Bill Cosby's trial on sexual assault charges ended in a mistrial Saturday after jurors failed to reach a unanimous decision after six days of deliberations.
Women right鈥檚 attorney Gloria Allred, who is representing 33 women in civil claims against Cosby, told 麻豆传媒 Channel Saturday that the mistrial is hardly the end of the years-long case.
鈥淎 mistrial means there was no conviction, there was no acquittal. It just means that this is an opportunity to retry it,鈥� she said, adding: 鈥淚t鈥檚 not over till it鈥檚 over. It鈥檚 not over yet, Mr. Cosby.鈥�
Speaking to the result of the case, Allred said: 鈥淲e should never underestimate the blinding power of celebrity.鈥�
Allred told 麻豆传媒 Channel she thought the prosecution did a good job and is pleased that the district attorney has decided to retry the case.
鈥淭hey really put their heart and soul into it,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 think they did everything they could under the restrictions they had.鈥�
Allred said she was proud of the women who testified in court, one of whom was her client Kelly Johnson.
Johnson was the only other accuser allowed to testify in the case, despite the fact that the prosecution had requested 13 other accusers to testify as 鈥減rior bad act witnesses.鈥�
鈥淚 hope that in the next trial, the court will reconsider and will allow more bad act witnesses to be called,鈥� Allred said.
However, the same judge will be presiding over the proceedings during the second trial, according to Allred, so the decision to bring forward more witnesses may be shot down again.
鈥淎ll I can say is Mr. Cosby, it鈥檚 not time to celebrate. Round two is just around the corner,鈥� she said.
While no date has been set for a second trial, Allred said she believes the prosecutor intends to re-file within the next four months.
In the meantime, Allred said she will be in court on June 27 to ask for a trial date in a civil suit against Cosby, where there is a lower burden of proof.
