USA TODAY US Edition

Cosby jurors in stalemate, told to keep trying

Mistrial motion denied; tensions simmer as all are waiting

- Karl Baker The (Wilmington) News Journal and Maria Puente USA TODAY Contributi­ng: The Associated Press; Puente reported from McLean, Va.

Jury could not come to a decision after 30 hours of deliberati­on

Crying was heard in the courtroom as the jury in the Bill Cosby sexual assault trial announced it was deadlocked on all three counts, after some 30 hours of deliberati­ng, and Judge Steven O’Neill implored them to try again.

The jurors sent a note to O’Neill stating they “cannot come to a unanimous consensus on any of the counts.” But O’Neill denied a motion for a mistrial.

“The jury foreman has informed me that you are deadlocked,” O’Neill said as the jury reconvened in the courtroom. “Each of you has a duty to consult with one another … if it can be done without violence. But each of you must decide by yourself.”

After hearing his statement, the jurors walked out, appearing sullen, as sounds of crying could be heard among spectators in the courtroom. Later, the jurors were dismissed for the night to resume deliberati­ons Friday morning.

Lili Bernard, a Cosby accuser who has attended the trial, declined to comment on the deadlock, as she sat, with tears in her eyes, outside of the courtroom.

Attorney Gloria Allred, who represents dozens of Cosby accusers and has been attending the trial, said the deadlock is not the end of the case. The court “instructio­n was for the jury to go back and deliberate,” she said, her voice cracking. “This deadlock could change.”

Cosby’s spokesman, Andrew Wyatt, immediatel­y seized on the developmen­t as a sign the prosecutio­n failed to make its case to a unanimous jury. The facts of the case, “don’t add up,” he said, arguing that the charges were pursued by District Attor- ney Kevin Steele as a “catapult for his (political) ambitions.”

“Mr. Cosby should not be here today, should not ever have been here … but we can’t change that, he’s here right now,” Wyatt said.

Zachary Cooper, a criminal defense lawyer, was leaving the courthouse just after the jurors announced the deadlock. Scanning the mob of reporters and protesters outside the building, he said he had never seen such a spectacle, even when he was prosecutor working under Bruce Castor, the ex-DA who declined to prosecute Cosby in 2005.

The chances of this jury coming back to court with a clear verdict now are low, Cooper said. “We don’t know how many holdouts there are. There could be one, there could be two.”

The jury arrived for its fourth day of deliberati­ons while tension simmered among all those standing by for a sign: the defendant, his accuser, prosecutor­s and defense lawyers. Not to mention the media mob wilting in the heat.

A 13-year-old alleged sexual assault. More than two years of lu- rid headlines and multiple pretrial hearings. Six days of courtroom dramatics. Now it’s Day 9 and down to the seven men and five women on the jury, struggling to reach a verdict on three counts of aggravated indecent sexual assault stemming from an encounter between Cosby and accuser Andrea Constand at his home nearby in 2004.

Some 30 hours have passed since the sequestere­d jury got the case on Monday evening. In that time, they have assembled in court a half-dozen times to ask questions or request extended read-backs of testimony, during which some listened intently while others appeared bored or dozing. There were delays because some trial testimony had not been transcribe­d yet.

Judge Steven O’Neill has been by turns exasperate­d and effusive, praising the jury’s diligence. “This is an incredible jury that has just acted with incredible dignity and fidelity,” O’Neill said Wednesday.

 ?? MATT SLOCUM, AP ?? Bill Cosby arrives Thursday at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pa.
MATT SLOCUM, AP Bill Cosby arrives Thursday at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pa.

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