From the BBC:
“Bill Cosby freed after top
court overturns sexual assault conviction”
US comedian Bill Cosby has left
prison hours after his sexual assault conviction was overturned by
Pennsylvania's Supreme Court. The judges said there had been a "process
violation" by the prosecution, but admitted their ruling was unusual. Mr
Cosby, 83, served more than two years of a three to 10-year sentence at a state
prison near Philadelphia. In 2018 he was found guilty of drugging and molesting
ex-basketball player Andrea Constand. Mr Cosby is best known for starring in
the 1980s TV series The Cosby Show and was once known as "America's
Dad". Dozens of women have publicly accused Mr Cosby of sexual assault,
but he was only tried criminally for the incident against Ms Constand. His
conviction in 2018 was widely seen as a landmark moment in the #MeToo movement.
In a verdict issued on Wednesday,
Pennsylvania's highest court found there was a "process violation"
because Mr Cosby's lawyers had made an agreement with a previous state
prosecutor that he would not be charged in the case. The former actor appeared
frail as he slowly walked to waiting media outside his home, shortly after
being released from prison. He did not say anything, instead leaning on his
team of lawyers and spokesman Andrew Wyatt to answer questions. "On this hot day - this is a hot verdict
for us," Mr Wyatt said. "Mr Cosby has always used his celebrity and
his name to uplift women... How could a man who is being watched by the FBI
every day be raping and drugging women… especially a black man?" he added.
Off camera, fans of Mr Cosby could be heard yelling their support throughout
the media conference.
What was Bill Cosby accused
of? Mr Cosby was found guilty on three counts of felony indecent assault
against Ms Constand. Decades his junior, she met him in 2002 when
working at Temple University in Philadelphia and described the comedian as a
mentor figure. She later testified at trial how she became "frozen"
after Cosby drugged and molested her at his home in 2004. Ms Constand
first came forward to police about the assault in 2005, but former state
prosecutor Bruce Castor did not press criminal charges. She then sued the
comedian for sexual battery and defamation, reaching a settlement with a
confidentially agreement in 2006. In 2014 and 2015, dozens of women came
forward with similar allegations of drugging and assault by Mr Cosby. Local
authorities knew that statute of limitation rules meant they could not pursue
the majority of these accusations - but they reopened the case involving Ms
Constand and eventually charged him just days before the 12-year limit on her
allegations was set to expire. A judge declared a mistrial in his first
trial in 2017 after the jury failed to reach a verdict. The testimony of
other accusers was then allowed during a second trial, which helped prosecutors
paint a pattern of predatory behaviour by Mr Cosby.
What did the court say? The
judges' reasoning is complex - their written finding is 79-pages long. They
cite a written agreement reached by Mr Castor, the former prosecutor, stating
that he would not charge Mr Cosby if he testified in Ms Constand's civil
lawsuit. In Wednesday's ruling, the Supreme Court judges also found that
testimony from accusers unrelated to the case had tainted the trial. "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", the finding released on Wednesday reads. "We do
not dispute that this remedy is both severe and rare. But it is warranted
here." A spokesman for Mr Cosby, Andrew Wyatt, thanked the court in
a statement. "This is the justice Mr Cosby has been fighting for.
They saw the light," Mr Wyatt said. "He was given a deal and he had
immunity. He should have never been charged."
Mixed reactions Actor
Phylicia Rashad, who played his wife on the Cosby Show, wrote on Twitter:
"A terrible wrong is being righted - a miscarriage of justice is
corrected!" in response to the news. Prosecutor Kevin Steele said
in a statement that Mr Cosby "was found guilty by a jury and now goes free
on a procedural issue that is irrelevant to the facts of the crime". "My
hope is that this decision will not dampen the reporting of sexual assaults by
victims… We still believe that no one is above the law - including those who
are rich, famous and powerful." Lawyer Gloria Allred, who
represented more than 30 accusers of Mr Cosby, described the ruling as
"devastating" but said the decision did not vindicate the comedian's
conduct. "My heart especially goes out to those who bravely
testified in both of his criminal cases," her statement added.
^ This doesn’t vindicate Cosby.
It merely says the Prosecutors didn’t follow their agreement with Cosby. ^
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