A juror in Bill Cosby's mistrial said he "flip-flopped" during the long deliberations but finally decided the comedian's own words showed he was guilty of sexual assault.
Bobby Dugan said the clincher came as the jury reviewed sworn statements Cosby gave about his 2004 encounter with Andrea Constand, who alleges that the star drugged and molested her while she was unable to give consent or resist.
"When they were asking him would you use the word consent and he said himself he wouldn't use that word — I was like, you really just got caught red-handed," Dugan told NBC News on Monday. "Why would you say that if you were trying to defend yourself?"
The jury heard two statements from Cosby: a 2005 police interview in which he said he didn't recall "using the word consensual" when describing what happened with Constand, and a deposition in her civil suit in which he admitted he did not verbally ask for permission to touch her after giving her pills "to relax.'
Not everyone on the jury agreed with Dugan's analysis. After 52 hours of deliberations, the Pennsylvania jury was hopelessly deadlocked, and the judge declared a mistrial.
The divisions on the panel ran deep. Another juror, who asked to remain anonymous, told NBC affiliate WPXI that he thought Cosby, 79, came across as "very honest" in the deposition and questioned Constand's account and motivations.
The seven men and five women were frustrated as they tried to reach a verdict in a small room at the Montgomery County Courthouse. At points, there were tears.
"Emotions are going to build up and sometimes you have to let them out, and that's what people did," Dugan said.
But, he said, a report that one juror slammed his hand into a wall was untrue. "That never happened unless I was completely oblivious," he said.
Heeding the judge's order, Dugan would not say how the jury voted at the outset and before it sent out two notes to the court saying it was at an impasse.
"I flip-flopped back and forth plenty of times," he said.
Prosecutors say they plan to retry Cosby, who pleaded not guilty to three counts of aggravated indecent assault and denies allegations of sexual misconduct by dozens of women.
Dugan said he thinks a sequel is a good idea.
"Whether the verdict is guilty or not guilty, you need that final nail in the coffin," he said.
Despite their differences, he and the other jurors became friends and plan to stay in touch. For now, though, he'd just like to stop answering questions about the case.
"I want to get back to sleeping," he said.
