Bill Cosby walks out of prison a free man after sexual assault conviction vacated | In the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s opinion released today, the justices wrote: “There is only one remedy that can completely restore Cosby to the status quo ante. He must be discharged, and any future prosecution on these particular charges must be barred. We do not dispute that this remedy is both severe and rare. But it is warranted here, indeed compelled.”
The 83-year-old has been in a state prison outside of Philadelphia after a jury convicted him in 2018 of three aggravated indecent assault counts. Cosby has served almost three years of a three- to 10-year sentence after being found guilty of drugging and violating Temple University sports administrator Andrea Constand at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004. He was the first celebrity tried and convicted in the #MeToo era.
According to the Philadelphia (AP), the Pennsylvania Supreme Court said that District Attorney Kevin Steele, who made the decision to arrest Cosby, was obligated to stand by his predecessor’s promise not to charge Cosby. There was no evidence that promise was ever put in writing.
The court called Cosby’s arrest “an affront to fundamental fairness, particularly when it results in a criminal prosecution that was forgone for more than a decade.”
The justices said that overturning the conviction, and barring any further prosecution, “is the only remedy that comports with society’s reasonable expectations of its elected prosecutors and our criminal justice system.”
“Mr. Cosby should never have been prosecuted for these offenses,’ said lawyer Jennifer Bonjean, who argued Cosby’s appeal. “District attorneys can’t change it up simply because of their political motivation.” She said Cosby remains in excellent health, despite being legally blind.
Phylicia Rashad, the actor’s “Cosby Show” co-star, took to twitter to share her thoughts.
“FINALLY!!!! A terrible wrong is being righted — a miscarriage of justice is corrected!”
Cosby, a groundbreaking Black actor who grew up in public housing in Philadelphia, made a fortune estimated at $400 million during his 50 years in the entertainment industry that included the TV shows “I Spy,” “The Cosby Show” and “Fat Albert,” along with comedy albums and a multitude of television commercials.
Bill Cosby Walks Out of Prison a Free Man After Sexual Assault Conviction Vacated by Pennsylvania Supreme Court
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