Bill Cosby, who drugged and raped women while they were unconscious, is to be freed after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court today overturned his sexual assault convictions. An earlier District Attorney promised Cosby immunity from criminal prosecution in return for testimony in his victims' civil cases, so the prosecution of him by a later DA was unconstitutional.
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. … 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.
I'm seeing a lot of lawyers today explaining why this was a predictable outcome, with not a little sanctimony on offer about how "technicalities" are really "constitutional rights", but this case is so devastating to the credibility of the justice system I'm thinking maybe now is not the time.
