Cosby trial: No conviction as jury deadlocks.
NORRISTOWN, Pa. — Bill Cosby, the comedian and actor once known as America’s Dad for his TV role as paternal Dr. Cliff Huxtable, avoided a conviction on Father’s Day weekend as a jury deadlocked on charges he drugged and molested a woman more than a decade ago.
Prosecutors found themselves back to square one Saturday when the judge declared a mistrial after more than 52 hours of deliberations over six days.
Excoriated by the defense for charging Cosby in the first place, District Attorney Kevin Steele pledged to put him on trial a second time, saying accuser Andrea Constand supported the decision.
“She has shown such courage through this, and we are in awe of what she has done,” Steele said. “She’s entitled to a verdict in this case.”
Cosby’s team declared victory, however temporary. By sowing doubt among one or more jurors, Cosby’s lawyers managed to overcome two years of unrelentingly bad publicity for their client after the public release of his damaging testimony about drugs and sex, as well as a barrage of accusations from 60 women who came forward to accuse him of sexual assault.
Constand told jurors Cosby gave her pills that made her woozy and then penetrated her with his fingers as she lay paralyzed on a couch, unable to tell him to stop. The 2004 encounter at Cosby’s suburban Philadelphia estate was the only one to result in criminal charges.
Constand is ready to go to trial again, said her lawyer, Dolores Troiani.
“She’s a very spiritual woman. She believes things happen for a purpose, and I think the purpose is ... it should encourage other women to come forward and have their day in court.”
The jury failed to reach a unanimous decision on any of the three counts against the comedian, ending the trial without a verdict.
Cosby’s team immediately went on the attack. The entertainer’s wife of 53 years, Camille, slammed prosecutors for bringing the case to court, calling Steele “heinously and exploitively ambitious” in a statement released after the trial. She also criticized 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 tweeted by her husband and read by an associate of the public relations firm representing Cosby.
Cosby himself didn’t comment, remaining stoic as the judge declared a mistrial.
It wasn’t immediately known how many jurors wanted to convict and how many wanted to acquit. None of the jurors commented after the trial ended.