Connect with us

Published

on

Advertisement

Bill Cosby will walk out of a Pennsylvania state prison a free man, after the Pennsylvania State Supreme Court issued an opinion to vacate his conviction. The former comedian had appealed to the court in December when his lawyers argued that Cosby’s entire life was put on trial that caused him to suffer unquantifiable prejudice.

The Supreme Court agreed to review two aspects of the case that Cosby’s lawyers challenged. The first involved the judge’s decision to let prosecutors call five other accusers. The other examined Cosby’s argument that he had an agreement with a former prosecutor that he’d never be charged.

Advertisement

The 83-year-old has been in SCI Phoenix, a state prison outside of Philadelphia, after a jury convicted him in 2018 of three aggravated indecent assault counts—and the court deemed the elderly inmate a ‘sexually violent predator’ for posing an ‘imminent safety risk to women.’

Loading

Advertisement

Bill Cosby

EXPLAINER: Why Bill Cosby’s conviction was overturned

Published

on

By

Advertisement

PHILADELPHIA — Bill Cosby’s sexual assault conviction was thrown out Wednesday by Pennsylvania’s highest court in a ruling that swiftly freed the actor from prison more than three years after he was found guilty of drugging and molesting Temple University employee Andrea Constand at his suburban Philadelphia mansion.

Cosby, 83, was the first celebrity tried and convicted in the #MeToo era, and his conviction was seen as a turning point in the movement to hold powerful men accountable for sexual misconduct.

Here’s a look at the case against Cosby and the court’s decision:

WHY DID THE COURT TOSS HIS CONVICTION?

The split court found that Cosby was unfairly prosecuted because the previous district attorney had promised the comedian once known as “America’s Dad” that he wouldn’t be charged over Constand’s accusations. Cosby was charged by another prosecutor who claimed he wasn’t bound by that agreement.

The court said that’s not the case. The justices found that Cosby relied on that promise when he agreed to testify without invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in a lawsuit brought against him by Constand.

The court concluded that prosecutor who later brought the charges was obligated to stick to the nonprosecution agreement, so the conviction cannot stand. The justices wrote that “denying the defendant the benefit of that decision is an affront to fundamental fairness, particularly when it results in a criminal prosecution that was foregone for more than a decade.”

WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH THE NONPROSECUTION AGREEMENT?

The promise not to prosecute Cosby was made in 2005 by Bruce Castor, who was then the top prosecutor for Montgomery County. Castor was also on the legal team that defended former President Donald Trump during his historic second impeachment trial over the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.

During a court hearing weeks after Cosby’s 2015 arrest, Castor testified that he promised Cosby he wouldn’t be prosecuted in the hopes that it would persuade the actor to testify in a civil case brought by Constand and allow her to win damages. Castor acknowledged the only place the matter was put in writing was in the 2005 press release announcing his decision not to prosecute, but said his decision was meant to shield Cosby from prosecution “for all time.”

His successor noted, during the appeal arguments, that Castor went on to say in the press release that he could revisit the decision in the future.

Castor had said that Constand’s case would be difficult to prove in court because she waited a year to come forward and stayed in contact with Cosby.

The first jurors who heard the case may have agreed with him, as they could not reach a verdict in 2017. But a second jury empaneled after the #MeToo movement exploded found him guilty at his 2018 retrial. Constand settled her civil case against Cosby for more than $3 million.

Advertisement

Castor’s successor, District Attorney Kevin Steele, charged Cosby in 2015 after a federal judge, acting on a request from The Associated Press, unsealed documents from her 2005 lawsuit against Cosby, revealing his damaging testimony about sexual encounters with Constand and others. Castor has said Cosby “would’ve had to have been nuts to say those things if there was any chance he could’ve been prosecuted.”

HOW RARE IS THIS?

Extremely rare.

Wesley Oliver, a Pennsylvania law professor who has followed Cosby’s case closely over the years, said he has never heard of a high court in Pennsylvania or anywhere else grappling with a prosecutor’s informal promise not to prosecute.

“It breaks new ground entirely,” said Oliver, who teaches at Duquesne University School of Law in Pittsburgh. “It sets precedent not just for Pennsylvania but probably other states.”

