Defense rips accuser as ‘pathological liar,’ comic hit as ‘con man’ in closing

JURORS WILL begin deliberating Bill Cosby’s criminal fate Wednesday after hearing fiery closing arguments Tuesday and seeing his wife make her one and only courtroom cameo at his high-stakes sex assault retrial in Pennsylvania.

In their final summations, prosecutors cast the famous comedian once known as “America’s Dad” as the true con artist of the 12-day trial — a practiced predator who wielded his goodguy reputation to drug and violate a series of younger women who trusted him.

Defense lawyers, meanwhile, called Cosby's chief accuser Andrea Constand a “pathological liar” who sought to frame the “Cosby Show” star for a multimillion-dollar payday.

Cosby, 80, is facing three counts of aggravated indecent assault against Constand, each carrying up to a decade behind bars.

It was during opening statements two weeks ago that defense lawyer Tom Mesereau first attached the “con artist” label to Constand, 45, a former head of operations for the women’s basketball team at Cosby’s alma mater, Temple University.

Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Kristen Feden usurped the term as she implored the jury to reject Cosby’s “horrible character assassination” of Constand and the five other women who testified that he drugged and molested them without consent.

“Yes, you did hear about a con,” Feden said as she pointed at Cosby in the courtroom gallery. “The perpetrator of that con is this man, sitting right here.”

Feden helped deliver the prosecution’s three-hour closing argument in tandem with co-prosecutor Stewart Ryan, who said it was high time Cosby paid a price for his clear pattern of misconduct.

“The time for the defendant to escape justice is over. It’s finally time for the defendant to dine on the banquet of his own consequences,” Ryan said.

Mesereau, who won an acquittal in Michael Jackson's 2005 child molestation case, gave his closing argument as part of a tag team.

“You’re dealing with a pathological liar, members of the jury,” Mesereau told the jury of five women and seven men. “You are.”

Mesereau spoke as Cosby’s wife of 54 years listened during her first visit to trial that started April 9.

Camille Cosby skipped the graphic witness testimony over the past two weeks, saving her only appearance in front of the jury for the defense closing, just as she did during her husband’s trial on the same charges last year.

During the trial last June — which ended with a hung jury — Cosby’s former defense lawyer invoked Camille’s name in his summation as he apologized for having to rehash Cosby’s infidelity in her presence.

This time around, Cosby’s defense team slammed Constand as the aggressor and Cosby as more of a helpless mark. They hammered on what they considered inconsistent statements from Constand and highlighted the words of their star witness, Marguerite Jackson, a Temple University staffer who claimed Constand once mused to her about framing a celebrity for cash.

Constand, 45, denied knowing Jackson.

Prosecutor Ryan blasted Jackson’s testimony in his own closing, saying she fabricated the “fictional conversation.”

Camille got up and left when it was time for prosecutors to give their side.

Cosby, 80, has pleaded not guilty in the case and has remained free on bail during his two trials.