Bill Cosby sex assault conviction overturned

[George II]

Source: WGAL NBC News

Pennsylvania’s highest court has overturned comedian Bill Cosby’s sex assault conviction.

The court said Wednesday that they found an agreement with a previous prosecutor prevented him from being charged in the case.

The 83-year-old Cosby has served more than two years at a state prison near Philadelphia.

He has vowed to serve his full 10-year sentence rather than acknowledge any remorse over the 2004 encounter.

Read more: https://www.wgal.com/article/bill-cosby-sex-assault-conviction-overturned-pennsylvania/36890511#

---

Four one-sentence paragraphs. Not much more at the link.

[OneCrazyDiamond]

1. .

[George II]

2. Discussing it on CNN right now - they called too many other victims, five, prosecutors went too far.

[BumRushDaShow]

3. Just getting ready to post - ETA to note, that was the PA State Supreme Court that did it

Bill Cosby's Sex Assault Conviction Overturned by Court


By Maryclaire Dale • Published 16 mins ago • Updated 4 seconds ago


Pennsylvania’s highest court overturned Bill Cosby’s sex assault conviction Wednesday after finding an agreement with a previous prosecutor prevented him from being charged in the case. Cosby has served more than two years of a three- to 10-year sentence at a state prison near Philadelphia. He had vowed to serve all 10 years rather than acknowledge any remorse over the 2004 encounter with accuser Andrea Constand.

The 83-year-old Cosby, who was once beloved as “America’s Dad,” was convicted of drugging and molesting the Temple University employee at his suburban estate. 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.

The trial judge had allowed just one other accuser to testify at Cosby’s first trial, when the jury deadlocked. However, he then allowed five other accusers to testify at the retrial about their experiences with Cosby in the 1980s.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court said that testimony tainted the trial, even though a lower appeals court had found it appropriate to show a signature pattern of drugging and molesting women.

https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/bill-cosbys-sex-assault-conviction-overturned-by-court/2864792/

[left-of-center2012]

26. Pennsylvania's highest court was noted in the op

But thanks for the reminder

[BumRushDaShow]

27. Was naming it as FYI

because some states don't call their "highest court" a "Supreme Court" (e.g., MD & NY) but we do here in PA.

[RobinA]

4. I Always Wondered

about this. He talked to Castor after having what to me seemed like a clear agreement that he wouldn't be prosecuted. Not agreeing with anything Cosby did, but prosecutors, or any attorney, need to have comments they make as part of their official duties adhered to.

[Dreampuff]

5. Just heard this on a news brief

As still as confused as can be!😳😳😳😳

[cstanleytech]

16. Assuming I am reading it correctly it's not that confusing as the prosecuters office went back on

an agreement that it made plus the judge errored in allowing in testimony that they should known better not to do.

[BumRushDaShow]

6. Philly Inquirer's breaking blip

Bill Cosby’s conviction overturned by Pa. Supreme Court

by Jeremy Roebuck
Published 28 minutes ago

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. 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.

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.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Published June 30, 2021

https://www.inquirer.com/news/bill-cosby-conviction-overturned-appeal-andrea-constand-20210630.html

[RAB910]

7. Much as I hate to say it, the court got it right

the idea of having all those accusers testify went against US judicial tradition

[appmanga]

8. How soon before...

...he miraculously gets his eyesight back?

[ScratchCat]

9. I don't doubt he assaulted some of the women

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..... The testimony was used against him in the criminal prosecution

But he should have never been on trial in the first place. That's a ridiculous trick the new prosecutor pulled.

[Javaman]

10. psychopath control freak back out on the streets.

nothing about this nation, sadly, surprises me anymore.

[elleng]

11. ???an agreement with a previous prosecutor prevented him from being charged in the case.

[BradAllison]

12. And people wonder why women do not come forward. n/m

[3Hotdogs]

13. At least he spent two years in the slammer.

Prosecutor can retry him.

