June 5th will mark the commencement of Bill Cosby’s sexual assault trial, and on that day his fate will be placed into the hands 12 jurors–10 white and 2 black.
In total, the jury includes four white women, six white men, one black woman, and one black man, and in a trial where both gender and race will likely play a key part in interpretation, the selection is significant.
Late Tuesday, before jurors were finalized, Cosby’s attorneys argued that a majority white jury would be biased against their client given the nature of the trial and his alleged victims.
The objection came when prosecutors blocked an African-american woman who once served as a detective on the Pittsburgh police force.
“We believe this is a systematic exclusion of African-Americans who answered that they could be objective,” said Brian J. McMonagle, one of Cosby’s attorneys.
The 79-year old Cosby is accused of luring Andrea Costand, a former staffer at Temple University, to his home in Elkins Park in 2004 under false pretenses.
According to prosecutors, Cosby gave Costand three blue pills and wine, and proceeded to sexually assault her as she became unresponsive.
Cosby has plead not guilty to three counts of felony aggravated assault
Jurors will now travel from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia to be sequestered at the trial, expected to last two weeks.
