The Latest: Cosby judge turns down request to hear testimony

NORRISTOWN, Pa. – The Latest on the sexual assault trial of Bill Cosby (all times local):

4:50 p.m.

Jurors have started testing the patience of the judge in Bill Cosby’s sexual assault trial.

The panel outside Philadelphia has deliberated more than 45 hours without reaching a verdict on charges that Cosby drugged and molested a woman in 2004.

Jurors reviewed multiple pieces of testimony on Friday. But when they asked to hear a sliver of testimony they’d just had read back to them, Judge Steven O’Neill put his foot down. The judge told them they had to rely on their collective memory.

Jury deliberations have now lasted about as long as the prosecution and defence cases combined.

___

3:40 p.m.

The jury deliberating Bill Cosby’s fate at his Pennsylvania sexual assault trial is reviewing testimony from his accuser’s mother about a phone conversation she had with the TV star after the sexual encounter.

According to the testimony, Cosby called himself a “sick man” and refused to identify the pills he gave her daughter.

Jurors deliberated for a fifth day Friday, a day after telling the judge they were deadlocked and being instructed to keep trying to reach a verdict.

Cosby is charged with drugging and molesting Andrea Constand in 2004.

Jurors listened again to Cosby’s deposition testimony about giving quaaludes to women before sex in the 1970s.

Cosby says he gave Benadryl to Constand before their 2004 sexual encounter, but prosecutors suggest it was something stronger that left her incapacitated.

___

1:15 p.m.

The judge at Bill Cosby’s sexual assault trial is bristling at repeated defence requests for a mistrial as the jury asks to rehear yet more testimony on its fifth day of deliberations.

Judge Steven O’Neill said Friday that he’ll let jurors work as long as they want as they try resolving a deadlock that threatened to end the case without a verdict.

After a lunch break, jurors are expected to rehear testimony from accuser Andrea Constand and her mother about phone calls with Cosby.

O’Neill criticized the Cosby team for what he says is a “misperception that there’s a time limit” on how long deliberations can last.

Cosby lawyer Brian McMonagle argued the court was “being asked to review the entire trial” with the jury’s repeated requests to rehear testimony.

___

12:20 p.m.

Bill Cosby is thanking his fans and supporters as a jury considers sexual assault charges that could send him to prison for the rest of his life.

Cosby tweeted the message on Friday shortly after jurors asked to review his lurid testimony about giving quaaludes to women he wanted to have sex with. The 79-year-old TV star said in a 2006 deposition that he got seven prescriptions for the powerful sedative in the 1970s for the purpose of giving them to women before sex.

Cosby is charged with drugging and molesting a woman at his home in 2004. He has said he gave Benadryl to Andrea Constand before their sexual encounter. Prosecutors have suggested he might have given her quaaludes

Cosby says his sexual encounter with Constand was consensual.

___

11:15 a.m.

The jury in Bill Cosby’s sexual assault trial has listened again to the actor’s statements about giving quaaludes to women he wanted to have sex with.

Cosby said in a 2006 deposition that he got seven prescriptions for the powerful sedative in the 1970s. But he says he no longer had them when he met accuser Andrea Constand in 2002 at Temple University.

Quaaludes was a highly popular party drug in the 1970s that was banned in the U.S. in 1982.

Cosby has said he gave Constand the cold and allergy medicine Benadryl before their sexual encounter at his home in 2004. Prosecutors have suggested he might have given her quaaludes.

The jury is deliberating for a fifth day on Friday.

___

10:25 a.m.

The jury deliberating for a fifth day in Bill Cosby’s sexual assault trial is asking for a definition of reasonable doubt.

Jurors made the request a few minutes after resuming deliberations Friday.

The panel also asked to rehear parts of the 79-year-old comedian’s deposition testimony. He gave the deposition more than a decade ago as part of accuser Andrea Constand’s lawsuit against him.

Cosby is charged with drugging and molesting Constand at his home in 2004. He says it was consensual.

Judge Steven O’Neill says defence lawyers have made at least four requests for a mistrial as the deliberations have worn on. But he says he’ll let the jurors work as long as they want.

___

9:20 a.m.

Jurors in the Bill Cosby sexual assault trial have returned for a fifth day of deliberations.

They’ve deliberated nearly 40 hours since getting the case. The panel reported an impasse Thursday but was told by the judge to keep deliberating in hopes of reaching a verdict.

Cosby returned to the courthouse outside Philadelphia on Friday.

The 79-year-old entertainer is charged with drugging and molesting a woman at his home in 2004. He maintains that their sexual encounter was consensual.

___

12:50 a.m.

A new round of deliberations is raising the prospects that Bill Cosby’s sexual assault trial will end with a verdict instead of a hung jury.

Jurors will return for a fifth day of work Friday. They’ve been at it for nearly 40 hours since getting the case Monday.

The seven men and five women on the panel looked upbeat as they left court outside Philadelphia Thursday after Judge Steven O’Neill told them to keep working through a deadlock.

The 79-year-old Cosby is charged with three felony counts of aggravated indecent assault.

The charges stem from Andrea Constand’s allegations that he drugged and violated her at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004.

The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they grant permission, which Constand has done.