He said the ruling should drive home to prosecutors the risks of suggesting at news conferences, in press releases or verbally in private that they will not prosecute.

“They should at least add three words — ‘at this time,’” he said. “If you add that qualifier, which wasn’t done in Cosby’s case, you should be good to go,” Oliver said.

CAN COSBY BE TRIED AGAIN?

It’s highly unlikely. The decision on Wednesday bars Cosby from being tried again over Constand’s complaint, finding it to be the “only remedy that comports with society’s reasonable expectations of its elected prosecutors and our criminal justice system.”

And the accusations raised by dozens of other women, including the five who testified at his 2018 trial, often go back decades and are most likely too remote to prosecute.

Cosby turns 84 next month. However, his lawyer said he remains in good health, except for vision problems that render him legally blind.

The trial judge deemed him a sexually violent predator who could still pose a danger to women given his wealth, power and fame, and ordered that he be on a lifetime sex offender registry and check in monthly with authorities. However, the decision negates that finding.

Loading

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Advertisement
Crime36 mins ago

WATCH: White House Press Briefing

Crime39 mins ago

Five Children Killed After 16-Year-Old Unlicensed Driver Wrecks Vehicle

Crime1 hour ago

XXXTentacion’s Grandma Reacts to Guilty Verdict in Rapper’s Tragic Murder

Crime2 hours ago

‘A MONSTER OF A HUMAN BEING.’ | Ex-Cop Sentenced For Sex Abuse Of Teen Boys In D.A.R.E. Program

Crime2 hours ago

WATCH LIVE: Gwyneth Paltrow Ski Crash Trial — Sanderson v. Paltrow — Day Two

Crime2 hours ago

VERDICT WATCH: Obsessed Ex-Boyfriend Murder Trial — WI v. Zachariah Anderson – Day Two

Crime3 hours ago

Watch Live: Killer Teen Sentencing — FL v. Aiden Fucci — Day Two

Crime3 hours ago

WATCH LIVE: Ice Cream Man Double Murder Retrial — FL v. Michael Keetley — Day 13

Crime3 hours ago

Video: 6ix9ine Kicked And Punched On By A Group Of Men Inside A LA Fitness In South Florida

Crime4 hours ago

Shooting On Westmoreland Claims The Life of Two Young Men; Man Charges Upgraded To Murder

Crime5 hours ago

Shooting On Westmoreland Claims The Life of Two Men; Man Charges Upgraded To Murder

Crime6 hours ago

Texas Woman Delivered Baby In Toilet, Left Newborn In Bucket

Crime14 hours ago

‘She Has Coke’: South Carolina Deputies Chase Suspect Through the Woods After Car Crash

Crime15 hours ago

Popular TikTok Personality Jehane Thomas Dead at Age 30

Crime15 hours ago

‘She Just Bolts’: Gwyneth Paltrow Left Ski Crash Scene Without Giving Name, Witness Claims

Crime16 hours ago

Man, Woman Indicted On Conspiracy To Commit Sex Trafficking By Force, Fraud, Coercion In Kentucky

Crime16 hours ago

XXXTentacion Murder Case: Rising Rap Star Killed in Cold Blood — The Full Story

Crime17 hours ago

Beloved 75-Year-Old MLB Stadium Greeter Was Murdered And Dumped In Container, Police Say

Crime17 hours ago

Slain Cheerleader’s 114 Stab Wounds Detailed During Killer Aiden Fucci’s Sentencing

Crime18 hours ago

Amtrak Train With Dozens Of Passengers Derails Near Port Costa, California

Covid-191 year ago

Nurse Whistleblower Breaks Down, Cries in LIVE Tell-All Interview

Proud Boys2 years ago

Proud Boys fighting Antifa in Portland… Raw

Crime9 months ago

Denton Doc’s Bail Bondsman Arrested After Kicking In Woman’s Front Door Without A Warrant

John McAfee2 years ago

Watch: Mysterious McAfee Q message posted 30 minutes after his death… John McAfee…. The DEEPSTATE

