Bill Cosby Freed as Court Overturns His Sex Assault Conviction

Bill Cosby Freed as Court Overturns His Sex Assault Conviction

Bill Cosby had his conviction for sexual assault overturned by a Pennsylvania appeals court on Wednesday and was freed from prison, a dramatic reversal in a case had represented the first high-profile sexual assault trial to unfold in the aftermath of the #MeToo movement.

I, for one, thought it was about time.

In their 79-page opinion, the judges wrote that a “non-prosecution agreement” that had been struck with a previous prosecutor meant that Mr. Cosby should not have been charged in the case, and that he should be discharged. They barred a retrial.

In 2005, Mr. Cosby was investigated in the case of Ms. Constand, and a former district attorney of Montgomery County had given Mr. Cosby his assurance that he would not be charged in the case. The former district attorney, Bruce Castor Jr., has testified that while there was insufficient evidence to bring a criminal prosecution, he had given Mr. Cosby the assurance to encourage him to testify in a subsequent civil case brought by Ms. Constand.

Exactly.

In that testimony, Mr. Cosby acknowledged giving quaaludes to women he was pursuing for sex — evidence that played a key part in his trial after Mr. Castor’s successors reopened the case and charged Mr. Cosby in December 2015. That was just days before the 12-year statute of limitations expired in the case…

It was inadmissible evidence, as the plea deal had ruled it out.

“In light of these circumstances, the subsequent decision by successor D. A.s to prosecute Cosby violated Cosby’s due process rights,” the appeals ruling said. “No other conclusion comports with the principles of due process and fundamental fairness to which all aspects of our criminal justice system must adhere.”

Which is part of what they were saying all along.  The successor DA had no legal right to use that sealed testimony as it was protected.

Phylicia Rashad, who appeared as Mr. Cosby’s wife in “The Cosby Show,” praised the decision on Twitter. “FINALLY!!!!” Ms. Rashad, who was recently named the dean of Howard University’s College of Fine Arts, wrote on Twitter. “A terrible wrong is being righted- a miscarriage of justice is corrected!”

I agree.  He should never had been convicted nor jailed.

And as the dissenting judges wrote:

…found that though Mr. Cosby’s due process rights had been violated when he relied on Mr. Castor’s promise and testified in the civil case, the remedy should not have been barring further prosecution but throwing out the evidence the prosecution gained from Mr. Cosby’s testimony.

And without that evidence:

The former district attorney, Bruce Castor Jr., has testified that while there was insufficient evidence to bring a criminal prosecution…

Insufficient evidence!

There was no case.

Without the immunity deal, there was nothing.

Only with the immunity deal, did they get the admission of the use of drugs.  Which they could not use, otherwise I believe there would have been no interview, and nothing that would amount to a trial.

And for those that remember, Cosby, just before all this happened, criticized the establishment… could this all have been them trying to get back at him?  I still think so.