DO OVER

Bill Cosby Sexual Abuse Civil Jury Must Restart Trial Monday

A judge ordered the jury to start over on Monday after he promised one juror that she wouldn’t have to return after Friday due to a personal conflict.

The Los Angeles County jury in a civil trial investigating sexual abuse allegations against Bill Cosby had deliberated for two days this week and was almost ready to deliver their final decisions on Friday when the judge ordered them to start over on Monday. Judge Craig Karlan said the decision came after he promised one juror that she could go home due to a personal conflict after the trial was supposed to end Friday, but the courtroom was forced to close before he accepted the jurors’ verdict on the majority of questions. Unwilling to go back on his promise, Karlan instead ordered the jury to start the two-week trial from scratch with a different juror in her place on Monday, even though the jury was ready to deliver a decision on eight out of nine questions, the last being whether Cosby’s actions should result in punitive damages. Cosby, 84, is on trial to determine whether he should be held liable for allegedly sexually assaulting a then 16-year-old Judy Huth at the Playboy Mansion in 1975, which he has repeatedly denied.