The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has released disgraced comedian Bill Cosby from prison after an overturn in his sexual assault conviction.
The court ordered the funny man’s release on Wednesday, June 30, 2021, after discovering they violated his due process rights. Cosby, 83, served two years of a three to 10-year sentence. He was incarcerated at SCI Phoenix, a maximum-security prison in Montgomery County.
In April 2018, a court found Cosby guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault for drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand at his home in Cheltenham, outside Philadelphia.
The state Supreme Court, however, said Cosby cannot be retried on the same charges.
“When an unconditional charging decision is made publicly and with the intent to induce action and reliance by the defendant, and when the defendant does so to his detriment (and in some instances upon the advice of counsel), denying the defendant the benefit of that decision is an affront to fundamental fairness,” according to the high court opinion authored by Justice David Wecht.
“For these reasons, Cosby’s convictions and judgment of sentence are vacated, and he is discharged.”
Cosby’s prosecution was one of the first major milestones of the #MeToo movement after he was accused of sexual misconduct by dozens of women stretching back decades.
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