Bill Cosby had his sexual assault conviction thrown out Wednesday — in a stunning ruling by Pennsylvania’s highest court that found a prosecutor’s decades-old agreement should have shielded him from criminal charges.
The fallen funnyman, 83, is set to walk out of a Philadelphia-area prison a free man after serving more than two years of a three- to 10-year sentence.
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 2005 to Castor, who decided not to pursue charges in the case, noting it took her a year to come forward and saying there were inconsistencies in her case.
So Constand sued Cosby in civil court weeks later, and the case was settled for an undisclosed sum.
But as part of that civil case, Castor and Cosby’s camp say they made a behind-the-scenes verbal agreement to have the actor give a deposition on Constand’s allegations in exchange for Cosby never being criminally charged over them.
Cosby had admitted in the deposition that he drugged Constand before performing a sex act on her, although he said it was consensual.
Castor said he made the deal thinking it would land Costand a million-dollar payday.
Cosby’s damning testimony was later used, in part, to help convict him.
In 2017, Castor’s successor, Kevin Steele, opted to file charges against Cosby — just days before the 12-year statute of limitations expired.
The judge in the case 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.
The jury deadlocked. But Steele took another shot at Cosby a year later and landed a conviction.
But Wednesday’s ruling said the prosecution was obligated to uphold Castor’s promise not to charge the comedian.
“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, particularly when it results in a criminal prosecution that was foregone for more than a decade,” the ruling says.
“For these reasons, Cosby’s convictions and judgment of sentence are vacated, and he is discharged.”
In addition to overturning the conviction, the court barred any retrials in the case saying it’s “the only remedy that comports with society’s reasonable expectations of its elected prosecutors and our criminal justice system.
State corrections officials said Wednesday that the necessary paperwork for his release is being processed — though it’s unclear exactly when he will be sprung, NBC News reported.
“The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections is in receipt of today’s court decision,” a spokesperson told the outlet. “Work is underway to complete the necessary paperwork, and Mr. Cosby will be released as soon as practical.”
Cosby has refused to offer any remorse over the encounter with Constand, a Temple University employee — vowing to rather serve all 10 years of the sentence.
With Post wires
