A mistrial has been declared in the sexual assault case of 79-year-old Bill Cosby, who's accused of drugging and raping Andrea Constand, a lesbian who met the actor and comedian when she worked for Temple University's women's basketball team.
Cosby walks for now, but Pennsylvania prosecutor Kevin Steele says he will retry the case. Cosby is also facing lawsuits from many of the 60 other women who have accused him of similar charges to Constand's.
The jury, consisting of seven men and five women, deliberated for 52 hours before telling Judge Steven O'Neill that they were hopelessly deadlocked on the three counts of aggravated indecent assault.
After O'Neill announced the mistrial, Constand was comforted by several other Cosby accusers. The actor left the courtroom quietly, though his publicist threw his fist in the air when they walked outside and greeted the phalanx of reporters.
Cosby, now legally blind, will have to endure another lawsuit; as will Constand and witnesses like Kelly Johnson, who testified for the prosecution that Cosby drugged and raped her in an L.A. hotel room in the 1990s. Cosby previously admitted to police that he gave women Benadryl, as Constand claims he did to her, and quaaludes, before attempting to have sex with them.
Once the paragon of family-friendly entertainment, the former star of The Cosby Show will likely never see his legacy recover, even he manages to avoid conviction in the next trial.
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