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Bill Cosby freed from Jail, Court Upturns Sex Assault Conviction

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Bill Cosby was released from jail on Wednesday after Pennsylvania’s highest court reversed his sexual assault sentence.

It was a striking U-turn in a case in which led to a high-profile celebrity trial of the #MeToo movement.

The Court’s decision to release Corby is a “non-prosecution” agreement that he made with a former Montgomery County district attorney.

He made this agreement after a woman claimed that he had drugged and assaulted her at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court gave its opinion and wrote that the agreement should have barred the artist from facing any charges in the case. Moreover, its decision excludes any future trial.

The legal teams quickly pointed out the individuality of the agreement.

But there was an instant worry that the case could have an unsettling effect on the survivors of sexual assault.

 

“At the end of the day, rulings like this mean survivors of sexual abuse will be less willing to step forward, afraid that the legal system is stacked against them,” said Elizabeth Fegan, an attorney representing women in a civil case against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.

Harvey Weinstein was convicted for sexually assaulting five women in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills. And now, he has is in serving time in a separate case in New York.

Both of these incidents fueled a national conversation about sexual misconduct continued by wealthy, powerful men.

Therefore, the reversal of Cosby’s conviction has sparked outrage among his accusers and leaders of the #MeToo movement.

 

“I don’t want to hear anything about how cancel culture ruined men’s lives during the MeToo era reckoning for women and survivors. How we went too far,” tweeted Amber Tamblyn, an actress and founding member of Time’s Up, an advocacy group for survivors of sexual assault. “Today’s news that Cosby’s conviction is being overturned is proof we haven’t gone far enough. Our justice system MUST change.”

After being released, Cosby stood outside his Elkins Park home smiling as his advocates walked him inside. He ignored reporters’ questions and instead flashed them a peace sign.

Later he gave a statement saying he had done nothing wrong.

The actor was denied bail in May after he refused to participate in sex offender programs during his nearly three years in state prison.

Just like he said before, he resisted the treatment programs and refused to admit his crime even if it meant serving his full 10-year sentence.

 

He wrote:

“I have never changed my stance nor my story, I have always maintained my innocence. 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.”

 

In 2005 the authorities started investigating Cosby after Temple University employee Andrea Constand, to whom he had been a mentor, reported that he had assaulted her at his home after giving her pills that made her unconscious.

Cosby was Convicted for this assault in 2018 and was sentenced to three to 10 years in state prison.

This was a symbolic win for other women who were also abused and victimized by the actor.

“Today’s majority decision regarding Bill Cosby is not only disappointing but of concern in that it may discourage those who seek justice for sexual assault in the criminal justice system from reporting or participating in the prosecution of the assailant,” Constand wrote in a statement.

Leaders of Time’s Up called the ruling “a travesty and an injustice.” The National Organization for Women criticized his release, saying that the judicial system in the U.S. had “failed survivors again.”

 

In a statement, Montgomery County Dist. Atty. Kevin Steele said Cosby was free “on a procedural issue that is irrelevant to the facts of the crime.”

“My hope is that this decision will not dampen the reporting of sexual assaults by victims. We still believe that no one is above the law — including those who are rich, famous and powerful,” he said.

 

However, John Manly, a Southern California attorney who has represented dozens of sexual assault survivors, said the court’s decision may have done just that.

“This is a huge step backward,” he said. “The Cosby decision yet again shows there are two systems of justice, one for the rich and powerful and the other for the rest. The message sadly here is we cannot keep the powerful in prison.”

 

Before the scandal, Cosby was a ground-breaking and iconic Black artist. Always breaking barriers he became a typical success as a comedian, actor, author, commercial pitchman and scholar.

Attorney Gloria Allred, who represents more than two dozen women who have accused Cosby of abuse, said that despite the court’s decision, the case was an important fight for justice.

Allred also represents Judy Huth, who alleges that Cosby assaulted her at the Playboy Mansion in 1974 when she was 15.

Huth has filed a civil lawsuit against the entertainer that is pending in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

“We are not going to be deterred,” Allred said. “It is always two steps forward and one step back in the women’s movement.”

 

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