After 30 hours of deliberation, jurors in the Bill Cosby sexual assault trial have announced that they are deadlocked.
The judge has case has instructed the jury to continue deliberating.
Cosby is on trial for allegedly raping Andrea Constand, a Temple University employee who claims Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her following an event at the college.
Cosby’s attorneys stated that they were considering calling the television icon to testify on his own behalf, but ultimately, they decided against it.
In the end, the top-dollar legal team took just six minutes to present Cosby’s case, calling just one witness to the stand.
More than 50 women have accused Cosby of some form of sexual misconduct.
In the majority of those cases, Cosby is protected from prosecution by statutes of limitations.
Cosby claims his sexual encounter with Constand was consensual, but if the jury believes her version of events over his, he’ll be subject to state and federal criminal laws and could face up to ten years in prison.
In disturbing testimony, Cosby described his encounter with Constand in oddly detached fashion:
“We began to pet. Touching and kissing with clothes on,” he stated in 2006 civil trial.
“I never intended to have full intercourse, like naked bodies, with Andrea … I don’t like it. I like the petting, the touching.”
Constand gave jurors a very different account, claiming that Cosby gave her drugs that left her paralyzed, and proceeded to take advantage of her while she was unable to resist.
The cause of the jury’s deadlock is unclear, but a foreman informed the judge this afternoon that he and his fellow jurors have been unable to reach a unanimous decision on the “three counts of aggravated indecent assault.”
Jude Steven O’Neill responded to the deadlock in a message to jurors issued moments ago:
“I am required to read you an instruction. The jury foreman has informed me that you are deadlocked,” O’Neill said.
“If you are still deadlocked you should report that to me. If you’ve reached a unanimous decision on some of the charges, please report that back to me.”
We’ll have further updates on this developing story as more information becomes available.