Bill Cosby to be released from prison, charges dropped
Cosby will be released from prison after serving two years of his three- to 10-year sentence after his sexual assault conviction was overturned by Pennsylvania’s highest court.
Social media erupted on Wednesday afternoon when Bill Cosby’s sex assault conviction was overturned by Pennsylvania’s highest court as celebrities, media members and politicians alike expressed disgust at the decision.
News that the disgraced comedian, who has served more than two years of a three-to 10-year sentence at a state prison near Philadelphia, would be set free quickly became a trending topic on Twitter where it seemed like everyone with a blue checkmark chimed in.
"Bill Cosby is STILL an evil rapist," actor Rosanna Arquette wrote.
BILL COSBY’S SEX ASSAULT CONVICTION OVERTURNED BY PENNSYLVANIA COURT
"Welp… I sure didn’t have a court negating 50-something sexual assault allegations and freeing Bill Cosby on my Armageddon Bingo card," controversial MSNBC host Joy Reid declared.
CNN's Omar Jimenez had a similar take. "Bill Cosby being released from prison was not on my list of predictions for the week," he wrote.
"Can't fathom how infuriating and devastating today's decision is for so many women who waited for accountability for so long," CNN’s Kaitlan Collins wrote.
Others made jokes, such as Defense One executive editor Kevin Baron, who wrote, "Bill Cosby got out of jail faster than the Pentagon can get out of Afghanistan."
Many others took to Twitter with thoughts on the situation:
While most people either expressed disgust or cracked a joke, "The Cosby Show" co-star Phylicia Rashad celebrated the shocking news.
"FINALLY!!!! A terrible wrong is being righted- a miscarriage of justice is corrected!" Rashad tweeted to accompany a photo of her former co-star.
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The former "Cosby Show" star was charged in late 2015, when a prosecutor armed with newly unsealed evidence — Cosby’s damaging deposition from her lawsuit — arrested him days before the 12-year statute of limitations expired.
The trial judge had allowed just one other accuser to testify at Cosby’s first trial, when the jury deadlocked. However, he then allowed five other accusers to testify at the retrial about their experiences with Cosby in the 1980s.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court said that testimony tainted the trial, even though a lower appeals court had found it appropriate to show a signature pattern of drugging and molesting women.
Fox News’ Sasha Savitsky contributed to this report.
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