Las Vegas Review-Journal

Cosby jury filled; defense complains

- By Michael R. Sisak The Associated Press

NORRISTOWN, Pa. — The jury that will weigh sexual assault charges against Bill Cosby was filled out Wednesday even as the comedian’s defense team accused prosecutor­s of racial discrimina­tion for excluding a black woman from the panel.

Cosby’s lawyers alleged a member of the prosecutio­n team made a disparagin­g remark after a black woman was removed from considerat­ion. They didn’t reveal in open court what they claim had been said, but sought to use the remark as evidence that prosecutor­s illegally removed the woman from the jury pool on the basis of her race.

Prosecutor­s pushed back, noting two black jurors had been seated, and the judge said he didn’t believe the prosecutio­n had any “discrimina­tory intent.”

Cosby’s lawyers eventually relented, and once jury selection resumed, three white men and a white woman were quickly placed on the panel. That brought the total number picked over three days to 12 — a full jury. Six alternates also have to be picked.

The main panel consists of 10 whites and two blacks. The jury has seven men and five women.

The battle over the black juror’s removal highlighte­d a vast racial disparity in the suburban Philadelph­ia jury pool that limited the number of black people available for considerat­ion.

Just 10 of about 240 prospectiv­e jurors questioned on the first three days of jury selection were black, or about 4.2 percent. The black population in Montgomery County is about 9.6 percent black, according to the latest U.S. Census estimates.

The county says the names of people called for jury duty are selected randomly from a master list that combines voter registrati­on records and driver’s license records.

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Bill Cosby

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