PITTSBURGH -- The jury that will hear the sex-assault case against actor Bill Cosby will include two blacks among its 12 members.
Prosecutors and the defense team Wednesday also chose six alternate jurors, two of them black.
"It's a terrific jury made up of people of all demographics," Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said. "We're past this nonsense about the optics and things."
Cosby's lawyers had complained this week that prosecutors were trying to keep blacks off the jury with their seven strikes. The judge, though, found that prosecutors had other valid reasons to strike two black women from the jury pool earlier this week. The jury makeup of 17 percent is higher than the 13 percent black population in Allegheny County.
Cosby thanked local officials and fans as he left the Pittsburgh courthouse Wednesday evening, including "all of the people who have come to see my shows."
The 79-year-old black actor-comedian known for his portrayal of the beloved Dr. Cliff Huxtable on The Cosby Show, is accused of drugging and molesting a Temple University women's basketball team manager at his home near Philadelphia in 2004. He has called the encounter consensual.
Dozens of other women have made similar accusations against Cosby, 79, but the judge is allowing only one of them to testify. The jury from Pittsburgh will be sequestered nearly 300 miles from home.
Half of the people in the jury pool being questioned Wednesday said they had formed opinions on his guilt or innocence, and one person knew Cosby or his family. One-third of the jury pool members said they were likely to believe police testimony, nearly one-fourth had been convicted of crimes and nearly one-fifth said someone close to them had been sexually assaulted.
The defense raised concerns about the racial makeup of the jury Tuesday when only one black was seated among the first 11 jurors. The initial jury pool had 16 blacks among 100 people.
However, six were dismissed on the basis of their answers on questionnaires. Others were sent home after being questioned individually about various problems or conflicts. And several had relatives who were crime victims, one had an ill spouse and one man said he had no one to watch his dog.
Cosby, in an interview last week, said race could be a motivating factor in the accusations against him.
The trial will take place in Montgomery County, where Cosby had invited Andrea Constand to his home in 2004. Constand said she went to his home seeking career advice. She said Cosby gave her wine and pills that put her in a stupor and then he molested her on his couch.
Cosby has said he does not expect to testify in the trial.
Cosby was arrested Dec. 30, 2015, days before the 12-year statute of limitations on the crimes he's accused of expired.
A Section on 05/25/2017