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Bill Cosby Judge Weighs Publicly Disclosing Jurors' Names

Matt Slocum
/
AP

The judge in the Bill Cosby case is weighing whether to publicly disclose the names of the jurors who convicted the comedian last week on sexual-assault charges.

Judge Steven O'Neill heard Tuesday from lawyers for The Associated Press and other news outlets, who cited a Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling that jurors' names should be made public under the First Amendment.

Prosecutors oppose releasing the names, citing privacy concerns. Cosby's lawyer didn't take a side.

The judge accused reporters of stalking jurors at their homes and bombarding them with phone calls since last week's verdict.

Media lawyer Paul Safier argues the public "has the right to know who made these momentous decisions."

The judge waited until news outlets intervened before releasing the jurors' names in Cosby's first trial, which ended in a hung jury.

The Associated Press is one of the largest and most trusted sources of independent newsgathering, supplying a steady stream of news to its members, international subscribers and commercial customers. AP is neither privately owned nor government-funded; instead, it's a not-for-profit news cooperative owned by its American newspaper and broadcast members.