The Latest on the sexual assault trial of Bill Cosby (all times local) :
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) – The Latest on the sexual assault trial of Bill Cosby (all times local) : 4 p.m. Bill Cosby’s accuser has posted a video of herself shooting hoops in a courthouse hallway as she awaits a verdict in his sexual assault trial. Andrea Constand tweeted the video Thursday. It shows her shooting a mini-basketball into a hoop to the tune of “Sweet Georgia Brown, ” the theme song of the Harlem Globetrotters. It says, “ALWAYS FOLLOW THROUGH.” Constand won a national title with the University of Arizona and played in a pro league in Europe before landing a job with Temple University women’s basketball team. It was at Temple she met Cosby, a member of the school’s board of trustees. The 79-year-old comedian is charged with drugging and molesting her at his Philadelphia-area home in 2004. He says it was consensual. The jury says it’s deadlocked on the charges, but has continued to deliberate. ___ 2: 05 p.m. Bill Cosby’s accusers and supporters alike have gathered on the courthouse steps to await a verdict in his sexual assault case. The jury said Thursday it’s deadlocked on charges that Cosby drugged and violated a woman at his home in 2004. Several of the other women who accuse Cosby of molesting them are confronting a half-dozen supporters outside the courthouse. But the atmosphere remains calm, with accusers and supporters even holding hands. The accusers include Lili Bernard, who says Cosby sexually assaulted her before giving her a one-time role on “The Cosby Show” in 1992. She read a prayer before telling Cosby’s supporters what she says he did to her. The supporters are holding signs like “Free Mr. Cosby Now.” ___ 1: 15 p.m. Bill Cosby’s spokesman says a jury’s struggle to reach a verdict in the comedian’s sexual assault trial shows it has doubts about the accuser’s story. The jury told a judge on their fourth day of deliberations Thursday that it’s deadlocked. They were told to keep deliberating. Cosby is charged with drugging and molesting a woman in his Philadelphia-area home in 2004. He says their sexual encounter was consensual. Cosby’s spokesman, Andrew Wyatt, says the impasse shows that jurors are “conflicted about the inconsistencies” in accuser Andrea Constand’s account. Constand’s lawyer, Dolores Troiani, says only that the jury is “apparently working very hard” to reach agreement on the charges. ___ 11: 40 a.m. Jurors in Bill Cosby’s sexual assault trial have told a judge they’re deadlocked on charges the comedian drugged and molested a woman in 2004. The panel deliberated about 30 hours over four days before telling Judge Steven O’Neill on Thursday they couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict on any of the charges. O’Neill sent them back to the jury room to keep talking. Cosby is charged with three counts of aggravated sexual assault. His lawyer says Cosby and Andrea Constand were lovers sharing a consensual sexual encounter at his suburban Philadelphia home. Constand says Cosby gave her pills that made her woozy, then violated her. Dozens of women have come forward to say he had drugged and assaulted them. This was the only case to result in criminal charges against Cosby. ___ 8: 50 a.m. Bill Cosby has arrived for the fourth day of jury deliberations in his sexual assault trial. Jurors have been debating the charges against Cosby for more than 27 hours since getting the case Monday. Deliberations will resume Thursday morning. The trial outside Philadelphia involves Cosby’s sexual encounter with a woman at his home in 2004. Accuser Andrea Constand says Cosby drugged and molested her. He says he gave her an over-over-the-counter cold and allergy medicine to help her relax and that the encounter was consensual. The charges could put the 79-year-old entertainer in prison for the rest of his life if he’s convicted. ___ 1: 45 a.m. As deliberations in Bill Cosby’s sexual assault trial continue into a fourth day, nerves are frayed, patience is shot and no one is certain when it will all end. Jurors return to the deliberation room Thursday morning, but the long road to a verdict is taking a toll. Some jurors appeared angry and even the judge has sounded exasperated at times. The sequestered jury has been at it for more than 27 hours since getting the case Monday. They’ve paused a half-dozen times to revisit key evidence, including Cosby’s decade-old admissions that he fondled accuser Andrea Constand after giving her pills at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004. The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they grant permission, which Constand has done. Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
