Mistrial declared in Cosby sex assault case
After jury deadlocks, prosecutors vow to try again
NORRISTOWN, Pa. — Bill Cosby’s trial on sexual assault charges ended in a mistrial Saturday after jurors failed to reach a unanimous decision in a case that nevertheless helped destroy the 79-yearold comedian’s image as “America’s dad.”
Prosecutors said immediately that they would retry the case, declaring the woman who accused Cosby of drugging and molesting her at his Philadelphia-area home in 2004 is “entitled to a verdict.” Judge Steven T. O’Neill said he would try to schedule a new trial within 120 days.
The jury deliberated more than 52 hours over six days before telling a judge they couldn’t agree on whether “The Cosby Show” star sexually violated Temple University employee Andrea Constand after giving her pills that left her woozy and unable to say no or fight back. The judge then declared a mistrial.
Cosby’s team declared victory and went on the attack. “Mr. Cosby’s power is back. It has been restored,” said Andrew Wyatt, his spokesman.
Cosby’s wife of 53 years, Camille, slammed prosecutors for bringing the case to court, calling District Attorney Kevin Steele “heinously and exploitively ambitious” in a statement released after court adjourned.
She also attacked the judge, the accuser’s lawyers and the media. “How do I describe the judge? Overtly arrogant, collaborating with the district attorney,” said her statement, which was read by Wyatt and tweeted by her husband’s account.
Bill Cosby himself didn’t comment. He remained stoic as the judge declared a mistrial, while Constand hugged her mother, prosecutors and some of the other women who say the TV star drugged and abused them.
In a statement, her lawyers thanked the prosecution for taking her case and said the trial, held in Montgomery County, Pa., had “given a voice to the many victims who felt powerless and silenced.”
Steele, the district attorney, said he was disappointed the jury was unable to agree on the charges but vowed to put Cosby on trial again.
Cosby’s career and goodguy image were already in tatters by the time Constand took the stand and described how Cosby gave her pills and then penetrated her with his fingers as she lay paralyzed on a couch, unable to tell him to stop.
But the jurors struggled with their verdict, telling the judge on Day 4 they were at impasse. O’Neill instructed them to keep working toward a unanimous decision. On Saturday, they told O’Neill they were hopelessly deadlocked.
The judge reminded prosecutors and the defense that “a mistrial is neither vindication nor victory for anybody.”
It was the only criminal case to arise from allegations from more than 60 women that cast Cosby as a serial predator who gave drugs to women before violating them.
He did not take the stand in his own defense, leaving it to his attorney to argue Cosby and Constand were lovers sharing a consensual sexual encounter. Lawyer Brian McMonagle told jurors that while Cosby had been unfaithful to his wife, he didn’t commit a crime.
“We’re talking about all the man’s tomorrows,” said McMonagle, urging acquittal of an icon in the twilight of life.
Cosby broke barriers as the first black actor to star in a network show, “I Spy,” in the 1960s and created the top-ranked “Cosby Show” two decades later, starring as kindly Dr. Cliff Huxtable. He found other success with his “Fat Albert” animated TV show and starred in commercials for Jell-O pudding.
But it was his reputation as a public moralist who urged young people to pull up their saggy pants and start acting responsibly that prompted a federal judge to unseal portions of an explosive deposition he gave more than a decade ago as part of Constand’s civil lawsuit against him.
In the deposition, which was released in 2015 at the request of The Associated Press, Cosby said he obtained several prescriptions for quaaludes in the 1970s and offered the nowbanned sedatives to women he wanted to have sex with.
He also said he gave Constand three half-tablets of the cold and allergy medicine Benadryl before the “petting” began. Prosecutors suggested he drugged her with something stronger.
Constand, now 44, initially went to police about a year after she said Cosby assaulted her, but a prosecutor declared her case too weak to bring charges.
A decade later, another district attorney reopened the investigation after Cosby’s lurid testimony about drugs and sex became public, and dozens of women came forward against one of the most beloved stars in all of show business. He was charged shortly before the statute of limitations was set to expire.
Before going on trial, Cosby expressed hope he could eventually resume his career. But TV networks had long since scrapped plans for a comeback and pulled reruns from the air after his lurid deposition testimony became public.
The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they grant permission, which Constand has done.