Accuser lied to score big payday, Cosby lawyers say

NORRISTOWN, Pa. — Bill Cosby’s lawyer launched a blistering courtroom attack on the comedian’s accuser Tuesday, branding her a con artist whose goal was “money, money and lots more money.”

Tom Mesereau told jurors at the former TV star’s sex-assault trial that Andrea Constand wasn’t attracted to Cosby but was “madly in love” with his fame and money and made up the accusations.

He said she “hit the jackpot” when Cosby paid her $3.4 million more than a decade ago to settle her lawsuit over allegations he drugged and molested her in 2004.

Prosecutors say Cosby betrayed Constand’s trust by giving her pills, then violating her at his suburban Philadelphia mansion. Cosby, 80, faces three counts of aggravated indecent assault, each punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

A jury deadlocked at his first trial last spring, setting the stage for a retrial.

Seeking to blunt any skepticism about Constand’s behavior, prosecutors called as their first witness Tuesday a sexual assault expert, Dr. Barbara Ziv, who told jurors that it is common for victims to be reluctant to go to police.

Some 60 women have come forward with allegations against Cosby dating to the 1960s. In a deposition he gave as part of Constand’s lawsuit, the comedian acknowledged giving quaaludes to women he wanted to have sex with.

In the deposition, Cosby said he gave Constand three half-tablets of the cold and allergy medicine Benadryl. Prosecutors have suggested he gave her something stronger — perhaps quaaludes.