The jury deciding whether Bill Cosby sexually assaulted a former acquaintance is deadlocked, but Montgomery County Judge Steven T. O’Neill has denied a motion for a mistrial and has sent the jury back for further deliberation.
As CNN points out, the jury—made up of seven men and five women—has been deliberating for 31 hours. On Thursday, jurors wrote a note to the judge, saying, “We cannot come to a unanimous consensus on any of these counts.”
The 79-year-old Cosby has been charged with drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand, a former Temple University official, in 2004. But so far, the jury said it hasn’t unanimously decided whether he’s guilty.
That led defense lawyer Brian McMonagle to ask O’Neill to declare a mistrial, according to the New York Daily News. Instead, O’Neill sent the jurors back to work, saying, “I will not set any specific time for deliberations.”
The jury has asked the judge multiple times to rehear testimony, including what Cosby told authorities and what Constand said during her time on the witness stand.
Jewel Allison, one of dozens of women who have accused Cosby of sexual assault, said the jury’s note was “emotionally devastating.”
“We had worked so hard, sacrificed so much and prayed so much and didn’t sleep enough and didn’t eat enough,” she said, via NBC News. “It was just devastating.”
Cosby is facing three counts of aggravated indecent assault. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison on each charge.
