PHILADELPHIA _ Acting on a petition from media organizations, a Montgomery County judge agreed Wednesday to unseal the names of the jurors at Bill Cosby's sexual-assault trial.
"The press has a qualified First Amendment right to the names of the jurors in this case," Judge Steven T. O'Neill wrote in his order. But he also reinforced a directive he gave to jurors last weekend not to discuss the deliberations that led to the entertainer's mistrial.
"Jurors shall not disclose arguments or comments made, or votes cast, by fellow jurors during deliberations," the judge wrote.
His ruling came after a Tuesday hearing on a petition by media organizations, led by Philadelphia Media Network, the parent company of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News and philly.com, to release the jurors' names.
O'Neill had declared the mistrial after the seven men and five women from Allegheny County were unable to reach a unanimous verdict in 52 hours of deliberations.
District Attorney Kevin R. Steele has vowed to retry Cosby on the same charges, and O'Neill cited the upcoming second trial at Tuesday's hearing as a reason to withhold juror names.
"Would it have a chilling effect on future jurors?" O'Neill said Tuesday. "We just don't know."
Steele argued against releasing the names, and Cosby's lawyer Brian McMonagle wrote in a letter to O'Neill that making juror names public "could prevent Mr. Cosby from getting a fair trial in the future."
The reason for the jury's deadlock _ or how many of them wanted to convict or acquit Cosby, remain unknown.
One of the six alternate jurors, who sat through the trial but did not participate in deliberations, spoke out Monday and said he would have convicted Cosby.
O'Neill has kept the names private since jury selection in Pittsburgh last month, where he assured jurors that he would work to protect their privacy.
A motion by the Philadelphia Media Network, parent company of the Inquirer, the Daily News, and philly.com, prompted him to reconsider. After the trial, other media organizations filed their own petitions to demand the release of jurors' names.
"If a juror were to be asked about deliberations and there were to be press coverage about those deliberations, I don't see what marginal difference that would make given that the prosecution and the defense have spoken publicly about this case, including evidence that was not heard in court," said Eli Segal of Pepper Hamilton LLP, who represented the media companies at Tuesday's hearing. "What exactly are we afraid of here?"
