The jurors within the Invoice Cosby sexual assault trial got here near deciding the case on Friday, however their uncertainty over deal with some remaining points in reaching a verdict led the decide to resolve they need to return on Monday to renew their deliberations.
Earlier than they completed the second day of deliberations within the courthouse in Santa Monica, Calif., the decide, Craig D. Karlan, stated the jurors had resolved many of the questions on a verdict sheet they have been being requested to vote on. However there was no dialogue of how the jury had voted on these questions — together with one which involved whether or not Mr. Cosby ought to pay damages to Judy Huth, who says he molested her in 1975 on the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles when she was 16.
One complicating issue is that one of many 12 jurors who sat by way of the 2 days of deliberations must be excused, the decide stated, so an alternate will sit with the panel on Monday and the jurors must rethink many of the points.
“Sadly, you’ll have to begin from scratch,” Choose Karlan stated.
It’s not clear, although, whether or not the inclusion of a brand new juror could have a considerable impact on the deliberations, as a result of solely 9 of the 12 jurors must agree on a verdict.
Mr. Cosby, 84, has denied having any sexual encounter with Ms. Huth. He has not been current on the trial, and didn’t testify after invoking his Fifth Modification proper, however he was heard by the jurors in a videotaped deposition saying that he didn’t keep in mind ever assembly Ms. Huth.
Ms. Huth’s good friend took two images of Mr. Cosby and Ms. Huth collectively on the mansion, although, and so they have been entered into proof.
On Thursday, the jurors got a verdict sheet comprising 9 questions they needed to reply in flip to assist them attain a verdict and resolve on any damages.
They’d requested the decide for clarifications on quite a few the questions, together with one which handled whether or not Mr. Cosby was “motivated by an unnatural or irregular sexual curiosity in Ms. Huth, a minor.”
Over the course of 10 days of testimony, the jury heard Ms. Huth’s account that she and her good friend had met Mr. Cosby in 1975 in a park in San Marino, Calif., the place he was making the movie “Let’s Do It Once more.”
She and the good friend, Donna Samuelson, testified that Mr. Cosby had invited them to his tennis membership, after which to the home the place he was staying, the place he gave them alcohol and obtained them to comply with him of their automobile to the Playboy Mansion.
In testimony, Ms. Huth, 64, described how, in a bed room on the mansion, Mr. Cosby had pressured her to carry out a intercourse act on him. Mr. Cosby’s attorneys have described Ms. Huth’s account as “a whole and utter fabrication.”
