The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has overturned Bill Cosby’s 2019 sexual assault conviction, ruling that a “non-prosecution agreement” with a previous prosecutor should have prevented him from being charged in the case.
The 83-year-old comedian has served more than two years of a three-to-10 year sentence in a state prison in Montgomery County, after his conviction on charges he drugged and molested Temple University employee Andrea Constand in 2004.
He was recently denied parole, in part, over his refusal to admit guilt or acknowledge any remorse for crimes he maintains he did not commit.
I have never changed my stance nor my story. I have always maintained my innocence.
Thank you to all my fans, supporters and friends who stood by me through this ordeal. Special thanks to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court for upholding the rule of law. #BillCosby pic.twitter.com/bxELvJWDe5— Bill Cosby (@BillCosby) June 30, 2021
The case had a complicated history that began in 2005 when Constand first reported the alleged assault to then-Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce L. Castor Jr., who ultimately declined to file charges in this case.
But Castor’s successors reopened the case and charged Cosby in 2015, just days before the 12-year statute of limitations expired and amid a barrage of new accusations from women across the country.
At the time, Castor objected to the new prosecution, saying he’d struck a deal with Cosby and his lawyers not to prosecute him for Constand’s assault if Cosby agreed to sit for a deposition in a civil case she had filed against him.
Related Story: How did Bill Cosby’s conviction overturn happen? Legal experts weigh in
Excerpts from that deposition were ultimately used against Cosby at trial
He was charged in late 2015, when a prosecutor armed with newly unsealed evidence — Cosby’s damaging deposition from her lawsuit — arrested him days before the 12-year statute of limitations expired.
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Harvey Weinstein and Chislaine Maxwell called and they want the phone number of Cosby’s attorney.
Pity Britney spears doesn’t have these attorney’s…
Certainly this sexual predator has more women yet to accuse that can put him away for good and off the streets that he shares with our exposed women? He and O.J. are laughing at us up their sleeves. Lady Justice just got drugged and disrobed by a guy whose idea of putting women up on pedestals is put them on stage with a dance pole., I’ll bet the stuff on his laptop would shame even Hunter Biden,,,,well, maybe not.
A crooked prosecutor and a political dumpster fire is why Cosby is out of jail. There are some good articles out there that explain the legal ins and outs of this. Now there will be civil suits so anybody weeping over this should rest easy. He will still be punished.
The first prosecutor promised not to prosecute Cosby if he gave testimony, so he did. Then the second one ran for office on the promise that she would break the first promise and convict him. The #MeToo voters elected her because she would break the first deal. Legal promises are binding on the office not the liberal who wins the next election.
The court did the right thing as unsavory as it may be, especially to the #MeToo crowd. With the amount of political prosecutions going on now we better be glad there are still a few honest judges. There is a reason that prosecutors are supposed to be honest.
Think of all the Trump campaign people who were hauled into court on trumped up charges and it’s still going on in NY right now. Think of the Jan. 6 prosecutions that are going on in federal courts now. An honest judge is the only hope these defendants have and there aren’t very many honest judges.
We could sure use some judges like this on the Supreme Court too instead of the cowards we have now.
judges are not bound by the “deals” prosecutors make. They are bound to the law, and the exercise of justice. cosby is a predator. He should remain in prison for the rest of his life. The original prosecutor who made the “deal” with him should join him in prison.
While i agree, IF A Deal is made, by a prosecutor for ‘testimony’ from a suspect, it SHOULD be honored.. Otherwise why should ANYONE in the future, ever take a ‘deal’ with prosecutors?
I like the “They Promised” loophole. It would never work for you or me, even if we were innocent.
It is sadly amusing how so many are high fiving each other like some sort of vindication has been achieved. He confessed to drugging and raping scores of women.
All we need is to show that he was verbally gruff with ONE trans person and he will be totally cancelled.
And it means nothing for a co-star to come out and basically say “He didn’t rape me so I support him!”
I guess it’s only human nature to see the process of law and order differently depending on who is involved.
The Left is working to put Donald Trump in prison right now. One of Trump’s associates just surrendered to NY authorities. His prosecutor will make a plea deal with him for information on Trump. We may see a day when we are thankful for judges who will insist on due process being conducted properly and prosecutors being held to account. I want to see that done in every case but that’s just me.
Some prosecutors see process dependent on who is the defendant and that’s what was done in Cosby’s case. Because there was a big political firestorm about #MeToo the new prosecutor cut corners and now the defendant is free.
Will a prosecutor cut corners if Trump is ever the defendant? You damn well betcha he will and then conservatives will want due process more than some want it now.
Justice is only just if the rules are followed in all cases.
VERy well said.
That is why there should be no such thing as plea deals. You are either tried for the crime you committed, or you are not changed at all. Plea deals are the way lawyers manipulate the justice system, and avoid being judged by a jury your peers.
I agree mostly. I’ve known the logic behind them for decades “YOU give us info on crook X, so we can arrest a bigger fish, and we will give you a lesser sentence.
WHat i do NOT like about them is when they do the “We will let you plea, so we don’t bog the courts down’..
Such a weirdo. I don’t think he’ll have much a life with all the additional claims likely to pile on.
I wonder, if the DA will push for a Retrial..?
O.J. now has someone to help him track down the killer of Nicole and Ron. Black Criminals Matter.