|
 The Pennsylvania Supreme Court
issued its split decision after Cosby had served
more than two years of a three- to 10-year
sentence following his 2018 conviction,
prompting outrage from sexual assault victims
and their advocates.
The 83-year-old actor and comedian was released
from a state prison in Pennsylvania just before
2:30 p.m. (1830 GMT), a corrections department
spokesperson said.
Around an hour later, he arrived at his stately
stone mansion in Elkins Park, a Philadelphia
suburb, before making a brief appearance
alongside his lawyers in front of a gaggle of
cameras late in the afternoon.
A frail looking Cosby smiled and nodded when
asked if he was happy to be home but did not
speak as reporters shouted questions. Later,
Cosby posted a statement to his Twitter account,
thanking his supporters and saying, "I have
never changed my stance nor my story. I have
always maintained my innocence."
Cosby is best known for his role as the lovable
husband and father in the 1980s television
comedy series "The Cosby Show," earning him the
nickname "America's Dad."
But his family-friendly reputation was shattered
after more than 50 women accused him of multiple
sexual assaults over nearly five decades. His
conviction was seen as a watershed moment in the
#MeToo movement that brought forth an array of
allegations against powerful men in Hollywood
and beyond.
Cosby was found guilty of drugging and molesting
Andrea Constand, an employee at his alma mater
Temple University, in his home in 2004.
Constand's allegations were the only ones
against Cosby that were not too old to allow for
criminal charges.
The court's decision expressly barred
prosecutors from retrying Cosby.
In a statement, Constand and her attorneys said
they were not only disappointed in the ruling
but concerned it could dissuade other victims
from seeking justice.
"Once again, we remain grateful to those women
who came forward to tell their stories," they
said.
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin
Steele, who charged Cosby in 2015, noted a jury
found Cosby guilty and that Wednesday's decision
was not based on the facts of the case.
"My hope is that this decision will not dampen
the reporting of sexual assaults by victims," he
said in a statement. "We still believe that no
one is above the law - including those who are
rich, famous and powerful."
Reaction was swift, with many women involved in
the #MeToo movement expressing horror at the
decision.
"THIS is why women do not come forward," writer
E. Jean Carroll, who has accused former
President Donald Trump of raping her in the
1990s, wrote on Twitter. Trump has denied her
claim.
But Phylicia Rashad, Cosby's co-star on "The
Cosby Show," celebrated the ruling for
correcting "a miscarriage of justice."
[to top of second column]
|
 'ONLY ONE REMEDY'
The court's majority found that a state
prosecutor, Bruce Castor, made a deal with
Cosby's attorneys in 2005 not to bring criminal
charges after concluding he could not win a
conviction.
As a result, Cosby was unable to avoid
testifying as part of a civil lawsuit that
Constand brought against him, since defendants
can only refuse to testify when faced with
criminal prosecution.
In a sworn deposition, Cosby acknowledged giving
women sedatives to facilitate sexual encounters,
though he maintained they were consensual. He
eventually paid Constand a multimillion-dollar
settlement.
His admission, which a judge later unsealed in
2015, helped form the basis for criminal charges
later that year. Steele, who had just defeated
Castor in the election for district attorney in
part by criticizing him for failing to prosecute
Cosby, charged Cosby days before the statute of
limitations was set to expire.
Steele's prosecution, the Pennsylvania Supreme
Court found, essentially amounted to reneging on
Castor's earlier promise not to charge Cosby,
violating his due process rights.
"There is only one remedy that can completely
restore Cosby to the status quo ante," Justice
David Wecht wrote for a four-judge majority. "He
must be discharged, and any future prosecution
on these particular charges must be barred."
One dissenting justice said Cosby should stay in
prison, while two others said prosecutors should
be allowed to retry him without relying on the
tainted evidence.
Castor made national headlines in February as a
member of former President Donald Trump's legal
defense team during Trump's impeachment trial in
the U.S. Senate. The former prosecutor delivered
a rambling opening statement that was widely
panned by senators, including Republicans.
In an interview, Castor said his deal with Cosby
was the only way to ensure he would pay some
sort of penalty via a civil lawsuit.
"I feel I made the right decision in 2005, and I
still do," he said.
Cosby's first trial ended with a hung jury in
2017, when jurors could not reach a unanimous
decision on his culpability. But he was found
guilty at a second trial, after the judge,
Steven O'Neill, allowed prosecutors to call five
prior accusers - four more than in the first
trial.
Armed with those witnesses, prosecutors argued
that Cosby's assault of Constand was a
well-rehearsed offense he had honed over
decades: he befriended younger women, acting as
a mentor, only to sexually assault them, often
with the help of drugs.
(Reporting by Joseph Ax in Princeton, New Jersey
and Jonathan Stempel in New York; Additional
reporting by Karen Freifeld, Lisa Richwine,
Barbara Goldberg and Rich McKay; Editing by
Alistair Bell and Grant McCool)
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content |
