Why Bill Cosby's conviction was overturned

 

Bill Cosby arrives for his sexual assault trial, Thursday, April 26, 2018, at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

By MARYCLAIRE DALE and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Bill Cosby's sexual assault conviction was thrown out Wednesday by Pennsylvania's highest court in a ruling that swiftly freed the actor from prison more than three years after he was found guilty of drugging and molesting Temple University employee Andrea Constand at his suburban Philadelphia mansion.

Cosby, 83, was the first celebrity tried and convicted in the #MeToo era, and his conviction was considered as a turning point in the movement to hold powerful men accountable for sexual misbehavior.

Here's a look at the case against Cosby and the court's decision:

WHY DID THE COURT TOSS HIS CONVICTION?

The split court found that Cosby was unfairly punished because the former district attorney had assured the comedian once known as "America's Dad" that he wouldn't be charged over Constand's charges. Cosby was charged by another prosecutor who claimed he wasn't bound by that arrangement.

The court said that's not the case. The court decided that Cosby relied on that assurance when he consented to testify without using his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination in a lawsuit brought against him by Constand.

The court found the prosecutor who later presented the charges was bound to stick to the nonprosecution agreement, hence the conviction cannot stand. The judges said that "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."

WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH THE NONPROSECUTION AGREEMENT?

The promise not to charge Cosby was made in 2005 by Bruce Castor, who was then the senior prosecutor for Montgomery County. Castor was also on the legal team that defended former President Donald Trump during his historic second impeachment trial following the Jan. 6 rebellion at the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.

During a court hearing weeks after Cosby's 2015 arrest, Castor said that he promised Cosby he wouldn't be charged in the hopes that it would induce the actor to testify in a civil action brought by Constand and allow her to collect damages. Castor recognized the only place the subject was stated in writing was in the 2005 press statement announcing his decision not to prosecute but said his decision was meant to insulate Cosby from prosecution "for all time."

His successor highlighted, during the appeal arguments, that Castor went on to indicate in the news release that he could rethink the decision in the future.

Castor had argued that Constand's case would be tough to prove in court because she waited a year to come forward and stayed in contact with Cosby.

The initial jurors who heard the case may have agreed with him, as they could not reach a decision in 2017. But a second jury empaneled after the #MeToo movement burst found him guilty during his 2018 retrial. Constand resolved her civil case against Cosby for more than $3 million.

Castor's successor, District Attorney Kevin Steele, charged Cosby in 2015 after a federal judge, acting on a request from The Associated Press, released documents from her 2005 lawsuit against Cosby, disclosing his damaging testimony about sexual encounters with Constand and others. Castor has stated Cosby "would've had to have been nuts to say those things if there was any chance he could've been prosecuted."

HOW RARE IS THIS?

Extremely rare.

Wesley Oliver, a Pennsylvania law professor who has watched Cosby's case closely over the years, said he has never heard of a high court in Pennsylvania or anyplace else contending with a prosecutor's informal commitment not to prosecute.

"It creates new ground totally," said Oliver, who teaches at Duquesne University School of Law in Pittsburgh. "It establishes precedence not just for Pennsylvania but potentially other states."

He said the ruling should bring home to prosecutors the risks of implying at news conferences, in press releases, or even in private that they will not prosecute.

"They should at least add three words — 'at this moment,'" he remarked. "If you add that qualifier, which wasn't done in Cosby's instance, you should be fine to go," Oliver added.

CAN COSBY BE TRIED AGAIN?

It's quite unlikely. The judgment on Wednesday prohibits Cosby from being tried again over Constand's complaint, finding it to be the "sole remedy that comports with society's legitimate expectations of its elected prosecutors and our criminal justice system."

And the charges leveled by dozens of other women, like the five who testified at his 2018 trial, sometimes go back decades and are most likely too remote to prosecute.

Cosby turns 84 next month. However, his lawyer stated he remained in good health, save for vision impairments that leave him legally blind.

The trial judge found him a sexually violent predator who could still represent a danger to women given his wealth, power and renown, and ordered that he be on a lifetime sex offender registry and check-in monthly with authorities. However, the decision negates that finding.