The opening statements in Bill Cosby's trial started with one powerful detail that has been a secret since Bill was first accused of drugging and sexually assaulting numerous women.
According to ABC News, prosecutors told the court that Bill paid Andrea Constand $3.38 million dollars in a 2006 civil settlement, after he was accused of drugging her and sexually assaulting her. Bill argues the encounter was consensual but still managed to pay up the funds for the acts that were committed at his Philadelphia home.
Today's re-trial sees him accused of three counts of aggravated indecent assault. The 80-year-old comedian has pleaded not guilty to all accounts.
One of the last updates we posted was on Bill's lawyers trying to get the jury to not hear Andrea's 2005 phone call to her mother (the year after the assault) telling her what Bill did to her. Bill's team thinks it's a "hearsay" the jury does not need to hear. Andrea and her mother Gianna already testified about the call in the first trial that unfortunately ended in a mistrial. With little to no forensic evidence, the re-opened case will solely rely on Andrea's testimony.
"This case is about betrayal, and that betrayal leading to the sexual assault of a woman named Andrea Constand," Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said.
Bill's lawyer will share his opening statement tomorrow morning. He is facing up to 10 years behind bars if found guilty.
