Bill Cosby's sexual assault conviction overturned by court

Bill Cosby addresses over 5,000 Ohio State graduates on the Oval, Friday June 8, 2001. AP File

By Mariah Muhammad / Tom Hanks

PHILADELPHIA – Pennsylvania’s highest court tossed Bill Cosby’s sexual assault conviction and paved the way for his release from prison Wednesday in a stunning reversal of fortune for the disgraced comedian once known as “America’s Dad,” ruling that the prosecutor in the case was bound by a previous prosecutor’s agreement not to charge Cosby.

The 83-year-old comedian has served over two years of a three-to-10-year sentence after being convicted of drugging and violating Temple University administrator Andrea Constand at his home in 2004.

Cosby was released from SCI Phoenix, a correctional facility located approximately 35 miles outside of Philadelphia.

Cosby was the first high-profile celebrity to be tried and convicted in the #MeToo era, with his 2015 arrest bringing charges against him days before the 12-year statute of limitations ended.

But the Pennsylvania Supreme Court said that District Attorney Kevin Steele, who made the decision to arrest and charge Cosby, was obligated to stand by his predecessor’s promise not to charge Cosby. 

In the court’s decision, Justice David Wecht said Cosby had relied on the former prosecutor’s decision not to charge him when the comedian later gave his potentially incriminating testimony in Constand's civil case.

The court said that overturning the conviction, and barring any further prosecution, “is the only remedy that comports with society’s reasonable expectations of its elected prosecutors and our criminal justice system.”

Cosby was denied parole in May owing to his refusal to participate in sex offender programs while incarcerated.

Prosecutors said Cosby repeatedly used his persona as “America’s Dad” to manipulate young women, holding himself out as a mentor before betraying them.

60 women spoke out about Cosby’s alleged inappropriate behavior, 5 of which were witnesses in the trial.

Cosby, a groundbreaking Black actor who grew up in public housing in Philadelphia, made a fortune estimated at $400 million during his 50 years in the entertainment industry. His trademark clean comedy fueled popular TV shows – most notably Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, The Cosby Show and A Different World, books and stand-up comedy acts.

Cosby earned an honorary doctoral degree in education from Ohio State in 2001. That same year, Cosby spoke at spring commencement at the invitation of then-University President Brit Kirwan. The university’s board of trustees made the unprecedented decision to revoke Cosby’s degree in 2018 as he faced trial.