A US judge has declared a mistrial in the Bill Cosby sex assault case after the jury remained deadlocked for days.<\/p>\n
The seven men and five women were unable to reach a unanimous decision after some 53 hours of deliberations in Norristown, Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n
Mr Cosby, 79, is accused of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004. His lawyers had argued the sex was consensual.<\/p>\n
The US comedian could now face new proceedings.<\/p>\n
He walks away from court a free man, but the prosecution has already said they are pursuing a fresh trial.<\/p>\n
Dozens of women say he assaulted them, but statutes of limitation rules mean he was allowed to be tried for Ms Constand’s allegation only.<\/p>\n
The veteran entertainer could have faced up to a decade in prison if found guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault, which allegedly took place at his Philadelphia home 13 years ago.<\/p>\n
Announcing the decision, Pennsylvania judge Steven O’Neill reminded Mr Cosby that he remains charged and on bail, despite the mistrial.<\/p>\n
The BBC’s Aleem Maqbool, inside the courthouse, said Mr Cosby was expressionless when the decision was announced.<\/p>\n
One of Mr Cosby’s lawyers, Brian McMonagle, applauded the decision, saying: “The judge is right: justice is real.”<\/p>\n
“We came here looking for an acquittal. But like that Rolling Stone song says ‘you don’t always get what you want’. Sometimes you get what you need.”<\/p>\n
But a lawyer representing many of his accusers, Gloria Allred, said she was hoping the prosecution would push for a retrial.<\/p>\n
“We can never underestimate the blinding power of celebrity but justice will come. I hope that the prosecution will try this case again.”<\/p>\n
The jury had been instructed by the judge to work into the weekend to reach a verdict, after they first revealed that they were deadlocked on the case on Thursday.<\/p>\n
But the panel returned again on Saturday to tell the judge they were still deadlocked on all three counts.<\/p>\n
The mistrial will be seen as a blow to the dozens of women who have accused Mr Cosby of sexual assault, a number of whom were present in court last week awaiting the verdict.<\/p>\n
The accuser, Constand Andrea, took the stand during the trial, telling the court the assault had left her feeling “humiliated” by someone she considered a friend and mentor.<\/p>\n
Mr Cosby, who faces at least four separate civil lawsuits, refused to testify at the trial.<\/p>\n
Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"