Cosby Retrial Starts With Topless Protester and Revelation He Paid $3M in Hush Money

NORRISTOWN, Pennsylvania—Bill Cosby paid Andrea Constand $3,380,000 to settle her lawsuit against him after he betrayed her trust by drugging and sexually assaulting her, prosecutors said in opening arguments as the criminal case against the entertainer got underway Monday afternoon.

It was the first time the amount has been revealed publicly. While Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele didn’t make any comment on the amount, in pre-trial hearings the prosecution suggested the high number proved Cosby was guilty. The defense, in turn, said the numer supports its argument that Constand falsely accused Cosby to get a huge payoff.

There was no mention of the civil suit in Cosby’s first trial, which ended in a hung jury last June, but a judge ruled it could be part of this one.

“When I talk about trust I talk about trust that was built over time,” Steele told the jury in his hour-long opening argument. “A trust that was built between the defendant and the relationship he built; that blind trust with the woman you will meet named Andrea Constand. CLICK FOR MORE