The Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned actor and comedian Bill Cosby's sexual assault
conviction. The court found that Cosby's agreement with a previous prosecutor was "an affront
to fundamental fairness," and as such he had been denied a fair trial in 2018. As a result,
Cosby was released from prison on Wednesday afternoon, after serving a bit over two years
of his three-to-10-year sentence in a maximum-security prison outside of Philadelphia. His publicist,
Andrew Wyatt, picked him up and drove him to his Pennsylvania home, via ABC News. Wyatt
said,
"What we saw today was justice, justice for all Americans."
Jennifer Bonjean, an appellate attorney for Cosby, said,
"He served three years of an unjust sentence. He did it with dignity, principle and he was
a mentor to other inmates. He was really, as I say, doing the time. The time was not
doing him."
The high court's opinion is in contrast to that of an interim court, which upheld the
trial verdict in 2019. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court opinion reads:
"When an unconditional charging decision is made publicly and with the intent to induce
action and reliance by the defendant, and when the defendant does so to his detriment
(and in some instances upon the advice of counsel), 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."
Many critics and influencers voiced their anger at the decision on social media. Former
Congresswoman Katie Hill tweeted,
"On today's episode of 'How the Justice System Fails Victims': Bill Cosby is released on
a technicality."
Writer Wajahat Ali wrote,
"When you're a star, they let you do it ... Bill Cosby is a free man. The rich and powerful
play by their own rules."
Businesswoman Shannon Coulter pointed out why the decision was painful for sexual assault
survivors. Attaching a USA Today article listing Cosby accusers, Coulter wrote,
"Here are the SIXTY women who came forward with accusations against Bill Cosby. I never
want to hear the question 'Why didn't she come forward?' again in my life."
Meanwhile, Cosby's former co-star and Howard University's Dean, Phylicia Rashad, voiced
her happiness on Twitter. She wrote,
"FINALLY!!!! A terrible wrong is being righted- a miscarriage of justice is corrected."
The post garnered intense backlash, and Rashad quickly restricted commenting on the tweet.
Howard University also released a statement late on Wednesday via Twitter, stating that
Rashad's comments, quote, "lacked sensitivity towards survivors of sexual assault."
Approximately 60 people have accused Bill Cosby of sexual assault, though most of their
allegations were not usable due to statute-of-limitations laws, per USA Today. Just five accusers were
allowed to testify at the retrial, but the allegations of all the accusers were harrowing.
Still, Cosby has always denied ever engaging in non-consensual sex or sexual acts. On Wednesday,
he posted a statement to his personal Twitter account. It reads,
"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."
Andrea Constand, the main accuser in Bill Cosby's case, released a statement with her
attorneys on Wednesday in response to the decision. The statement reads:
"Today's majority decision regarding Bill Cosby is not only disappointing but of concern
in that it may discourage those who seek justice for sexual assault in the criminal justice
system from reporting or participating in the prosecution of the assailant or may force
a victim to choose between filing either a criminal or civil action."
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court judges wrote in a 79-page opinion that Bill Cosby should
never have been charged in the case. They said that there was a "vast" violation of
Cosby's due process rights when he was criminally charged and convicted, because a previous
prosecutor declined to prosecute him in order to persuade him to sit for a civil deposition
instead. The court said that the civil deposition was then used against him in the criminal
trial. In addition, Cosby's lawyers argued in the appeal that, quote, "prior bad act
witnesses" testified in Cosby's second trial, and unfairly prejudiced the jury, via Vulture.
It was a 6-to-1 ruling and two of the judges dissented on the remedy, which barred a retrial.
In effect, Cosby cannot be tried again for those same charges. There is a possibility
that he could face new charges if new, credible accusers come forward, though they would have
to do so within the statute of limitations.
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit
the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline
at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).