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ByJuliePace The Associated Press WASHINGTON In a rare one-on-one meeting, Pres- ident Barack Obama and incoming Senate Major- ity Leader Mitch McCon- nell on Wednesday sized up the prospects for bipar- tisan cooperation between a White House and Repub- lican Party that have strug- gled for years to find com- mon ground. Ahead of the Oval Of- fice meeting, Obama out- lined his most specific blue- print yet for striking com- promises with Congress when the GOP takes full control of Capitol Hill next month. The president said there was "definitely a deal to be done" on overhauling the nation's complicated tax code, but suggested it could take lawmakers more than six months to iron out the details of such an agree- ment. He said a deal on in- frastructure spending could be included in a tax over- haul package and predicted progress on overseas trade agreements. On immigration, Obama said he expected Republi- cans to attempt to disman- tle his recent executive or- ders, then eventually come around to the idea of pursu- ing legislation to deal with the millions of people in the U.S. illegally. "I don't think that's something this Congress will be able to do right away," Obama said during a question-and-answer ses- sion with business leaders. "Temperatures need to cool a bit in the wake of my ex- ecutive action." McConnell, the Ken- tucky lawmaker who is soon to become Senate ma- jority leader, has broadly agreed with Obama's calls for tax reform, improv- ing the nation's infra- structure and inking free trade pacts. But McCon- nell said Tuesday that he has been "perplexed" by Obama's response to his party's sweeping defeats in the midterm elections last month, specifically his decision to press forward with presidential direc- tives on immigration. "I don't know what we can expect in terms of reaching bipartisan agree- ment," McConnell said. "That's my first choice, to look at things we agree on — if there are any." Neither McConnell nor Obama spoke publicly af- ter their hour-long meet- ing Wednesday. The two men have a chilly relation- ship, with McConnell hav- ing famously asserted af- ter the January 2009 inau- guration that his goal was to make Obama a one-term president. The senator's office said Wednesday's meeting marked just the third time the two men have met face- to-face without other law- makers. They met one-on- one in 2010 and held an- other discussion in June 2011, a meeting Vice Pres- ident Joe Biden also at- tended, according to Mc- Connell's office. The day after Democrats' defeats in the midterm elec- tions, the president sug- gested he would be open to more personal time with McConnell. "I would enjoy some Ken- tucky bourbon with Mitch McConnell," said Obama, who last year mocked the idea of having a drink with the GOP leader. Then, offer- ing a glimpse into how little time Obama has spent cul- tivating a relationship with McConnell over the past six years, the president added, "I don't know what his pre- ferred drink is." On Capitol Hill, some Republican lawmakers re- mained skeptical of the prospects for bipartisan agreement, but said the mere fact that Obama and McConnell were meeting face-to-face was a positive step. "At least they're doing something that they didn't do, as I understand it, the first couple of years," said Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said that while Obama's re- lationship with Republicans "started out in a not posi- tive way," the GOP would have to seek ways to work with him over the next two years. "The fact is he is the pres- ident who the people of our nation elected to work with over the next couple of years," Corker said. "If you want to get big things done, he's got to be involved." OVAL OFFICE Obama,McConnellholdrareone-on-onemeeting EVANVUCCI‑THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell leaves the White House on Wednesday a er a meeting with President Barack Obama. By Anthony McCartney The Associated Press LOS ANGELES For weeks, women have publicly shared stories of alleged sexual abuse by Bill Cosby with the expectation that any lawsuits they might file would be blocked due to long-expired statutes of limitations. On Tuesday, however, a woman who claims Cosby molested her in a bedroom of the Playboy Mansion around 1974 filed a sexual battery lawsuit, using an exemption that allows vic- tims of childhood sexual abuse to sue decades after the incident. Judy Huth contends she was 15 years old when Cosby abused her and filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles because she only recently became aware of psycho- logical damage caused by the incident. Experts say Huth's lawsuit is the latest high-profile example of an alleged abuse victim getting their day in court. "The reality is, with sex- ual violence and a lot of traumatic events, is that you don't discover either the full extent or even any of the trauma immediately," said Meg Garvin, a law pro- fessor and executive direc- tor of the National Crime Victim Law Institute. She said statute of lim- itations laws that limited victims, especially those of childhoodsexabuse,fromfil- ing claims later in life reflect an outdated public policy. "It was neglecting the re- ality of victimization," she said. "The original public policy is no longer valid be- cause we know better now." It can take decades for a victim of child sex abuse to realize the impact it's had on their life, said Ray- mond Boucher, a civil litiga- tor who was the lead attor- ney in molestation lawsuits against the Catholic Church of California. Boucher's work led to the settlement of many of the cases for $660 million in 2007. "When you're talking about rape or sexual abuse, so often the victims sup- press the feelings, the emo- tion, and the incident itself," Boucher said. For Huth's lawsuit to survive, she will have to show that she discovered the alleged abuse by Cosby caused significant psycho- logical damage within the past three years. "This traumatic incident, at such a tender age, has caused psychological dam- age and mental anguish for (Huth) that has caused sig- nificantproblemsthroughout her life," her lawsuit states. Boucher said as the case progresses, a psychological analysis of Huth will play a role in whether her case goes forward. He said while the con- cept of suing another per- son for abuse that happened 40 years ago may seem odd, the principle has been a part of the legal system for decades. He cited suc- cessful cases filed by peo- ple who became aware late in life that harmful chemi- cals or exposure to asbestos caused health problems or early deaths as legally sim- ilar to the sex abuse claims. In recent weeks, more than a dozen women have accused Cosby of drugging and sexually abusing them. Cosby's attorneys previ- ously have issued state- ments characterizing some of the claims as previously discredited and others as untrue. Cosby's attorney Martin Singer did not re- spond to messages seeking comment on Wednesday. Tweets sent from Cos- by's official Twitter account on Monday and Tuesday thanked a pair of celebrity supporters, Whoopi Gold- berg and singer Jill Scott. Cosby, 77, has steadfastly refused to answer ques- tions about the sex abuse allegations. Singer has de- nied some of the accusa- tions and said several of the women accusing Cosby have been discredited, but none of the claims have been tested in court. Only one woman has filed suit — Andrea Constand, who sued in 2005 and settled for an undisclosed amount before the case went to trial. EXEMPTION TO STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS Woman files sues Cosby, claiming assault when she was 15 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE Comedian Bill Cosby performs at the Maxwell C. King Center for the Performing Arts, in Melbourne, Fla By Tom Hays And Colleen Long The Associated Press NEW YORK A white New York City police officer was cleared Wednesday in the alleged chokehold death of an unarmed black man stopped on suspicion of selling loose, untaxed ciga- rettes — a case that sparked outrage and drew compar- isons to the deadly police shooting in Ferguson, Mis- souri. The decision by the Staten Island grand jury not to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo threatened to add to the tensions that have simmered in the city since the July 17 death of Eric Garner. It also prompted Pantaleo's first public com- ments on the death. "I became a police officer to help people and to pro- tect those who can't pro- tect themselves," he said in the written statement. "It is never my intention to harm anyone and I feel very bad about the death of Mr. Gar- ner. My family and I include him and his family in our prayers and I hope that they will accept my personal condolences for their loss." Staten Island District At- torney Daniel Donovan said the grand jury found "no reasonable cause" to bring charges. In the Staten Island neighborhood where Gar- ner died, people reacted with shouts, chants of "Eric Garner" and expressions of angry disbelief. Garner's fa- ther, Benjamin Carr, urged calm and said the ruling made no sense. The grand jury could have considered a range of charges, from murder to a lesser offense such as reck- less endangerment. "I am actually astonished based on the evidence of the videotape, and the medical examiner, that this grand jury at this time wouldn't indict for anything," said a lawyer for Garner's family, Jonathan Moore. Garner's family planned a news conference later in the day with the Rev. Al Sharpton. ALLEGED CHOKEHOLD NYC officer cleared in videotaped death By Jim Salter The Associated Press FERGUSON, MO. The step- father of Michael Brown has apologized for angry comments he made af- ter the grand jury decided not to indict the police of- ficer who killed his step- son, but said his remarks had nothing to do with the arson and looting that rav- aged Ferguson and the sur- rounding area. Louis Head said Wednes- day in a statement that he was full of emotion on the night of Nov. 24, when he yelled "Burn this bitch down!" in a crowd of pro- testers. St. Louis County police said Tuesday they are in- vestigating Head's com- ments as part of a broader inquiry into the arson, van- dalism and looting. Twelve commercial buildings were destroyed in the hours af- ter the grand jury decision. Head does not have a listed phone number, and there was no answer when an Associated Press re- porter knocked at his listed address Wednesday.. Brown, 18, was shot and killed by Ferguson officer Darren Wilson on Aug. 9. Wilson,whoiswhite,toldthe grand jury he fired because his life was in danger, but some witnesses said Brown, whowasblackandunarmed, was trying to surrender. Brown's mother, Lesley McSpadden, was on top of a car on a Ferguson street in front of the police sta- tion, surrounded by pro- testers, when she heard the grand jury announce- ment. She began sobbing. Her husband jumped on top of the car and hugged her, then yelled out. The street was already noisy and grew louder as Head hugged his wife. He yelled without a mi- crophone or any amplifi- cation. Some people who were close by couldn't hear what he said. Still, video of the com- ments immediately spread on Twitter, YouTube and other social media. "I was so angry and full of raw emotions, as so many others were, and granted, I screamed out words that I shouldn't have screamed in the heat of the moment," the statement reads. FERGUSON CASE Michael Brown's stepfather apologizes for comments MARK W. BRIDEN AttorneyatLaw Bankruptcy is our specialty. FreeConsult In office or over the phone Attorney 530-222-1664 Let'sTalk About Hair Jeannie Stroing Perm,Cut & Set Special $ 45 longhairextra Now through Dec. 31st 450Antelope Blvd. Bus 528-2900 Cell 526-1304 100JacksonStreet, Red Bluff (530) 529-1220 NEW Membership Specials CallorComeIn for details RUNNINGS ROOFING SheetMetalRoofing ResidentialCommercial • Composition • Shingle • Single Ply Membrane Ownerisonsiteoneveryjob ServingTehamaCounty 530-527-5789 530-209-5367 No Money Down! "NoJobTooSteep" " No Job Too Flat" FREE ESTIMATES CA. LIC#829089 | NEWS | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2014 8 A