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Actor and comedian Bill Cosby arrives for jury deliberations for the seventh day of his sexual assault trial at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pennsylvania, U.S. June 13, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid 
6:53 PM 04/10/2018
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Bill Cosbys defense team called his accuser, Andrea Constand, a “con-artist” during their opening testimony Tuesday in the actors sexual assault trial.
Defense attorney Tom Mesereau told jurors at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Pennsylvania that the former Temple University employee was only out for a big payday when she accused Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting her at his Philadelphia home in 2004, according to USA Today.
NORRISTOWN, PA – APRIL 2: Bill Cosby arrives at the Montgomery County Courthouse before jury selection in his sexual assault retrial April 2, 2018 in Norristown, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mark Makela/Getty Images)
“A con artist is what you get, ladies and gentlemen of the jury,” Mesereau explained. “A con artist. And well prove it.”
Mesereau told jurors that Constand “took advantage” of Cosbys grief over his sons death in 1999 and used that to get close to him. He said that the former employee was “madly in love” with Cosbys fame and his millions, claiming that she “made up” the story in hopes of hitting “the jackpot.”
The previously undisclosed amount Cosby paid in the 2006 civil lawsuit Constand filed against him for allegedly sexually assaulting her was revealed Monday to be $3.4 million.
Later prosecutors got the chance to call their first witness in the case, psychiatrist Barbara Ziv, who testified that the former Temple University employees behavior, including not telling police for over a year about the alleged incident, was in line with how other sexual assault victims act.
Ziv also told jurors that the alleged use of alcohol and drugs in this case could explain the accusers fuzzy memory of things.
If convicted, Cosby could face 10 years behind bars.
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