Defence calls Cosby accuser a ‘pathological liar’ in closing arguments.
NORRISTOWN, PA. • Bill Cosby’s lawyers urged a jury Tuesday to acquit the 80-year-old comedian of sexual assault charges they said were based on “flimsy, silly, ridiculous evidence,” arguing he was falsely accused by a “pathological liar” scheming for a big payday.
The first big celebrity trial of the #MeToo era heard from the defence who declared that Cosby himself was the victim of an elaborate frame-up.
Lawyers Tom Mesereau and Kathleen Bliss said in their closing argument that chief accuser Andrea Constand consented to a sexual encounter at Cosby’s home in suburban Philadelphia, then levelled false accusations against the Cosby Show star so she could sue him and extract a big settlement.
“You’re dealing with a pathological liar, members of the jury,” Mesereau said.
The jury was expected to get the case later in the day.
The former TV star was accompanied Tuesday for the first time in the trial by his wife of 54 years, who sat in the gallery as his lawyers pleaded with the jury to clear him. Camille Cosby, 74, had been absent from the courtroom as the prosecution built its case that Cosby maintained a sordid double life that involved preying on women sexually.
Before the jury came in, she went to the defence table and put her arm around her husband. They embraced, smiled and chatted, and he gave her a peck on the cheek.
Toronto native Constand, 45, alleges Cosby knocked her out with three pills he called “your friends” and molested her in January 2004.
Her account was bolstered by the testimony of five other women who took the stand and said Cosby had drugged and assaulted them, too — including one woman who asked him through her tears, “You remember, don’t you, Mr. Cosby?”
Cosby has said he gave Constand 1 1/2 tablets of the over-the-counter cold and allergy medicine Benadryl to help her relax before what he called a consensual encounter. And the defence ripped into the other women, saying they were motivated by the prospect of money and fame to come forward in recent years with fabricated accounts.
Cosby is charged with three counts of aggravated indecent assault, each carrying up to 10 years in prison.