Cosby lawyer launches fierce attack on ‘con artist’ accuser

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 in his opening statement 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 to score a big payday.

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

Prosecutors say it was the “Cosby Show” star who betrayed Constand’s trust by giving her pills and 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.

District Attorney Kevin Steele revealed the previously secret settlement amount in his opening statement on Monday, in an apparent attempt to suggest Cosby wouldn’t have paid out so much money if the accusations against him were false.

Mesereau, who won an acquittal in Michael Jackson’s 2005 child molestation case, told the jury instead that Constand was in deep financial trouble and had pinned her hopes on milking her relationship with Cosby.

Constand stiffed roommates on utility bills, racked up big credit card bills and operated a Ponzi scheme while running women’s basketball operations at Temple University, where Cosby was an alumnus and trustee, Mesereau said.