The Pennsylvania judge who presided over Bill Cosby‘s sex assault has agreed to release the names of the jurors who weighed the funnyman’s fate before Saturday’s mistrial.
Montgomery County Court Justice Steven O’Neill ruled Wednesday that the names of the anonymous 12 jurors and 6 alternates who sat through the six-day trial — and 52-hours of deliberations — will soon be revealed.
O”Neill cited a possible “chilling effect” on new jurors as the reasoning behind his hesitant decision, and instructed the jurors they could not “disclose anything said or done in the jury room” by anyone other than themselves.
The voting breakdown remains unknown, and jurors are not allowed to share those numbers, the judge ruled.
The names will be released once each juror has been informed of the decision, according to court staff.
Cosby’s defense counsel had argued against the release of names.
The seven men and five women who were unable to unanimously conclude whether or not “America’s Dad” was guilty of drugging and sexually assaulting Temple University staffer Andrea Constand in January 2004 have remained in hiding since their return to Pittsburgh Saturday.
Only one alternate, Mike McCloskey, has spoken publicly about his experience, saying the result left him “sick.”
“I would have probably voted to convict,” he told Pittsburgh’s “DVE Morning Show” Monday. “She’s just looking for justice,” he added of Constand.
McCloskey also detailed an eerie bus ride as the sequestered panel was bused the 300 miles from Norristown, PA to Pittsburgh–during which no one spoke.
As The Post exclusively reported, Cosby repeatedly reminded those around him throughout the proceeding: “I only need one.”
The Montgomery County DA’s office has anywhere between 120 to 365 days to re-launch their case against the 79-year-old comedian.