Jury struggles to end impasse in Cosby trial
Mistrial possible in 79-year-old comic’s molestation case.
NORRISTOWN, — Four days PA. after getting the case, deadlocked jurors in Bill Cosby’s sexual assault trial struggled to end their impasse Thursday on charges he drugged and molested a woman in 2004, the prospect of a mistrial growing larger even as the judge directed them to keep talking.
The jurors had deliberated about 30 hours before telling Judge Steven O’Neill they couldn’t reach a unanimous decision on any of the counts against the 79-yearold comedian. The judge told them to try again for a verdict.
As evening fell, the panel of seven men and five women was still at it, poised for another marathon session in a case that has already helped torpedo Cosby’s career and nice-guy reputation.
The charges involve Cosby’s sexual encounter with Andrea Constand, 44, at his suburban Philadelphia home. Constand says Cosby gave her pills that made her woozy, then took advantage of her. His lawyer says Cosby and Constand were lovers sharing a consensual moment of intimacy.
Cosby’s spokesman, Andrew Wyatt, maintained the impasse showed jurors doubted Constand’s story. “They’re conflicted about
the inconsistencies in Ms. Constand’s testimony,” Wyatt said. “And they’re hear- ing Mr. C.’s testimony, and he’s extremely truthful. And that’s created this doubt.”
Constand’s lawyer, Dolores Troiani, said only that the “jury is apparently work- ing very hard.”
Constand, former director of operations for the women’s basketball team at Temple University, Cosby’s alma mater, passed the time by shooting hoops in a hallway outside the district attorney’s office. She tweeted a video that shows her shooting a mini-basketball into a net to the tune of “Sweet Georgia Brown,” the theme song of the Harlem Globetrotters. It ended with: “ALWAYS FOLLOW THROUGH.”
Constand won a national title with the University of Arizona and played in a pro league in Europe before land- ing the job with Temple. It was at Temple she met Cosby, a member of the board of trustees.
With the jury struggling to find common ground, some of the other women who have accused Cosby of sexual assault confronted sign-waving Cosby supporters gathered on the courthouse steps to await the outcome. But
the atmosphere remained calm, with accusers and supporters even holding hands at times.
Dozens of women have come forward to say Cosby had drugged and assaulted them, but Constand’s was
the only case to result in criminal charges.
The 12-member jury must come to a unanimous deci
sion to convict or acquit. If the panel can’t break the deadlock, the judge could declare a hung jury and a mistrial. In that case, prose- cutors would get four months to decide whether they want to retry the TV star or drop the charges.
Pennsylvania law profes- sor David Rudovsky said the jurors’ inability to agree on a verdict didn’t surprise him, given a case that boiled down to Cosby’s word against his accuser’s. He added that a hung jury would be a victory for Cosby.
“In most criminal cases, anything short of a convic
tion is a win for the defense,” said Rudovsky, who isn’t inv olved in the case. “It doesn’t surprise me that this jury is split. The prosecution had a strong case, but the defense was able to show a lot of inconsistencies.”