The judge who presided over Bill Cosby’s sexual assault trial on Wednesday ordered the public release of the identities of the jurors who deadlocked in the case, but warned them not to divulge what other jurors said during deliberations.
Judge Steven O’Neill granted a request by a dozen media organizations, including The Associated Press and the major TV networks, to release the names. He said the jurors would first be contacted and given instructions on what they can and cannot say if they talk to reporters.
The judge declared a mistrial Saturday after the jury deliberated for 52 hours without a verdict. Prosecutors plan to retry the 79-year-old entertainer on charges he drugged and molested a woman at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004. Cosby said the encounter with Andrea Constand was consensual.
Lawyers for news outlets had argued that jurors’ names should be public to ensure transparency in the judicial process. Prosecutors and defense lawyers had argued they should remain secret, saying releasing them would make it more difficult to select a jury in Cosby’s second trial.
O’Neill cited the media’s First Amendment rights and Supreme Court precedent in ordering the release of the names. But he forbade jurors from talking about what other members of the jury said in the deliberating room or from revealing any votes cast in the case.