Bill Cosby has defiantly declared his innocence after he was released from prison overnight in a stunning reversal of fortune for the comedian once known as "America's Dad".
Cosby's lawyers say the disgraced comedian served "three years of an unjust sentence" after he walked free.
News of Cosby's release from prison has shocked many across the US, especially his accusers.
The court ruled that the prosecutor who brought the case was bound by his predecessor's agreement not to charge Cosby.
Lawyer Brian Perry addressed the media alongside Cosby hours after he was released.
"We've said from day one, we just didn't think he was treated fairly," he said.
"He's happy, his wife is happy. The system only works if it's fair to all sides. That's the bottom line."
"I have always maintained my innocence," Cosby said.
"Thank you to all my fans, supporters and friends who stood by me through this ordeal."
Accusers and their attorneys express outrage
The women, along with their attorneys, have spoken out about Cosby's release.
Lisa Bloom told CNN's Ana Cabrera she is "disgusted and shocked" by the ruling.
"The jury heard all of the evidence, considered everything, convicted him, and now that this day has come I just think it's a slap in the face for all the victims," Ms Bloom, one of the attorneys, said.
"I'm glad he got some time served," she said, but it was only "a tiny, tiny measure of the justice that he should have received."
Ms Bloom said she thought it was "going to be a very hard day. I think it's going to be a retriggering event for all of them who've testified that he had drugged and raped them".
She also tweeted and told CNN that Cosby's release shows the criminal justice system favours the rich and powerful.
"And it just goes to show, if you have money and power in the criminal justice system and you can afford attorneys to fight and fight for years and years, eventually you may find a loophole and a way to get a conviction overturned, and that's what's happened here," Ms Bloom said.
In a statement obtained by CNN, attorney Gloria Allred said the following:
"This decision by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court today to overturn the conviction of Bill Cosby must be devastating for Bill Cosby's accusers," she said.
"My heart especially goes out to those who bravely testified in both of his criminal cases. I represented a majority of the prior bad act accusers who testified.
"Despite the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's decision, this was an important fight for justice and even though the court overturned the conviction on technical grounds, it did not vindicate Bill Cosby's conduct and should not be interpreted as a statement or a finding that he did not engage in the acts of which he has been accused."
Victoria Valentino, who accused Cosby of raping her in the 1960s, said she felt "outraged" and "stunned".
"My stomach is in knots. The work that we have done to uplift women has been overturned by a legal glitch. We now have a serial predator on the street," she said.
Ms Valentino said the announcement came out of left field and she described it as a gut punch.
"What does that say about a woman's worth? A woman's value? Do our lives mean nothing? All of the lives that he damaged, not to mention our children and how we respond to our children and our personal relationships. He's impacted the lives of well over 60 women."
Ms Valentino went on to say that when Cosby's guilty verdict came three years ago, she and other accusers — as well as victims of other powerful men, such as Harvey Weinstein — felt vindicated.
"So here we are, back to square one," she said.
Janice Baker-Kinney accused Cosby of giving her pills and raping her in the 1980s.
She told CNN affiliate WPVI-TV it's taking her some time to absorb news of Cosby's release.
"I am stunned, I am shocked and my stomach is in a knot," she said.
Cosby released
Cosby, 83, had served nearly three 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.
The former Cosby Show star was arrested in 2015, when a district attorney armed with newly unsealed evidence — the comic's damaging deposition in a lawsuit filed by Ms Constand — brought charges against him days before the 12-year statute of limitations was about to run out.
But the Pennsylvania Supreme Court said overnight 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, though there was no evidence that promise was ever put in writing.
Justice David Wecht, writing for a split court, said Cosby had relied on the former district attorney's decision not to charge him when the comedian gave his potentially incriminating testimony in Ms Constand's civil case.
The court called Cosby's subsequent arrest "an affront to fundamental fairness, particularly when it results in a criminal prosecution that was forgone for more than a decade."
The justices 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".
He was promptly set free from the state prison in suburban Montgomery County and returned to his home with no immediate comment.
His appeals lawyer, Jennifer Bonjean, said Cosby should never have been prosecuted.
