The Pennsylvania Supreme Court today overturned the conviction of Bill Cosby for sexual assault and ordered his immediate release.
The 83-year-old actor was released today, just before 2.30pm local time, a few hours after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned his sentence.
Cosby’s release was confirmed by a representative of the State Penitentiary Service.
This decision is a blow to the #MeToo movement which has revealed many cases of sexual violence with perpetrators of powerful Hollywood actors and more.
“Bill Cosby’s convictions and sentences are being overturned and he must be released,” the judges wrote in their 79-page ruling.
The 83-year-old actor has served two years of his sentence in 2018, when he was sentenced to three to ten years in prison. He was found guilty of sexually assaulting Andrea Constant in his home in 2004 after previously drugging her with unknown pills.
The Supreme Court, however, found that the first prosecutor to deal with the case in 2005 had reached an agreement with Cosby’s lawyers not to prosecute him in criminal courts. However, the actor was forced to testify in the civil lawsuit initiated by the plaintiff.
Ten years later, his affidavit was used against him in his trial, when a new prosecutor decided to remove the case from the file and prosecute him, a few days before the offense expired.
The judges ruled that the prosecution amounted to a breach of the first prosecutor’s earlier commitment not to refer him. “In these circumstances, the subsequent decision of his successor to oust Cosby violated Cosby’s rights in a fair trial,” said Judge David Wecht. “Only one thing can restore Cosby to his former state. “He should be released from prison and should not be prosecuted in the future for these specific charges,” he added.
The actor became famous in the 1980s, when he played a lovable husband and father on the TV series The Cosby Show, a role that earned him the nickname “Daddy of America”. However, his reputation was shattered when dozens of women began accusing him of sexually assaulting them for decades. Most of these cases are now statute-barred. His conviction was considered a milestone in the #MeToo movement, in its fight against sexual violence against women.
