Deliberations drag on; judge denies mistrial

NORRISTOWN » More than 50 hours of deliberations did not result in a verdict from the Montgomery County jury that is weighing the fate of entertainer Bill Cosby at his sex assault trial.

By press time Friday, the jury of seven men and five women was still deliberating, and jurors said nothing more about their claim on Thursday that they were deadlocked. But the day was not without more questions from the jurors.

An hour after resuming their deliberations, the jury began sending a string of questions to the judge.

Specifically, the jury of seven

men and five women asked Judge Steven T. O’Neill to redefine the legal concept of “reasonable doubt.” The jury also requested to hear again Cosby’s prior sworn testimony during which he admitted to obtaining quaaludes to give to women with whom he wanted to have sex.

Shortly after those questions were answered, within an hour, the jurors returned with two more questions.

Jurors asked to rehear the testimony of Gianna Constand, the mother of Cosby accuser Andrea Constand, specifically regarding the initial 2 ½ hour phone conversation she had with Cosby after Andrea told her that Cosby allegedly sexually assaulted her after plying her with pills and incapacitating her. During that “aggressive conversation,” Gianna Constand testified, Cosby discussed in graphic detail the physical contact he had with Andrea, apologized and claimed he felt “perverted.”

Jurors also asked to rehear the testimony regarding Andrea Constand’s phone records from around the time of the incident.

Upon hearing the jurors’ requests, lead defense lawyer Brian J. McMonagle asked the judge to declare a mistrial. It was the sixth request for a mistrial made by McMonagle.

“We’re now being asked to review the entire trial,” McMonagle argued to the judge. “They want the entire testimony again.”

Previously, jurors asked to hear again portions of Andrea Constand’s testimony, Cosby’s deposition and the testimony of Cheltenham Detective Sgt. Richard Schaffer.

Judge O’Neill denied the latest request for a mistrial.

“As long at this jury wishes to continue to deliberate I will let them deliberate,” O’Neill said. “All they keep saying is they are deliberating. I have no ability to do anything but what I’ve done in this case. I have an obligation to this jury to instruct them on the law.”

By 8 p.m. Friday, the jury had deliberated 51 hours over five days.

Also on Friday, O’Neill questioned Cosby if he consented to the mistrials sought by his lawyers and Cosby said, “Yes.” Cosby, 79, also made it clear to the judge that he was fully aware that if a mistrial is declared that he can be retried on the charges and that he cannot claim double jeopardy.

At 11:06 a.m. Thursday, jurors, for the first time, said they were deadlocked. But O’Neill gave them a special instruction required by law and sent them back to deliberations to see if they could settle their differences and reach a verdict. The jurors did not mention anything about the deadlock after that time.

The jurors deliberated four hours on Monday and 12 hours each on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, setting a record for deliberations in the county.

William Henry Cosby Jr., as his name appears on charging documents, is accused of sexually assaulting Andrea Constand, the former director of women’s basketball operations at Temple University, at his Cheltenham mansion in 2004. He is charged with three counts of aggravated indecent assault and faces a possible maximum sentence of 15 to 30 years in prison if convicted of the charges.

During the trial, District Attorney Kevin R. Steele and co-prosecutors Kristen Feden and M. Stewart Ryan alleged Cosby was a trusted friend and mentor who took advantage of a woman in a “vulnerable state,” plied Constand with “three blue pills” and sexually assaulted her at his Cheltenham mansion in mid-January 2004.

Constand, 44, of Ontario, Canada, testified over two days that after taking the blue pills she began slurring her words and became “frozen” or paralyzed and was unable to fight off Cosby’s sexual advances. Constand claimed Cosby placed her on a couch, touched her breasts, forced her to touch his penis and performed digital penetration all without her consent.

But McMonagle and codefense lawyer Angela C. Agrusa argued Cosby was the victim of false accusations and that the entertainer and Constand had a “romantic relationship” and consensual sexual contact during the 2004 incident. At one point during the trial, McMonagle stood beside Cosby and suggested to jurors that while Cosby may have been an unfaithful husband, that didn’t make him a criminal.