A jury was selected Wednesday for comedian Bill Cosby’s June 5 trial.
The full panel of 12 jurors and six alternates was seated after three days of jury selection in Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County.
The jury is composed of four white women, six white men, one black woman and one black man. The alternates include four white men, one black woman and one black man.
The case will start June 5 about 300 miles away in Montgomery County, north of Philadelphia, where the criminal charges were filed. The jurors will be bused to Montgomery County and sequestered in a hotel for the length of the trial.
Cosby, 79, is charged with three counts of felony aggravated indecent assault from a 2004 case involving Andrea Constand, an employee at his alma mater, Temple University.
He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Cosby, dressed Wednesday in a blue suit, appeared the most relaxed he has been throughout jury selection.
Cosby didn’t talk to reporters after the first two days, but he did after court adjourned.
“I just want to be very specific about the wonderful people Allegheny County and I also want to also thank the sheriff’s department, because they made everything very very smooth here,” he said.
He walked away and some reporters asked questions about the case.
Judge Steven O’Neill dismissed one seated juror with the agreement of both sides. No reason was given, but that juror had previously disclosed his youngest sister was the victim of a sexual assault. That male juror was replaced with a woman who has a young child.
Two alternate jurors said they had close family members who were victims of sexual crimes. Both said the crimes wouldn’t affect their verdict in this case.
One alternate, a white man in his 50s, said he hasn’t read or heard anything about Cosby’s criminal case in the last two years.
Defense lawyers had complained not enough minorities were seated on the jury. When asked about that after court, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele told reporters “it’s a terrific jury made up of people from all demographics, all over Allegheny county.”
More than 50 women have come forward in recent years to accuse Cosby of sexual misconduct over the decades, but this is the only criminal trial he has faced. The judge ruled that only one additional accuser may testify against Cosby.
Many of the women allege he drugged and sexually assaulted them.
Cosby has said he will not testify in his defense at the trial. If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to 30 years in prison.
