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• The judge in the Bill Cosby sexual assault trial has resisted multiple calls for a mistrial from Mr. Cosby’s lawyers, though it is not clear as the sixth day of deliberations dawns whether the jury has any chance of reaching a verdict.
• The jury has been deliberating for more than 50 hours, and has been through much of the evidence from the trial over the past few days, but it remains unclear what is the sticking point in the jurors’ discussions.
• One major issue would appear to be the question of whether the full jury can embrace the credibility of Andrea Constand, the woman who accused Mr. Cosby of drugging and molesting her. Despite a strong presence on the stand, her account has some inconsistencies and the defense suggested that her contact with him after the night in question was evidence that the encounter had been consensual.
• The prosecution had hoped that the testimony of Kelly Johnson, a woman who has a very similar account of being drugged and sexually assaulted by Mr. Cosby, would echo Ms. Constand’s own in the minds of jurors. But the panel has not spent any time reviewing her testimony.
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The jurors’ perspective on the case will be interesting.
Not all jurors, in this case or any other, are comfortable talking about what happened inside the jury room. But there will be many people interested in what they would have to say, regardless of whether the outcome is an acquittal, a conviction or a mistrial. Whether some of the jurors will provide that perspective before they head back to Allegheny County, or in the ensuing days, remains unclear. Their names have not been released by order of the court although it is believed they will be released once the trial has concluded.
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There are seven men on the jury.
The gender and race of jurors is often relevant, especially in a sex assault case with a black defendant and white complainant. But in this instance, we’re bringing up the gender of seven of the jurors because Sunday is Father’s Day and being away from home, sequestered in a hotel, will be a particular hardship tomorrow for the male jurors who have children. It’s not clear whether the judge is prepared to end the trial on Saturday, even if there is no verdict. It is likely to depend on whether the jury reports that it is close to making up its mind in a unanimous fashion on at least one of the three counts.
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