SAN FRANCISCO, June 15, (THEWILL) – The jurors in Bill Cosby’s sexual assault trial on Thursday said they deadlocked and could not come to a unanimous decision on whether the entertainer is guilty of drugging and abusing his accuser, Andrea Constand.
According to UPI, Judge Steven O’Neill asked the jury to return to deliberations in one last attempt to reach a verdict. If the last attempt produces a hung jury, O’Neill will declare a mistrial.
“I am required to read you an instruction. The jury foreman has informed me that you are deadlocked,” O’Neill said during court.
“If you are still deadlocked you should report that to me. If you’ve reached a unanimous decision on some of the charges, please report that back to me.”
The twelve jurors — seven men and five women from the Pittsburgh area — began deliberations on Monday and are attempting to determine whether Cosby is guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault.
“Each of you has a duty to consult with one another and to deliberate with a view to reaching an agreement if it can be done without violence to your individual judgment,” O’Neill told the jury.
Cosby faces charges that he drugged and assaulted Constand, a former Temple University employee, at his Philadelphia home in 2004. Constand was the women’s basketball team manager at Cosby’s alma mater.
Cosby’s defence team argued that Constand and prosecutors are misrepresenting what occurred that day and that the sexual activity was consensual, which Constand and prosecutors reject.
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