Eleven seated on Cosby jury; defense sees bias

PITTSBURGH—Bill Cosby’s lawyers accused Pennsylvania prosecutors of trying to systematically keep blacks off the jury Tuesday after prosecutors used their strikes to send two black women home.

Judge Steven O’Neill for now rejected the argument after prosecutors said the second woman was a former Pittsburgh detective who sued the city after she was arrested in a public scandal. They said the case raised doubts about her credibility.

O’Neill said he would revisit the issue if defense lawyer Brian McMonagle, who had accused prosecutors of “a systematic exclusion of African-Americans,” offered any statistical evidence to back that up.

Of the 11 current jurors, one is black. The 100 people summoned to the Allegheny County courthouse for juror consideration so far have included 16 people of color. A new jury pool will be summoned today, when lawyers return to seek the final juror and six alternates.

The jurors selected Tuesday included a black woman who said she knew only “basic information” about the case, a young white man who initially expressed a tendency to believe police, and two people who said they don’t read or watch the news.

The jury now consists of seven men and four women— all but one of them white—in a case that Cosby says may have racial undertones.

The actor-comedian once known as America’s Dad for his beloved portrayal of Dr. Cliff Huxtable on “The Cosby Show” is charged with drugging and molesting a Temple University women’s basketball team manager at his home near Philadelphia in 2004. He has called the encounter consensual.

Dozens of other women have made similar accusations against Cosby, 79, but O’Neill is allowing only one of them to testify at the June 5 trial in suburban Philadelphia. The jury from Pittsburgh will be sequestered nearly 300 miles from home.

Cosby, in an interview last week, said race could be a motivating factor in the accusations against him. Cosby became the first black actor to star in a network TV show in 1965 but has alienated some younger blacks by criticizing their clothes, music and lifestyle. Black comedian Hannibal Burress seemingly inspired more accusers to go public after he called Cosby a rapist onstage.