Bill Cosby is set to go free after his sentence was overturned by the PA Supreme Court
· Jun 30, 2021 · NottheBee.com

Former actor Bill Cosby had his sentence overturned by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Wednesday after Cosby had filed an appeal in December arguing that his entire life had been put on trial and that he had suffered "unquantifiable prejudice."

The state Supreme Court considered two specific arguments in the case. First was Cosby's claim that he had made a deal with a former prosecutor that he would not be charged.

Second was the argument that the judge in his case had tainted the outcome of Cosby's retrial by allowing five other accusers from the 1980s to testify. This was after allowing one other accuser to testify at his first trial, which had resulted in a deadlocked jury.

The lower court argued that the additional testimonies were needed to establish a pattern of molesting women. The Supreme Court disagreed and said the judge and prosecutors had erred and violated the judicial process.

They wrote:

"There is only one remedy that can completely restore Cosby to the status quo ante. He must be discharged, and any future prosecution on these particular charges must be barred. We do not dispute that this remedy is both severe and rare. But it is warranted here, indeed compelled. For these reasons, Cosby's convictions and judgment of sentence are vacated, and he is discharged."

The 83-year-old Cosby was sentenced in 2018 on three aggravated indecent assault counts for reportedly drugging and sexually assaulting accuser Andrea Constand in 2004. Along with Constand, multiple other women accused Cosby of assault in what was the first high-profile case of the #MeToo movement.

The former actor was two years into his 3-to-10-year sentence and was denied parole last year for refusing to participate in a program for sex offenders.

Cosby has been serving his time at a state prison outside Philadelphia and will presumably be discharged immediately.


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