Jury Deadlocked In Bill Cosby Sex Assault Trial
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Jurors said they were deadlocked Thursday after more than 30 hours of deliberations in the Bill Cosby sex assault trial.
As CBS2's Emily Smith reported, the jurors announced that they were deadlocked early Thursday afternoon. But the judge told them to go back in and try again.
The jurors wrapped for the day around 9 p.m. and will return on Friday.
During 31 hours of deliberations, the panel sent the judge six questions before announcing they could not reach a unanimous consensus on any of the three counts of aggravated indecent assault that Cosby faces.
The seven men and five women began jury deliberations Monday evening. During the trial, accuser Andrea Constand, a 44-year-old former employee of the basketball program at Temple University, testified that Cosby gave her blue pills to relax while she was consulting him about her career at his suburban Philadelphia mansion in 200.
She said the pills left her half conscious and unable to move when Cosby touched her.
On Tuesday, the jury listened as the judge read back more of Cosby's sworn deposition from Constand's civil suit in 2005. In it, Cosby admitted to giving her pills; he said they were Benadryl to help her relax. He gave details about the sexual contact he had with the former Temple University employee and how she fell asleep. Cosby claimed it was a consensual sexual encounter.
Cosby's attorney, Brian McMonagle, also said the encounter was consensual and the two had been intimate before.
"He is just happy to know that he has 12 people, of his peers, who understand that the facts of this case don't add up," said Cosby spokesman Andrew Wyatt.
Cosby did not take the stand in his own defense at trial. When he walked out of court on Tuesday, he said, "Hey, hey, hey!" in the voice of his "Fat Albert" character when asked for comment about the deliberations by a reporter.
The comedian once dubbed "America's Dad" faces up to 10 years in prison. If jurors are unable to reach a unanimous decision, the judge will declare a mistrial.
There is not a limit as to how many times the judge can ask jurors to go back and try again.
(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
