Jury Deadlock in Bill Cosby Case Forces a Mistrial

With no verdict after 52 hours of deliberation, the Montgomery County District attorney will immediately retry Bill Cosby on sexual assault charges.

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Judge Steven T. O’Neill has declared a mistrial in Bill Cosby’s sexual assault case Saturday, after the 12 jurors informed O’Neill they were deadlocked. The case—formally referred to as Commonwealth vs. William Henry Cosby Jr—centers on Cosby allegedly drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in his Philadelphia home in 2004.

A panel of five women and seven men deliberated for upwards of 52 hours, and according to CBS News, the Montgomery County District Attorney will immediately retry the case.

William H. Cosby Jr. remains free on bail. New trial date will be set.
DA Steele announces we will retry this case.

Constand was one of dozens of women who accused Cosby of drugging, and or initiating sexual contact without consent, and her case narrowly beat the 12-year statute of limitations. As such, Cosby was arrested for aggravated indecent assault in December 2015.

According to the released trial testimony, Cosby confirmed giving Constand Quaaludes three banned sedative pills, referring to them while under oath as “three friends.” In a previous police deposition, Cosby told authorities the pills were broken Benadryl tablets. 

“I don’t hear her say anything, and I don’t feel her say anything,” Cosby’s released testimony read. “And so I continue and I go into the area that is somewhere between permission and rejection. I am not stopped.”

Constand’s testimony ran counter to Cosby’s version, and mirrored a narrative that many of the women who have accused the actor and comedian of sexually assaulting them.

“In my head, I was trying to get my hands to move or my legs to move, but I was frozen,” Constand told jurors. “I wasn’t able to fight in any way. I wanted it to stop.”

The account marked Constand’s first public comments about the assault since the charges were brought against Cosby.

Cosby rose to fame playing iconic characters on shows such as iSpy and The Cosby Show. He was a constant supporter of historically black colleges and universities while also drawing sharp criticism, particularly within segments of the black community, for his brand of respectability politics. 

In November of 2014, Kristina Ruehli accused Cosby of sexually assaulting her at a 1965 party when she was 22 years old. She was followed by dozens of other women making similar allegations, which were all denied by Cosby and his legal team. 

Pennsylvania law allows Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele up to 120 days to retry the case. Each of the three counts of aggravated indecent assault Cosby was charged with carries a penalty of 10 years in prison.

Cosby’s wife, Camille Cosby, released a public statement giving her thoughts on the trial.

Statement From Mrs. Camille Cosby pic.twitter.com/nfBF92BpN1

“I am grateful to any of the jurors who tenaciously fought to review the evience; which is the rightful way to make a sound decision…ultimately, that is a manifestation of justice, based on facts, not lies,” the statement read in part. “As a very special friend once stated, “truth can be subdued, but not destroyed.”

A spokesperson for Cosby also evoked the name of Black Panther Party leader Huey P. Newton and cited a speech by Newton while proclaiming Cosby’s “power is back.”

Cosby spokesperson says Bill Cosby's "power is back" after mistrial, tells Gloria Allred to "go back to law school" https://t.co/M4pXEtSZ5h pic.twitter.com/po9TnCj7TZ

“The legacy didn’t go anywhere,” the spokesman said. “It has been restored. And for all those attorneys who conspire like Gloria Allred, tell them to go back to law school and take another class.”

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