Cosby sex case ends in mistrial but prosecutors promise new hearing
BILL Cosby’s sexual assault case ended in a mistrial after inconsistencies in his accuser’s statement and a robust performance by his defence team left a jury in Pennsylvania unable to reach a verdict.
Prosecutors immediately announced that they would seek a second trial, which they now must do within 120 days.
“A mistrial is not a vindication for either side,” Linda Kirkpatrick, one of the almost 60 women who have accused Cosby of sexual assault, and who was in court for much of the last fortnight, said.
The 12-person jury spent 53 hours agonising over the verdict, after six days of arguments in the case where Andrea Constand, a 44-year-old Canadian basketball coach, accused Cosby, 79, of drugging and sexually assaulting her in 2004.
The verdict brought an inconclusive end to a case involving one of America’s bestloved celebrities, who has been mired in scandal since almost 60 women accused him of drugging and sexually assaulting them over five decades.
Lawyers representing the women said they would continue to fight for a successful prosecution.
Gloria Allred, the celebrity lawyer representing at least 30 of the women, said: “We can never underestimate the blinding power of celebrity. But justice will come.”