Advertisement

Cosby mistrial resulted from 2 holdouts who were ‘not moving, no matter what’, juror says

Click to play video: 'Focus turns now to Bill Cosby’s retrial'
Focus turns now to Bill Cosby’s retrial
WATCH ABOVE: Focus turns now to Bill Cosby's retrial – Jun 20, 2017

The jurors at Bill Cosby’s sexual assault trial were deadlocked because of two holdout jurors who refused to budge on their belief that the once-beloved comedian was not guilty, a jury member reportedly said.

In an interview with ABC News, the unidentified juror (who agreed to speak out on the condition of anonymity) claimed 10 of the jurors believed Cosby was guilty on two of the three counts with which he was charged (a charge of digitally penetrating Andrea Constand while she was unconscious, and a charge that the assault occurred after Cosby gave her drugs without her knowledge), while only one believed the comedian was guilty of a third charge, that Constand was unconscious or unaware during the incident.

On those two charges, the juror alleged, the two holdouts who believed Cosby was not guilty were “not moving, no matter what.”

READ MORE: Names of jurors in Bill Cosby sexual assault case released

The juror told ABC News, the accusations from dozens of other women that Cosby had similarly drugged and sexually assaulted them played no rule in the jury deliberations. “We never brought anything outside in,” the juror said. “Never. Not once. If somebody would mention something, we would cut them off.”

Story continues below advertisement

For all intents and purposes, the deliberations ended after the jury first deadlocked after 30 hours of deliberations; a further 22 hours of deliberations did not change the minds of the holdouts, the juror explained.

“There was no budging” after the first deadlock, the juror added, “and there was none from there on out.”

Meanwhile, the juror noted that tensions rose when the 12 jurors were moved to a smaller room after sheriff’s deputies discovered that reporters outside could see into the room through the window.

Within that smaller room, emotions reached the breaking point. “People couldn’t even pace,” said the juror. “They were just literally walking in circles where they were standing because they were losing their minds. People would just start crying out of nowhere, we wouldn’t even be talking about [the case] — and people would just start crying.”

READ MORE: Bill Cosby alternate juror says he ‘probably’ would have voted to convict

In fact, the situation grew so tense that one male juror punched a concrete wall out of frustration. “I think he broke his pinky knuckle,” the juror said.

Story continues below advertisement

WATCH: Mistrial declared in Bill Cosby case as jurors deadlocked

Click to play video: 'Mistrial declared in Bill Cosby case as jurors deadlocked'
Mistrial declared in Bill Cosby case as jurors deadlocked

“If we kept going, there was definitely going to be a fight,” added the juror. “They had five sheriff’s deputies at the door and they could hear us and they kept coming in because they thought we were already fighting.”

Without detailing the discussions that took place, the juror’s personal belief is that Constand may not have known what pills Cosby was giving her, but “she did take them, and he didn’t force them on her.”

The juror also believes that Cosby’s alleged actions weren’t premeditated, explaining: “I think that he gave [the pills] to her, and then later when he saw what was up, maybe he figured, ‘Maybe I’ll do something.’”
Advertisement

Sponsored content

AdChoices