Content Warning: This article about Bill Cosby discusses sexual abuse. If you or someone you know is affected by the following story, you are not alone. To speak to someone, you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14, or 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732.
Bill Cosby is set to be released from prison after a Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned his sexual assault conviction.
Bill Cosby is set to be released from prison after Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned his sexual assault conviction on Wednesday. The decision came after the court found an agreement with a previous prosecutor that prevented Cosby from being charged.
The agreement in question pertains to a civil lawsuit brought forward by Andrea Constand, who accused Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting her on his Pennsylvania estate.
According to findings, the erstwhile prosecutor promised not to charge Cosby in exchange for his incriminating testimony in the Constand case. After his involvement in the lawsuit was uncovered by District Attorney Kevin Steele — said prosecutor’s successor — the latter used it to arrest Cosby in 2015.
Although no records of the agreement between Cosby and the prosecutor have been found, the court decided that Steele was required to keep his predecessor’s promise.
Writing on behalf of a split court, Justice David Wecht argued that Cosby testified only under the belief that he would not be charged later on. According to Wecht, overturning the conviction, along with no possibility of any further prosecution “is the only remedy that comports with society’s reasonable expectations of its elected prosecutors and our criminal justice system.”
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The 83-year-old former actor and comedian was sentenced three to ten years in prison after a court found him guilty of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman. He was convicted on three counts of aggravated indecent assault. Before his conviction was overturned, he had served just over two years of his sentence.
