*The judge in Bill Cosby’s trial on Friday again rejected defense requests for a mistrial and told jurors to consider the charges against the legendary entertainer for as long as it takes.
“As long as this jury wishes to continue to deliberate, I will let them deliberate,” said Montgomery County Judge Steven O’Neill, who is presiding over the trial in suburban Philadelphia.
O’Neill also addressed two new questions from the jury: a request for a redefinition of the legal concept of “reasonable doubt,” and a request to hear more from Cosby’s 2005 deposition in which he insisted that what happened in early 2004 at his home outside Philadelphia with alleged victim Andrea Constand was consensual.
But in a follow-up note, the jury said it wanted to rehear the part of the deposition about Quaaludes — a reference to Cosby’s acknowledgement that he had given the prescription pills to women with whom he wanted to have sex.
On Thursday, the jury of seven men and five women said it was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on any of the three aggravated indecent assault charges — but at the urging of O’Neill, panel members resumed deliberations and spent the rest of the day and evening behind closed doors.
The predominantly white jury, selected last month in Pittsburgh, has been sequestered since the trial began on June 5. If convicted, Cosby could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison on each count.
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