[George II]

14. The attorney for 3 of the women said a little while ago that there probably won't be a new trial.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

15. I don't know that he can be tried. Statute of limitations probably ran out. nt

[cstanleytech]

18. Article says the court says that they are barred from doing it. Most likely because of the violation

of the agreement by the DA and because they introduced the testimony of the other women.
Their testimony would have been fine if he was on trial for what he did to them but since he was not their testimony should probably not have been allowed.

[BumRushDaShow]

22. The PA Supreme Court explicitly said they can't retry.

The case that originally convicted him was a "retry" because the first trial ended with a hung jury.

[speak easy]

17. 'difficult cases make bad law'

A correct call IMO.

[BumRushDaShow]

19. Local news here in Philly said he was released just over 30 minutes ago

And there is a local news chopper overhead filming the car he is being driven to somewhere (video at link).

Bill Cosby leaves prison after court overturns sex assault conviction

By Maryclaire Dale, Associated Press
Wednesday, June 30, 2021 3:06PM

PHILADELPHIA -- Pennsylvania's highest court threw out Bill Cosby's sexual assault conviction and released him from prison Wednesday in a stunning reversal of fortune for the comedian once known as "America's Dad," ruling that the prosecutor who brought the case was bound by his predecessor's agreement not to charge Cosby.

Cosby, 83, has served nearly 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. Pennsylvania's highest court overturned Bill Cosby's sex assault conviction Wednesday.

The former "Cosby Show" star was arrested in 2015, when a district attorney armed with newly unsealed evidence - the comic's damaging deposition in a lawsuit brought by Constand - brought charges against him days before the 12-year statute of limitations ran out. But 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.

Justice David Wecht, writing for a split court, said Cosby had relied on the former district attorney's decision not to charge him when the comedian gave his potentially incriminating testimony in Constand's civil case. 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."

https://6abc.com/bill-cosby-release-sex-assault-conviction-overturned-pennsylvania-court-crime/10847236/

[Deminpenn]

20. PA Supreme Court decision rested on Bruce Castor's

public and private statements that he would not prosecute Cosby. This is interesting because there was apparently never any kind of written document from Castor stating the same. The justices must have treated Castor's public pronouncements like a verbal contract. Once that happened, then it followed that Cosby's right against self-incrimination was violated since he turned over the evidence to Castor under the belief he would not be criminally prosecuted.

[Tarc]

21. Karma comes in other ways

Be a damn shame...

[ripcord]

23. The prosecutors don't seem very bright

When the prosecutors decided to try him even though a deal was in place what idiot thought thought it was a good idea to use the deposition gained from that deal as evidence? It obviously violated Cosby's right against self incrimination.

[Dr. Strange]

24. True...

but how did the judges miss it too? I thought Cosby's lawyers brought that to the court and were rejected.

[ripcord]

28. Judges aren't perfect, that's why there are appeals

I'm wondering if there wasn't some bias on the judge's part to make Cosby pay for what he did.

[RobinA]

30. The Post-Castor DA

in Montgomery County had a bee in his bonnet about Castor. Now I’m sure he has a whole swarm of bees. Going ahead given Castor’s agreement was pretty egregious in my humble opinion. Just wrong.

[PlanetBev]

25. I don't doubt he assaulted some of the women

He’s 83, so maybe his junk doesn’t have that zing anymore. Take your ego and money and go away.

[appleannie1]

29. The real victims in all this is women.

Those he assaulted will never be freed of the nightmares. Those that get assaulted by other perverts will be less likely to testify against the sick asses that assaulted them. And men that think about a power trip over women will be more likely to act on their thoughts knowing how easy it is to get away with it.

[RobinA]

31. This Doesn't Really

have anything to do with the actual facts of the case. Plus, he was convicted by a jury, so there’s got to be satisfaction in that.

[Evolve Dammit]

32. I bet his 80 victims (that we know about) feel defiled all over again. I can't imagine. nt

[SunSeeker]

33. And miraculously, he can now see, and can walk without a cane.

[C Moon]

34. All we got now is to hope his legacy is ruined. I know I'll never watch or listen to his crap again.