PITTSBURGH — The panel that will decide Bill Cosby’s fate in his sex assault trial began to take shape Monday with the selection of five jurors, three white men and two white women.
The search for 12 jurors and six alternates got off to a brisk start. Experts believe lawyers on both sides will be considering race, sex, age, occupation and interests of potential jurors.
The actor-comedian once known as America’s Dad for his 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 calls their encounter consensual.
Dozens of other women have made similar accusations against Cosby, and the judge is allowing only one of them to testify at the June 5 trial in suburban Philadelphia. The jury from Pittsburgh will be sequestered nearly 480 km from home.
Cosby has said he thinks race “could be” a motivating factor in the accusations lodged against him.
The jurors’ names, ages and occupations were being kept private. The oldest person chosen for the panel was perhaps in his 70s and, like Cosby, uses a cane. The youngest was a young man with a hipster style. He and a middle-aged man selected said they or someone close to them had been sexually assaulted, but they insisted they could judge the case fairly. That’s sometimes harder than it seems, one law professor said.
However, one-third of the jury pool questioned Monday said they, a family member or friend had been a sex assault victim.
“Statistically, that would be accurate in our society, sadly, that we have that level of sexual misconduct,” said Laurie Levenson, a Loyola Law School professor. “Can we trust them (to be fair)? That’s really the question. … Sometimes it’s not so easy. It’s one thing to set aside intellectually what you know, but it’s another to set it aside emotionally.”
One-third of the potential jurors questioned Monday said they’ve formed opinions about Cosby’s guilt or innocence, while the majority said it would be difficult to spend several weeks sequestered across the state.
The case against Cosby has attracted worldwide publicity that the judge hopes to shield from jurors during the trial.
“No one should make an effort to be on this jury, and no one should make an effort to not be on this jury,” Judge Steven T. O’Neill told the group.
Cosby, who entered the courtroom on the arm of an aide, using a cane and carrying a box of tissues, conferred with his three lawyers at the defence table.
Lead lawyer Brian McMonagle had earlier said he hoped an unbiased jury could be found fairly quickly. He said Cosby was “looking forward” to getting the process started. Cosby has said he does not expect to testify.
The defence had used four strikes to keep someone off the jury by Monday afternoon, while the prosecution had used two. Each side can strike seven people from the jury and three alternates.
The trial will take place in Norristown in Montgomery County, where Cosby had invited Andrea Constand to his home in 2004.