"District attorneys can't change it up simply because of their political motivation," she said, adding that Cosby remains in excellent health, apart from being legally blind.
In a statement, Mr Steele said Cosby went free "on a procedural issue that is irrelevant to the facts of the crime."
He commended Ms Constand for coming forward and added: "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."
Ms Constand and her lawyer did not immediately return messages seeking comment.
"FINALLY!!!! A terrible wrong is being righted — a miscarriage of justice is corrected!" the actor's Cosby Show co-star Phylicia Rashad tweeted.
"I am furious to hear this news," actor Amber Tamblyn, a founder of Time's Up, an advocacy group for victims of sexual assault, said in a Twitter post.
"I personally know women who this man drugged and raped while unconscious. Shame on the court and this decision."
In sentencing Cosby, the trial judge had ruled him a sexually violent predator who could not be safely allowed out in public and needed to report to authorities for the rest of his life.
Four Supreme Court justices formed the majority that ruled in Cosby's favour, while three others dissented in whole or in part.
Peter Goldberger, a suburban Philadelphia lawyer with an expertise in criminal appeals, said prosecutors could ask the Pennsylvania Supreme Court for reargument or reconsideration, but it would be a very long shot.
"I can't imagine that with such a lengthy opinion, with a thoughtful concurring opinion and a thoughtful dissenting opinion, that you could honestly say they made a simple mistake that would change their minds if they point it out to them," Mr Goldberger said.
Even though Cosby was charged only with the assault on Ms Constand, the judge at his trial allowed five other accusers to testify that they, too, were similarly victimised by Cosby in the 1980s.
Prosecutors called them as witnesses to establish what they said was a pattern of behaviour on Cosby's part.
Cosby's lawyers had argued on appeal that the use of the five additional accusers was improper.
But the Pennsylvania high court did not weigh in on the question, saying it was moot given the justices' finding that Cosby should not have been prosecuted in the first place.
In May, Cosby was denied parole after refusing to participate in sex offender programs behind bars.
He said he would resist the treatment programs and refuse to acknowledge wrongdoing even if it meant serving the full 10 years.
Prosecutors said Cosby repeatedly used his fame and family man persona to manipulate young women, holding himself out as a mentor before betraying them.
The groundbreaking Black actor grew up in public housing in Philadelphia and made a fortune estimated at $400 million during his 50 years in the entertainment industry that included the TV shows I Spy, The Cosby Show and Fat Albert, along with comedy albums and a multitude of television commercials.
The suburban Philadelphia prosecutor who originally looked into Ms Constand's allegations, Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor, considered the case flawed because Ms Constand waited a year to come forward and stayed in contact with Cosby afterward. Castor declined to prosecute and instead encouraged Constand to sue for damages.
Questioned under oath as part of that lawsuit, Cosby said he used to offer quaaludes to women he wanted to have sex with.
He eventually settled with Ms Constand for US$3.4 million.
Portions of the deposition later became public at the request of The Associated Press and spelled Cosby's downfall, opening the floodgates on accusations from other women and destroying the comic's good-guy reputation and career.
More than 60 women came forward to say Cosby violated them.
The AP does not typically identify sexual assault victims without their permission, which Ms Constand has granted.
Cosby, in the deposition, acknowledged giving quaaludes to a 19-year-old woman before having sex with her at a Las Vegas hotel in 1976.
Cosby called the encounter consensual.
Overnight, the woman, Therese Serignese, now 64, said the court ruling "takes my breath away."
"I just think it's a miscarriage of justice. This is about procedure. It's not about the truth of the women," she said.
She said she took solace in the fact Cosby served nearly three years: "That's as good as it gets in America" for sex crime victims, she said.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMifmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LjluZXdzLmNvbS5hdS93b3JsZC9iaWxsLWNvc2J5LWZyZWVkLWZyb20tcHJpc29uLWhpcy1zZXgtY29udmljdGlvbi1vdmVydHVybmVkLzA5MjQ4ZGVkLTJmZDEtNDQ5OC1iNjlkLTY1M2NkZjRhMzY2ZdIBAA?oc=5
2021-06-30 23:29:03Z
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