Parole Denied
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Pennsylvania’s highest court threw out Bill Cosby’s sexual assault conviction and opened the way for his immediate release from prison Wednesday in a stunning reversal of fortune for the comedian once known as “America’s Dad,” ruling that the prosecutor who brought the case was bound by his predecessor's agreement not to charge Cosby.
Cosby, 83, has served more than two years of a three- to 10-year sentence after being found guilty of drugging and violating Temple University sports administrator Andrea Constand at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004. He was the first celebrity tried and convicted in the #MeToo era.
Cosby was arrested in 2015, when a district attorney armed with newly unsealed evidence — the comic's damaging deposition testimony in a lawsuit brought by Constand — brought charges against him days before the 12-year statute of limitations ran out.
But the Pennsylvania Supreme Court said that District Attorney Kevin Steele, who made the decision to arrest Cosby, was obligated to stand by his predecessor’s promise not to charge Cosby. There was no evidence that promise was ever put in writing.
Justice David Wecht, writing for a split court, said Cosby had relied on the former prosecutor’s decision not to charge him when the comedian later gave his potentially incriminating testimony in the Constand’s civil case.
The court said that overturning the conviction, and barring any further prosecution, “is the only remedy that comports with society’s reasonable expectations of its elected prosecutors and our criminal justice system.”
A Cosby spokesman did not immediately return a message seeking comment. Nor did a Steele representative, Constand or her lawyer.
The trial judge allowed five other accusers to testify at the trial about their experiences with Cosby in the 1980s to establish what prosecutors said was a pattern of behavior on his part.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices voiced concern not just about sex assault cases, but what they saw as the judiciary’s increasing tendency to allow testimony that crosses the line into character attacks. The law allows the testimony only in limited cases, including to show a crime pattern so specific it serves to identify the perpetrator.
But the court declined to say whether five other accusers should have been allowed to testify, considering it moot given their ruling on Cosby’s claim that he should not have been prosecuted in the first place.
In New York, the judge presiding over last year’s trial of movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, whose case had sparked the explosion of the #MeToo movement in 2017, let four other accusers testify. Weinstein was convicted and sentenced to 23 years in prison. He is now facing separate charges in California.
In May, Cosby was denied paroled after refusing to participate in sex offender programs behind bars. He has long said he would resist the treatment programs and refuse to acknowledge wrongdoing even if it means serving the full 10-year sentence.
Prosecutors said Cosby repeatedly used his fame and “family man” persona to manipulate young women, holding himself out as a mentor before betraying them.
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An explanation from the RWEC:
Cosby was forced to testify in a civil case for sexual assault. The prosecutor gave him immunity from criminal prosecution in order to compel him to testify in civil court.
Otherwise Cosby could plead the fifth in civil court, saying any answer he gave could be used against him in criminal court. Giving Cosby immunity takes away his fifth amendment right to not testify.
That prosecutor claimed he believed it would be too difficult to convict Cosby without forensic evidence, so it was better that he be compelled to testify in civil court rather than keeping open a phantom possibility of charging him criminally.
A later prosecutor ignored this deal and charged him for the crime.
Now a judge rules, correctly I guess, that Cosby had immunity, whether a later prosecutor likes it or not.
So as it stands, Cosby is unconvicted and free.
More from The NY Post.
In its 79-page ruling, the State Supreme court found that an agreement with then-Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor Jr. prevented Cosby from being charged for allegedly drugging and molesting Andrea Constand in 2004.
Constand first reported the alleged encounter in 2015 to Castor, who decided not to pursue charges in the case.
There was no evidence that the deal — which opened the door for Cosby to testify in Constand’s civil suit — was ever put in writing. That damning testimony was used, in part, to help convict Cosby.
In 2019, Castor’s successor, Kevin Steele, opted to file charges against Cosby — just days before the 12-year statute of limitations expired.
