L.A. prosecutors examine alleged assault by Bill Cosby at Playboy Mansion

Los Angeles County prosecutors are reviewing whether to charge Bill Cosby in connection with an alleged sexual assault at the Playboy Mansion in 2008 after receiving the results of an investigation by the LAPD, officials said Thursday.

The step is part of an ongoing effort by authorities to review allegations women have made against the entertainer.

Los Angeles police detectives presented the findings of their investigation to the district attorney’s office and they were now “under review,” said prosecutor’s spokesman Jane Robison.

Interested in the stories shaping California? Sign up for the free Essential California newsletter >>

Chloe Goins, 24, alleges that at a party at the Holmby Hills mansion in 2008, when she was 18, Cosby gave her a drink that caused her to black out. When she awoke, she said, she found herself naked on a bed with Cosby biting her toes and his pants around his ankles, according to her attorney.

In January, Goins was interviewed for 2½ hours by an LAPD detective, according to her lawyer.

Cosby’s attorneys have denied the accusations and insisted he was not at the party.

Earlier this year, the district attorney rejected another Cosby case presented by the LAPD because the alleged incident occured in 1974. Under California law, the legal deadline for prosecuting most rape cases involving an adult victim is 10 years. In most other adult sex-crime cases — including the type Goins is alleging — the statute of limitations is generally six years, according to Laurie Levenson, a Loyola law professor and former prosecutor. That would place Goins’ case outside the time allowed for prosecution.

But legal experts said there were other reasons for the LAPD to investigate, especially if Cosby is eventually charged with a crime. California law allows alleged victims to testify as witnesses even if their own cases never resulted in charges.

The evidence is admissible due to a change in California evidence law in 1996 that allows witnesses to demonstrate a pattern of behavior or propensity to commit a crime, said Dmitry Gorin, a former L.A. sex crimes prosecutor.

So far about 50 women nationally have alleged that they were sexually assaulted, molested or subject to misconduct by Cosby over his decades as an entertainer. Most have gone public in the last year.

FULL COVERAGE: Bill Cosby sex assault allegations

In many cases, they contend Cosby drugged them before raping them. In Goins’ case, Cosby lawyers have said their client did nothing wrong and was not present at the Playboy Mansion event.

Spencer Kuvin, Goins’ attorney, says she met Cosby during a private party at the mansion. She and a friend were handed drinks by the comedian, Kuvin said.

Shortly thereafter, she felt dizzy and nauseated, Kuvin said. It was suggested she rest in a bedroom, and Cosby offered to show her the way, he said. “She awoke naked. She was wet all over like someone had been licking her, and Cosby was biting her toes,” Kuvin said.

Most of the allegations against the comedian date back decades and are too old to pursue criminally or in many cases even in civil suits.

Cosby, however, does face several civil lawsuits and is due to be deposed Oct. 9 in a suit filed by Judy Huth, who alleges that Cosby put his hand down her pants and kissed her at the Playboy Mansion in 1974, when she was 16. His attorneys are seeking to keep that deposition from being publicly disclosed. The comedian has denied the allegations.

In another deposition taken a decade ago and revealed earlier this year, Cosby acknowledged he obtained a sedative for the purpose of sex with women.

Follow Southern California crime @lacrimes

ALSO:

Black women kicked off Napa Wine Train to sue for discrimination

Arson investigation underway at Planned Parenthood in Thousand Oaks

Slaying reveals clashing views of Hawaiian Gardens’ sweeping gang injunction