Missing1 year ago

AT LEAST NINE BODIES DISCOVERED DURING MANHUNTS IN PETITO CASE

Crime2 years ago

WATCH: Man Dies After Being Filmed Hanging Off Sky Ride at Amusement Park

Crime2 years ago

Multiple Walt Disney Employees Among 17 Suspects Arrested in Undercover Child Predator Operation

Crime11 months ago

VIDEO: Man Sought In Murder Investigation Is Shot Dead By Police During Foot Chase In Cincinnati

Crime2 years ago

Family of 3, along with dog, found dead in forest in Mariposa County

News2 years ago

Texas Dem Who CNN Touted as a “Voting Hero” Was Just Arrested For Voter Fraud

George Floyd2 years ago

George Floyd Statues in Brooklyn and Newark Painted Black

Crime1 year ago

VIDEO: Woman Fatally Shot After Stabbing Cop Serving Eviction Notice

Election 20202 years ago

Postal Employee Admits Dumping Mail, Including Election Ballots Sent to West Orange Residents

Viral Video1 year ago

BREAKING: POLICE GIVE UPDATE ON WISCONSIN TRAGEDY, CONFIRMS ‘MULTIPLE FATALITIES’ INCLUDING CHILDREN

Wanted11 months ago

WANTED: Police searching for suspect in Queens killing

Crime2 years ago

Arizona State Senator Resigns Following Arrest on Seven Felony Child Sex Abuse Charges

Car Accident1 year ago

9 Dead, Including 6 Students And A Coach, In Crash Involving University Of The Southwest Golf Teams

Election 20202 years ago

HUGE new evidence pointing to massive voter fraud in Fulton County

Crime6 months ago

Female Officer Gets Shot By Suspect During Chase But She Still Manages To Fatally Shoot Him While On The Ground

Crime2 years ago

Attempted kidnapping of 11-year-old girl caught by surveillance camera in West Pensacola

Crime6 months ago

Female Officer Gets Shot By Suspect During Chase But She Still Manages To Fatally Shoot Him While On The Ground

Wanted11 months ago

WANTED: Police searching for suspect in Queens killing

Crime11 months ago

VIDEO: Man Sought In Murder Investigation Is Shot Dead By Police During Foot Chase In Cincinnati

Car Accident1 year ago

9 Dead, Including 6 Students And A Coach, In Crash Involving University Of The Southwest Golf Teams

Crime1 year ago

VIDEO: Woman Fatally Shot After Stabbing Cop Serving Eviction Notice

hate crime1 year ago

Video of black suspect beating elderly Asian woman in Yonkers, New York

Viral Video1 year ago

VIDEO: Mentally Deranged Man Starts Stabbing Employees At NYC Museum Of Modern Art! (*Disturbing Footage*)

Crime1 year ago

83-year-old Transgender Serial Killer Arrested for Hiding Body Parts

Crime1 year ago

Killed A Customer: Handyman Charged With Murder After Woman’s Body Found In Septic Tank!

Attempted Murder1 year ago

Former UFC Champion Cain Velasquez Charged With Attempted Murder After Shooting At Suspected Child Molester!

Uncategorized1 year ago

WATCH : 17 people executed in broad daylight (Graphic Video)

Crime1 year ago

SEE IT: Off-Duty Officers Go At It With An Armed Driver Outside Of A Bar

Crime1 year ago

Pennsylvania Uber Driver & Mother Of Four Pleaded For Her Life Before Being Shot In The Head … Suspect Arrested!

Assault1 year ago

FLORIDA: Man arrested after shooting dog in the face in Holiday

Crime1 year ago

VIDEO: Knife Wielding Hostage Taker Gunned Down By New Jersey Police

Crime1 year ago

VIDEO: Man dripping in sanitizer catches into flames after getting tased by police in New York

Crime1 year ago

VIDEO: Austin police officer punch woman resisting in the head

Assault1 year ago

Video: Burger King employee beaten over slow service in Brooklyn

Crime1 year ago

New Shocking Video in Fatal Burlington Store Shooting of 14-Year-Old Released

Crime1 year ago

Man destroys merchandise, tries setting Palm City 7-Eleven on fire

Trending

Copyright © 2021 Trending Crime by TSD