Alternate Juror In Bill Cosby Trial 'Probably' Would Have Voted Guilty

An alternate juror in Bill Cosby’s sexual assault trial said Monday he “probably” would have voted guilty if given the chance.

Mike McCloskey, one of six alternate jurors chosen for the nearly two-week trial, discussed his experience in an interview with Pittsburgh radio station WDVE.

“I would have probably convicted, based on the evidence that I heard,” said McCloskey.

A Common Pleas judge in Norristown, Pennsylvania, on Saturday declared a mistrial in the sexual assault case against the 79-year-old entertainer after jurors were unable to reach a unanimous verdict. As an alternate juror, McCoskey listened to the six days of testimony with regular members of the panel, but was dismissed prior to deliberations. 

Cosby is accused of drugging and molesting Andrea Constand, former director of operations for Temple University’s women’s basketball team, in his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004. 

McCoskey said the mistrial declaration was “really sad” for Constand.

“If you were to have seen Andrea Constand’s mom on the stand, she would have blown you away,” McCoskey told the WDVE hosts. “She would have made you almost cry. ... I wanted to get up and clap for this lady. That’s how good she was.”

The mistrial followed nearly 52 hours of jury deliberation. The jury included seven men and five women. All members of the panel, including the alternates, were chosen in Allegheny County the opposite side of Pennsylvania to avoid pretrial publicity.

After declaring a mistrial, the judge thanked jurors for their service and told them not to talk publicly about their deliberations, according to The New York Times.

McCoskey said he was “ridiculously sick” when he found out the jury was deadlocked. He said he had hoped to learn more about the deliberations on Saturday, when all of the jurors, including the alternates, left Norristown together for the ride back to western Pennsylvania.

“I thought there would be a lot of chatter on the bus ride home,” said McCloskey. “Nobody wanted to talk about it. It was complete silence. It was the craziest, eeriest bus ride I’ve ever taken.”

Prosecutors said they intend to retry the case.

“She has to go through it all over again,” McCloskey said of Constand. “She has nothing really financially to gain from this. She’s just looking for justice I believe.”

Listen to the full WDVE interview with Mike McCoskey below: