, who in 1975 accompanied her friend Judy Huth and Cosby to the West Los Angeles mansion. Huth, now 64, says Cosby assaulted her in a bedroom there.

Samuelson has said she was playing Donkey Kong in the adjacent game room when Huth and Cosby were in the bedroom together. Donkey Kong was not released until 1981.

“You testified multiple times that you were playing Donkey Kong,” Cosby attorney Jennifer Bonjean told Samuelson.

“If I did, I did,” Samuelson said. “I understand it wasn’t around yet.”

She went on: “I got the name wrong. I just kept saying that because it was a game. It could have been Atari.”

During his opening statement last week, Huth’s attorney Nathan Goldberg sought to head off the issue, telling jurors they were going to be hearing “the Donkey Kong defense” from Cosby’s lawyers.

“So she got the name wrong,” Goldberg said. “So what?”

Bonjean embraced the term in her opening, saying the discrepancy is evidence that Huth and Samuelson concocted a false story.

The trial represents one of the last remaining legal claims against Cosby after his Pennsylvania criminal conviction was thrown out and other lawsuits were settled by his insurer against his will.

Huth briefly took the stand late Monday, recalling the spring day in 1975 when she and Samuelson took her brother’s dog to Lacy Park in San Marino. The park was being used for the production of the movie “Let’s Do It Again,” and its stars Sidney Poitier, Jimmie Walker and Cosby were there.

Huth remembered whispering, “That’s Bill Cosby” to Samuelson, and Cosby playfully mimicking her whisper.

Cosby invited the teens to watch him play tennis at a Los Angeles club the following Saturday. Afterward, she said, they went to a house where he was staying, and Cosby encouraged her to drink beer as part of a game.

Huth said she had between one and three beers. “I’m sure I felt the effects of the alcohol,” she said.

After about an hour, Cosby said he had a surprise for them, and they followed him in Samuelson’s Mustang to the Playboy Mansion.

Jurors have already several times seen a photo reportedly taken by Samuelson in the game room, which shows Cosby, wearing a red beanie, smiling next to the teenage Huth.

Huth has not yet testified about the alleged assault. She has said Cosby took her into an isolated bedroom, kissed her on the mouth, slid his hand down her pants, and used her hand to perform a sex act on him.

Cosby’s attorneys acknowledge that he took the girls to the mansion but deny any sex assault occurred. They have described Huth’s lawsuit as a scheme to cash in on the photos that were taken that day.

They also say that Huth was 18 at the time, which would make any violation significantly less serious under California law.

Just weeks before the trial, Huth made a major change to her story after evidence uncovered by her attorneys led them to believe she met Cosby on the movie set in 1975, when she was 16, not in late 1973 or early 1974, when she was 15.

The Associated Press does not normally name people who say they have been sexually abused, unless they come forward publicly, as Huth has.

Cosby, 84, is not required to attend the trial and reportedly has no plans to show up.

Huth also filed a police report in the case, but no criminal charges have been brought.