Bill Cosby trial: Potential issues in jury selection
Bill Cosby is in court as jury selection begins in the sexual assault trial with accuser Andrea Constand. Here are some potential issues facing the selection
PITTSBURGH – Jury selection in Bill Cosby's sexual assault trial resumed Tuesday, and five more jurors were selected by the afternoon, bringing the total number of jurors to 11.
The 11 jurors are eight men and three women. All are white, except for one African American female.
Lawyers will continue to question Pittsburgh-area residents this week until they find a panel of 12 jurors and six alternates in a case that has attracted worldwide publicity.
Cosby arrived at court Tuesday for the second day of jury selection.
A third of the initial jury pool interviewed Monday said they already had an opinion about Cosby's guilt or innocence, and an equal number said they or someone close to them had been sexually assaulted.
The judge asked 42 people from yesterday's jury pool of 100 to return. An additional 80 jurors were called to report for jury duty Tuesday.
The lawyers are studying each person's race, sex, age, occupation and interests to try to guess their inherent sympathies, experts said. Cosby, in an interview last week, said he thinks race "could be" a motivating factor in the accusations against him.
The actor-comedian once known as America's Dad for his beloved portrayal of Dr. Cliff Huxtable on "The Cosby Show" is charged with drugging and molesting a Temple University women's basketball team manager at his home near Philadelphia in 2004. He has called the encounter consensual.
Dozens of other women have made similar accusations against Cosby, 79, but Judge Steven T. O'Neill is allowing only one of them to testify at the June 5 trial in suburban Philadelphia. The jury from Pittsburgh will be sequestered nearly 300 miles from home.
The jurors' names, ages and occupations were being kept private. Two of the men selected said they or someone close to them had been sexually assaulted, but they insisted they could judge the case fairly.
The case against Cosby has attracted worldwide publicity that the judge hopes to shield from jurors during the trial. Cosby has said he does not expect to testify.
The trial will take place in Norristown in Montgomery County, where Cosby had invited Andrea Constand to his home in 2004. Constand said she went seeking career advice. She said Cosby gave her wine and pills that put her in a stupor before molesting her on his couch.
Constand was 30 and dating a woman at the time, while Cosby was 66 and long married to wife Camille. Cosby in sworn testimony has said he put his hand down Constand's pants, but said she did not protest.
Fox News does not typically identify people who say they are the victims of sexual assault unless they come forward, as Constand has done.
Cosby was arrested Dec. 30, 2015, days before the 12-year statute of limitations expired. He has pleaded not guilty and remains free on $1 million bail.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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