Prosecution appeals decision to make Cosby a free man to Supreme Court

Update (11/29/21): Nearly five months after Bill Cosby became a free man, prosecutors filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court Monday appealing the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision to overturn his conviction. Back in June, the court ruled a previous agreement with a previous prosecutor prevented Cosby from being charged. The only written evidence of such a promise is a 2005 press release from the prosecutor, who said he did not have enough evidence to arrest Cosby. Prosecutors said the Pennsylvania ruling could set a dangerous precedent if convictions are overturned over dubious closed-door deals.

“This decision as it stands will have far-reaching negative consequences beyond Montgomery County and Pennsylvania,” Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele wrote in the petition. “The U.S. Supreme Court can right what we believe is a grievous wrong.”

Prosucutors have also accused Pennsylvania’s Chief Justice of misstating key facts of the case discussing the court ruling in a television interview.

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Original Story (6/30/21): In a twist to the story of Bill Cosby’s sexual assault conviction, he became a free man Wednesday after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned his conviction. The court ruled a previous agreement with a previous prosecutor prevented Cosby from being charged.

Those charges came in 2015 and were related to a 2004 encounter with Temple University employee Andrea Constand. Cosby was accused and convicted of drugging and molesting Constand at his suburban estate.

The trial judge had allowed just one other accuser to testify at Cosby’s first trial, which ended in a deadlocked jury. At the retrial, the judge allowed five other accusers to testify about their experiences with Cosby in the 1980s.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court said that testimony tainted the trial. A lower appeals court had found it appropriate to show a signature pattern of drugging and molesting women.

Prosecutors did not immediately say if they would appeal or seek to try Cosby for a third time.

Wednesday evening, Cosby took to Twitter. “I have never changed my stance nor my story. I have always maintained my innocence,” Cosby tweeted. “Thank you to all my fans, supporters and friends who stood by me through this ordeal. Special thanks to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court for upholding the rule of law.”

Cosby has served more than two years of a three-to-10-year sentence at a state prison near Philadelphia. In May, Cosby was denied parole after refusing to participate in sex offender programs during his sentence. 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.

Cosby was the first celebrity tried and convicted in the #MeToo era. Even though the law on prior bad act testimony varies by state and the ruling only holds sway in Pennsylvania, the reversal could make prosecutors wary of calling other accusers in similar cases.