JUST NEEDED D ONE’
Cosby was sure at least one holdout would hang jury
Throughout his sex-assault trial, Bill Cosby was confident he would get a hung jury, noting that his side only needed to sway a single holdout. “All I need is one,” the comedian would remind those around him during breaks in the proceedings. “I only need one, man.” On Saturday, a “hopelessly deadlocked” jury led to a mistrial.
“America’s Dad” got an early Father’s Day present Saturday as deadlocked jurors forced a mistrial in the sexual-assault case against Bill Cosby, whose legal team crowed as if he had been acquitted — even as prosecutors promised a swift retrial.
After deliberating for 53 hours over six days, the panel of seven men and five women told Judge Steven O’Neill they could not reach a decision.
“This jury is hopelessly deadlocked,” O’Neill said after questioning each juror in turn.
“This is not a victory for anyone.”
The 79-year-old comedian — who faced up to 30 years in prison if convicted on three charges of aggravated indecent assault — sat alone in his chair as his legal team jumped up and started shaking hands and hugging.
He remained with a finger over his lip for nearly a minute before removing his hand and allowing a tiny smile to creep across his lips.
“You lead the way,” he told attorney Angela Agrusa, as she offered her arm and walked out of the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pa.
Outside, Cosby spokesman Andrew Wyatt said the comic’s legacy had been restored.
“Johnnie Cochran is looking down, smiling,” Wyatt said, re- ferring to the late celebrity attorney who led O.J. Simpson’s successful murder defense.
“For all those attorneys who conspired, like Gloria Allred — tell them to go back to law school,” he added, calling out the famed lawyer representing Cosby’s other rape accusers.
Cosby’s wife, Camille, took aim at prosecutors — and the judge — in a statement read by a spokeswoman.
“How do I describe the district attorney? Heinously and exploitively ambitious. How do I describe the judge? Overtly and arrogantly collaborating with the district attorney,” she said.
Cosby remained free on $1 million bail.
He was accused of drugging and molesting former Temple University basketball manager Andrea Constand (inset) at his Philadelphia home in 2004.
District Attorney Kevin Steele announced he would retry the case, prompting gasps in the courtroom.
“The victim and the community deserve a verdict,” he said after the jury was dismissed.
He called Constand “courageous.”
Another Cosby accuser, Victoria Valentino, also vowed to keep up the legal fight and said society had “failed” Constand.
“We are devastated. Society has failed her, and failed us. The victim was not looking for a hot lay. She is gay. It was not men- tioned,” Valentino said before offering a warning to Cosby. “We’re coming for you, buddy.” Allred blamed the mistrial on the “blinding power of celebrity.”
“It’s too early to celebrate, Mr. Cosby. Round Two may be just around the corner, and this time, justice may prevail,” she said.
But Cosby’s team remained unbowed.
“Justice is real. It lives here in Montgomery County,” attorney Brian McMonagle said. “You don’t always get what you want, sometimes you get what you need.”
About 60 other women have lodged similar allegations against Cosby, claiming they were drugged and raped by him. Some have civil suits pending.
After the mistrial, accusers filed out of the courtroom, where Constand was leaning against a wall. Each gave her a hug. Some were in tears. Constand’s eyes remained dry, but her face was flushed.
Lili Bernard, an accuser who attended each day with a bouquet of pink gladiolus, left her flowers in the courthouse.
New proceedings could start within 120 days, but that time frame could be extended.
Constand had taken the stand and described the night in question in graphic detail.
“I felt Mr. Cosby’s hand groping my breasts, under my shirt,” she recalled. “I felt his hand inside my vagina, moving in and out. And I felt him take my hand, place it on his penis and move it back and forth.”
Cosby did not take the stand, but the jury heard a deposition in which he admitted sleeping with Constand and plying women with quaaludes before sex.
Recorded in 2005-06, the deposition had been part of Constand’s civil suit against Cosby. It was unsealed in 2015, and Cosby was arrested a year later.