Bill Cosby Trial: Court Declares Mistrial; Alternate Juror Says Comedian Should Be Convicted
The sexual assault trial against Bill Cosby ended in a mistrial. Meanwhile, an alternate juror speaks up about what should have been the verdict.
Cosby's sexual assault trial for allegedly drugging and raping Andrea Constand in 2004 ended in a mistrial, NBC News reported. Montgomery County Judge Steven O'Neill declared a mistrial last Saturday because the jury was still deadlocked after 52 hours of deliberations.
However, the prosecutors are planning to retry Cosby on all accounts of aggravated indecent assault, which will put the celebrity icon behind bars for 10 years if proven guilty.
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Meanwhile, an alternate juror, Mike McCloskey, from Cosby's trial said that the celebrity should have been convicted on all accounts.
"I believe he was guilty on all three charges," he said.
But McCloskey revealed that the court's decision for a mistrial was not surprising.
"We had so many personalities in the room," the alternate juror said.
As for the 12 regular jurors from the trial, none of them have spoken about what happened during deliberation, since the court judge also warned them not to share what went on behind closed doors.
Cosby's legal team is already discussing whether he should take the stand on his retrial.
One of the defense lawyers, Angela Agrusa, said that they never disregarded that Cosby could take the stand during his trial.
"He's a very charismatic and articulate person," Agrusa said.
Although several legal experts think that it would be damaging to Cosby's defense if he took the stand, a former Pennsylvania prosecutor believes that it could put the opposing counsel off their gameplay.
"One of the challenges in a retrial for a defense attorney is finding some area of unexpected cross-examination or new testimony to keep the prosecution and its witnesses off-balance," prosecutor Dennis McAndrews explained.
Meanwhile, Constand is willing to put herself on the stand again on the retrial. However, it might be more of an advantage to Cosby's defense counsel now that they already know what they can expect from her in the retrial.
