NORRISTOWN: Bill Cosby’s defence lawyer told a jury on Tuesday that accuser Andrea Constand was a “con artist” out to extort money from the famed comedian, saying she concocted a false story of sexual assault to pay for her education and set up a business.
“She was madly in love with his fame and money. She’s now a multimillionaire because she pulled it off,” defence attorney Thomas Mesereau said of Andrea Constand, 44, who won a $3.4 million settlement from Cosby in a civil lawsuit in 2006.
The 80-year-old entertainer, once known as the wise and witty father in the 1980s television hit “The Cosby Show,” is facing his second trial in Norristown, Pennsylvania, on charges of drugging and sexually assaulting Constand in 2004. Last year his first trial ended with the jury unable to reach a verdict.
Some 50 women have accused Cosby of assault, many of them alleging, as Constand did, that he slipped drugs into their drinks. All the accusations other than Constand’s were too old to be the subject of criminal prosecution. Cosby has denied wrongdoing, saying any sexual contact was consensual. — Reuters
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