Judge Will Let Jury Hear How Much Cosby Paid Rape Accuser

NORRISTOWN, Pennsylvania — The judge in the Bill Cosby trial ruled Tuesday morning that Andrea Constand’s civil suit against Bill Cosby, including the amount she got in a settlement with him in October 2006, can be part of Cosby’s upcoming criminal trial.

It’s a major win for prosecutors who were not even allowed to mention that civil suit at the first criminal trial, which ended with a hung jury last June.

Cosby’s defense team also got a victory from Montgomery County Judge Steven O’Neill after he granted their request to have Temple employee Marguerite Jackson testify about a conversation she says she had with Constand in 2004. Jackson claims Constand told her she intended to set up a “high profile” person for drugging and sexually assaulting her. O’Neill ruled her testimony was “hearsay” and thus inadmissible at the first trial after Constand said she did not remember her.

O’Neill deferred ruling on whether a January 2005 taped phone call between Andrea’s mother, Gianna, and Cosby can be admitted until the trial gets underway. He allowed it in as evidence in the first trial. CLICK FOR MORE