Attorneys for Bill Cosby were expected Tuesday to portray a $3.4 million civil settlement with the comedian's accuser, Andrea Constand, as evidence of her greed.
On the first day of the retrial on Monday in Norristown, Pa., prosecutors revealed the previously secret settlement that Cosby, now 80, paid in 2006, two years after Constand alleges he drugged and sexually assaulted her at his home near Philadelphia. Cosby has denied the charges.
A previous trial last spring ended in a deadlocked jury.
The Associated Press writes: "Cosby lawyer Tom Mesereau has signaled he intends to use the settlement to argue that Andrea Constand falsely accused the man once revered as 'America's Dad' in hopes of landing a big payoff."
Mesereau has said the jury will learn "just how greedy" Constand was, according to the AP.
Constand is a former Temple University employee who was working for the women's basketball team there when she met Cosby. She now works as a massage therapist in Ontario, Canada.
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele, told the courtroom that Cosby and Constand had become friends and that he gave her career advice.
"I talk about trust that was built over time, that was built by the defendant," said Steele, as quotes from a 2005 deposition Cosby gave flashed on a large screen in front of the jury, writes Laura Benshoff of member station WHYY.
According to Benshoff:
"In one statement, Cosby said he developed a romantic interest in Constand 'probably the first time I saw her.'
Steele said that proves that when Cosby befriended Constand and gave her career advice, he had an ulterior motive."
She adds:
" ... a topless protester who ran in front of a bank of cameras towards Cosby was arrested and charged with a summary offense.
The protester, 38-year-old Nicolle Rochelle, is an actress and performance artist who had a guest role on The Cosby Show as a preteen. Police tackled her into a hedge and took her away in handcuffs."
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