Jurors Reportedly Voted 10-2 To Convict Bill Cosby

NORRISTOWN, PA — The jury voted 10-2 to convict Bill Cosby, one of the jurors reportedly told media outlets. The revelation comes just a day after a judge allowed the names of the jurors to become public on the stipulation that the jurors would not discuss any details of what occurred during their deliberations.

The juror, who spoke anonymously, said that the jury voted 10-2 to convict Cosby, 79, of two of the counts of aggravated indecent assault in connection with the 2004 incident with Andrea Constand, 44, at his Cheltenham home. They reportedly voted 11-1 to acquit Cosby of the third count.

Jurors initially wanted to convict Cosby on all three counts, but the tide gradually shifted as the 52 hours of deliberation continued. By around 30 hours in, a deadlock was reached, the report states. The jury ended in a mistrial last weekend.

The juror told 6ABC that the final two jurors who wanted to acquit were absolutely not going to change their minds.

It took only a few hours for one of the jurors to renege on what Judge Steven T. O'Neill had ordered them to do when he ruled that their names could be made public on Wednesday. In a memorandum, O'Neill said that any details about the case that were made public could have a "chilling effect" on the future retrial. Both the prosecution and defense agreed with this position.

O'Neill, however, sided with the media organizations who had requested the identities of the jurors. He cited legal precedent from a 2007 Pennsylvania Supreme Court case, Commonwealth v. Long, which allowed the names of jurors to be released on the basis of the First Amendment.

The juror reportedly characterized the proceedings as very tense and frustrating.

The jury members were all from Allegheny County in western Pennsylvania and were kept sequestered for the duration of the trial in order to avoid prejudice.

A retrial will be scheduled by O'Neill within the next four months.

Image via United States Navy photo by Mr. Scott King - Cropped from [1] from [2], Public Domain, via Commons