Later during the criminal proceedings, the judge agreed to allow testimony from Cosby’s deposition — which included him admitting to using quaaludes during consensual sexual encounters with women in the 1970s — to be used against him.
Wednesday’s ruling said the prosecution was obligated to uphold Castor’s promise not to charge the comedian.
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@horace said in Parole Denied:
I guess we all owe Mr Cosby an apology.
Don't hold your breath on my account
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I'm not arguing the legality, but clearly, they made a real mess of this.
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The general consensus online seems to be that Cosby forfeited his rights as soon as he was accused, and now that he got off on a technicality, it’s likely that we will soon have 100,000,000 rapes a day and no one will say anything about it.
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A clear message
An alarming new era
It is open season
https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/30/opinions/cosby-release-alarming-message-alaimo/index.html
Bill Cosby's release sends clear message for an alarming new era
(CNN)Bill Cosby, who has been accused of misconduct by 60 women, was released from prison Wednesday after Pennsylvania's Supreme Court overturned his sexual assault conviction. That he is a free man today sends a profoundly disturbing message to women who survive sexual assault: that if they come forward they will confront all but insurmountable hurdles as they pursue justice.
In 2018, Cosby was convicted by a jury of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman in 2004, but the court ruled that a deal he struck with a prosecutor to avoid prosecution in exchange for a deposition in a civil case had been improperly used against him, and that he should not have been charged in the criminal case.
Recall that Cosby has been accused of misconduct by 60 different women. "I have always maintained my innocence," he tweeted on Wednesday.
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It's a little hard to imagine that all 60 different women were lying.
Maybe an era of prosecutors not royally screwing things up would be a good thing.
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It's a little hard to imagine that all 60 different women were lying.
Maybe an era of prosecutors not royally screwing things up would be a good thing.
@doctor-phibes said in Parole Denied:
It's a little hard to imagine that all 60 different women were lying.
Maybe an era of prosecutors not royally screwing things up would be a good thing.
The law is the law. Can’t cancel it, although people are sure trying.
So he likely did it but thank god we are a nation of laws. Change the law if you don’t like it. We have a democratic process for that.
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As I said earlier, I'm not arguing the legality.
Doing deals with alleged rapists probably isn't a great idea.
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As I said earlier, I'm not arguing the legality.
Doing deals with alleged rapists probably isn't a great idea.
@doctor-phibes said in Parole Denied:
As I said earlier, I'm not arguing the legality.
Doing deals with alleged rapists probably isn't a great idea.
A black man who was America’s favorite father. God hindsight is so awesome, I love people who are great at that, they are soooo smart.
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@doctor-phibes said in Parole Denied:
As I said earlier, I'm not arguing the legality.
Doing deals with alleged rapists probably isn't a great idea.
A black man who was America’s favorite father. God hindsight is so awesome, I love people who are great at that, they are soooo smart.
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@doctor-phibes said in Parole Denied:
As I said earlier, I'm not arguing the legality.
Doing deals with alleged rapists probably isn't a great idea.
A black man who was America’s favorite father. God hindsight is so awesome, I love people who are great at that, they are soooo smart.
@loki said in Parole Denied:
@doctor-phibes said in Parole Denied:
God hindsight is so awesome, I love people who are great at that, they are soooo smart.
You mean me? I was talking about the prosecutors messing this up. 40 women came forward and said he'd assaulted them. You don't need much in the way of hindsight or even foresight to figure out something's amiss.
And of course we all loved Bill Cosby. But if 40 women said that John the Baptist had taken liberties, maybe suspicions would be aroused.
I was only joking
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@loki said in Parole Denied:
@doctor-phibes said in Parole Denied:
God hindsight is so awesome, I love people who are great at that, they are soooo smart.
You mean me? I was talking about the prosecutors messing this up. 40 women came forward and said he'd assaulted them. You don't need much in the way of hindsight or even foresight to figure out something's amiss.
And of course we all loved Bill Cosby. But if 40 women said that John the Baptist had taken liberties, maybe suspicions would be aroused.
