NORRISTOWN, Pa. _ The jury in Bill Cosby's sexual assault trial continued for a third day of deliberations Wednesday, after a marathon 16 hours of debate over the past two days.
The panel of seven men and five women returned to the jury room in the Montgomery County Courthouse just after 9 a.m. to resume wrestling with a decision that the judge said had left them exhausted the night before. By noon, they had not emerged with any new questions, and had placed a lunch order with court staff.
Meanwhile, a crowd of reporters and onlookers from as far away as Canada and Europe set up camp awaiting any news of a decision. One Norristown man even brought a recliner to sit outside the courthouse and wait for a verdict.
Inside, four other women who have accused Cosby of sexual assault sat waiting near the courtroom where the trial unfolded. It was not clear whether Andrea Constand, Cosby's accuser, was at the courthouse Wednesday. She had been present during the first two days of deliberations.
Tuesday night, Montgomery County Judge Steven T. O'Neill released the jurors just after 9:30 p.m. after they had spent 12 hours cloistered behind closed doors, emerging only briefly throughout the day asking to rehear bits of earlier testimony from Cosby and a Canadian detective who in 2005 had taken the first police statement of Constand. At one point midday, the group had asked O'Neill to clarify the meaning of "without her knowledge," one of the elements of the aggravated indecent assault charge against the Cosby.
Also Tuesday, Cosby's spokesman lobbed an explosive allegation _ that the entertainer's trial had been rigged _ in full view of the media throng.
"This court has not given (Cosby) a fair and impartial trial," declared Andrew Wyatt, who has been at Cosby's side for much of the trial. "That's all we were looking for. Just a fair shot."
Despite stating that the 79-year-old entertainer still had confidence in the jury and remained hopeful about its decision, the spokesman made clear his assertion would be part of an appeal if Cosby is convicted of drugging and assaulting Constand in 2004.
His primary complaint? O'Neill's decision Monday to bar the defense from calling what would have been one of its only witnesses, Marguerite Jackson, a Temple University academic adviser who said Constand once described how she could frame "a high-profile" person on accusations that he had sexually assaulted her.
Constand testified last week that she did not recall knowing the woman. Her lawyer, Dolores Troiani, called Jackson's claims a fabrication.
"This is absolutely not true," Troiani said. "The slander doesn't stop."
Constand, a 44-year-old Canadian massage therapist and former employee of the Temple University women's basketball program, has alleged that Cosby drugged and assaulted her in 2004 at his Cheltenham mansion.
Prosecutors have portrayed Constand as a brave victim seeking justice. Cosby's lawyers, meanwhile, allege that she is a former lover who fabricated her account in a bid to extort their client for money.
If convicted, Cosby faces up to 10 years in prison on three counts of aggravated indecent assault.
