Mistrial Declared In Bill Cosby’s Criminal Trial As Jury Deadlocks

NORRISTOWN, Pennsylvania (CNN) — The judge in the Bill Cosby trial declared a mistrial Saturday after the jury failed to reach a verdict in the case. The jurors — five women and seven men — were unable to come to a unanimous decision in a courtroom battle closely watched by the public as well as dozens of women who have accused Cosby of similar misconduct in the past. Cosby faced three charges of aggravated indecent assault.

Here are the latest developments following the mistrial:

• Prosecutors announced they will retry the case.

• A spokeswoman for the comedian read a statement from his wife, Camille Cosby, who criticized prosecutors, the judge and the media.

• Her statement read: “How do I describe the District Attorney? Heinously and exploitively ambitious. How do I describe the judge? Overtly and arrogantly collaborating with the District Attorney. How do I describe the counsels for the accusers? Totally unethical. How do I describe many, but not all, general media? Blatantly vicious entities that continually disseminated intentional omissions of truths for the primary purpose of greedily selling sensationalism at the expense of a human life.”

• Attorney Gloria Allred, who represents many of Cosby’s accusers, said she hopes the court will allow other “prior bad act witnesses” to testify at the next trial. “If the court allows more accusers to testify … it might make a difference. In other words, it’s too early to celebrate Mr. Cosby.”

• Linda Kirkpatrick, one of the accusers who stood with Allred outside the courthouse, said of Cosby, “He thought he could bury us. He didn’t know we were seeds. We are sprouting up. We are looking for reform, uncovering the rape culture in this country where victims are blamed and shamed.”

• Angela Agrusa, a member of Cosby’s legal team, said outside court: “This is what happens. Juries are stuck when a prosecutor seeks to put someone in prison for things that are simply not presented in the courtroom. And the jury stuck to what they were asked to do and that is to review the evidence before them and there simply wasn’t enough.”

• At a news conference, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said prosecutors will “evaluate and review our case” and retry Cosby. “Our plan is to move this case forward as soon as possible,” he said. He expressed disappointment over the mistrial, praised the “extraordinary sacrifices’ of the jury and said a “good outcome” of the trial was that two Cosby accusers “got to face the defendant in court.”