@doctor-phibes said in Parole Denied:
And of course we all loved Bill Cosby.
Racists didn't love him, because of the color of his skin. He dealt with racism his whole life.
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@loki said in Parole Denied:
@doctor-phibes said in Parole Denied:
God hindsight is so awesome, I love people who are great at that, they are soooo smart.
You mean me? I was talking about the prosecutors messing this up. 40 women came forward and said he'd assaulted them. You don't need much in the way of hindsight or even foresight to figure out something's amiss.
And of course we all loved Bill Cosby. But if 40 women said that John the Baptist had taken liberties, maybe suspicions would be aroused.
@doctor-phibes said in Parole Denied:
@loki said in Parole Denied:
@doctor-phibes said in Parole Denied:
God hindsight is so awesome, I love people who are great at that, they are soooo smart.
You mean me? I was talking about the prosecutors messing this up. 40 women came forward and said he'd assaulted them. You don't need much in the way of hindsight or even foresight to figure out something's amiss.
And of course we all loved Bill Cosby. But if 40 women said that John the Baptist had taken liberties, maybe suspicions would be aroused.
Which prosecutors? First round that agreed to the deal or the second round that ignored the deal?
The Brad
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@doctor-phibes said in Parole Denied:
@loki said in Parole Denied:
@doctor-phibes said in Parole Denied:
God hindsight is so awesome, I love people who are great at that, they are soooo smart.
You mean me? I was talking about the prosecutors messing this up. 40 women came forward and said he'd assaulted them. You don't need much in the way of hindsight or even foresight to figure out something's amiss.
And of course we all loved Bill Cosby. But if 40 women said that John the Baptist had taken liberties, maybe suspicions would be aroused.
Which prosecutors? First round that agreed to the deal or the second round that ignored the deal?
@lufins-dad said in Parole Denied:
@doctor-phibes said in Parole Denied:
@loki said in Parole Denied:
@doctor-phibes said in Parole Denied:
God hindsight is so awesome, I love people who are great at that, they are soooo smart.
You mean me? I was talking about the prosecutors messing this up. 40 women came forward and said he'd assaulted them. You don't need much in the way of hindsight or even foresight to figure out something's amiss.
And of course we all loved Bill Cosby. But if 40 women said that John the Baptist had taken liberties, maybe suspicions would be aroused.
Which prosecutors? First round that agreed to the deal or the second round that ignored the deal?
The second round were righteous and on the right side of history. Their work was undone by bean counters in higher courts who did not agree that rape is wrong, full stop.
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@doctor-phibes said in Parole Denied:
@loki said in Parole Denied:
@doctor-phibes said in Parole Denied:
God hindsight is so awesome, I love people who are great at that, they are soooo smart.
You mean me? I was talking about the prosecutors messing this up. 40 women came forward and said he'd assaulted them. You don't need much in the way of hindsight or even foresight to figure out something's amiss.
And of course we all loved Bill Cosby. But if 40 women said that John the Baptist had taken liberties, maybe suspicions would be aroused.
Which prosecutors? First round that agreed to the deal or the second round that ignored the deal?
@lufins-dad said in Parole Denied:
@doctor-phibes said in Parole Denied:
@loki said in Parole Denied:
@doctor-phibes said in Parole Denied:
God hindsight is so awesome, I love people who are great at that, they are soooo smart.
You mean me? I was talking about the prosecutors messing this up. 40 women came forward and said he'd assaulted them. You don't need much in the way of hindsight or even foresight to figure out something's amiss.
And of course we all loved Bill Cosby. But if 40 women said that John the Baptist had taken liberties, maybe suspicions would be aroused.
Which prosecutors? First round that agreed to the deal or the second round that ignored the deal?
The second round was clearly wrong, as it backtracked on what was agreed, but I don't think prosecutors should be making deals with alleged rapists. If that makes me sound somehow holier-than-thou, well there we go.
