The nation’s social media airwaves were in shock over news on Wednesday the Pennsylvania Supreme Court had vacated Bill Cosby’s sexual assault conviction, and the 83-year-old entertainer’s subsequent release from prison.
Bill Cosby was convicted of rape.
— Eliza Orlins (@elizaorlins) June 30, 2021
His conviction was just overturned.
If you still think there’s any question that the system is rigged for the wealthy and powerful who can hire million-dollar lawyers, think again.
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.
Bill Cosby being released from prison was not on my list of predictions for the week.
— Omar Jimenez (@OmarJimenez) June 30, 2021
The former “Cosby Show” star was arrested in 2015, when a district attorney armed with newly unsealed evidence — the comic’s damaging deposition testimony in a lawsuit brought by Constand — brought charges against him days before the 12-year statute of limitations ran out.
FINALLY!!!! A terrible wrong is being righted- a miscarriage of justice is corrected! pic.twitter.com/NrGUdwr23c
— Phylicia Rashad (@PhyliciaRashad) June 30, 2021
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.
"Trump's impeachment lawyer turns out have botched the Bill Cosby case, which means Cosby gets out on a technicality" is maybe Peak America.
— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) June 30, 2021
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 the Constand’s civil case.
i never wanna hear "well did you report it?" again. 60 women accused Bill Cosby, and even with 60 accusers we took years to convict, and now he's going free anyway. there are no consequences for rape and rapists know that. so let's be real: rape is fully legal in this country.
— Lane Moore (@hellolanemoore) June 30, 2021
The court called Cosby’s arrest “an affront to fundamental fairness, particularly when it results in a criminal prosecution that was forgone for more than a decade.”
Rich, powerful, sexual predator, Jeffrey Epstein got s sweetheart deal from then US attorney, Alex Acosta.
— Ana Navarro-Cárdenas (@ananavarro) June 30, 2021
Rich, powerful, sexual-predator Bill Cosby got a sweet-heart, no-prosecution deal from a prosecutor and is getting out of jail.
Anybody else see a pattern, here?
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.”
“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.”
Bill Cosby was convicted of it and got released 2 years later. Trump bragged about it and was never even charged. This is why women hesitate to come forward about sexual assault, in case it was still unclear.
— The Volatile Mermaid (@OhNoSheTwitnt) June 30, 2021
Four judges formed the majority that ruled in Cosby’s favor, while three others dissented in whole or in part.
Bill Cosby admitted in sworn deposition to giving women he wanted to have sex with date rape drugs.
— delonté (@dilemmv) June 30, 2021
He admitted to having extramarital affairs with women.
His sentence was vacated because of an “agreement not to prosecute” not because he was innocent and not guilty.
Even though Cosby was charged only with the assault on Constand, the trial judge allowed five other accusers to testify that they, too, were similarly victimized by Cosby in the 1980s. Prosecutors called them as witnesses to establish what they said was a pattern of criminal behavior on Cosby’s part.
Bill Cosby is a rapist. He drugged and raped multiple women—including black women. Pretending he was falsely imprisoned because “white supremacy” is the dumbest take I’ve seen all week.
— TʜᴀᴛOɴᴇGɪʀʟ𝓜𝓮𝓵🐝 (@OneGirlMelissa) June 30, 2021
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices voiced concern about what they saw as the judiciary’s increasing tendency to allow testimony that crosses the line into character attacks. State law allows “prior bad acts” testimony only in limited cases, including to show a crime pattern so specific it serves to identify the perpetrator.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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