Bill Cosby is out of prison. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court had recently dropped its sexual abuse conviction because the trial was unfair. The 83-year-old American comedian was sentenced to between three and ten years in prison in 2018.
Cosby had appealed his conviction. A lower court found him guilty three years ago of abusing and drugging Andrea Constand in 2004. She was one of the dozens of women the Cosby Show actor had accused of sexual abuse.
Cosby’s lawyers claimed the trial was unfair, using a statement the actor once made in a civil lawsuit. He thought that statement could never be used against him in a criminal case, but it eventually did. Prosecutors have thereby violated Cosby’s rights.
The Supreme Court has ruled that there is only one solution in this case, and that is the release of Cosby. “Any future prosecution of these specific charges must be ruled out,” the verdict continued.
Cosby was the first major celebrity to be convicted of sexual abuse after the #MeToo movement emerged to draw attention to sexual harassment and abuse. More than 60 women claimed they were victims of the actor, but only Constand’s accusation was heard in court because the rest were time-barred. Cosby has always maintained that he is innocent.