Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court overturned Bill Cosby’s sex assault conviction Wednesday after finding an agreement with a previous prosecutor prevented him from being charged in the case.
Cosby was found guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault and sentenced to three to ten years in prison in September 2018. He is currently incarcerated at the State Correctional Institution – Phoenix in Pennsylvania and was released today.
In May of this year, Cosby was denied paroled after refusing to participate in sex offender programs during his nearly three years in state prison.
Cosby has long said he would resist the treatment programs and refuse to acknowledge wrongdoing even if it means serving the full 10-year sentence.
Cosby was the first celebrity tried and convicted in the #MeToo era, so the reversal could make prosecutors wary of calling other accusers in similar cases.
The law on prior ‘bad act testimony’ varies by state, though, and the ruling only holds water in Pennsylvania.
The law allows the testimony only in limited cases, including to show a crime pattern so specific it serves to identify the perpetrator.
Prosecutors did not immediately say if they would appeal or seek to try Cosby for a third time.
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