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.
Attorneys for disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein praised Pennsylvania’s highest court for overturning Bill Cosby's sex assault conviction Wednesday, while indicating confidence that their client will have his rape conviction tossed out as well.
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 released from a prison outside Philadelphia shortly after Wednesday's ruling.
ACTRESS ALLISON MACK SENTENCED TO 3 YEARS IN NXIVM SEX-SLAVE CASE
Actor and comedian Bill Cosby leaves a preliminary hearing on sexual assault charges on May 24, 2016 in at Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania’s highest court has overturned Cosby’s sex assault conviction. The court said Wednesday that they found an agreement with a previous prosecutor prevented him from being charged in the case (Photo by William Thomas Cain/Getty Images)
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court said it found an agreement with District Attorney Kevin Steele, the prosecutor who brought the case against Cosby, violated a previous prosecutor’s agreement to not charge him, though the deal had apparently never been put in writing.
"In reversing the conviction of Bill Cosby, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has demonstrated, once again, that no matter who a defendant may be and no matter the nature of the crime, courts can be relied upon to follow the law and come to the correct decision," Weinstein's lawyers told Fox News.
"This decision also reaffirms our confidence that the Appellate Division in New York will reach the similarly correct decision in Harvey Weinstein's appeal, considering the abundance of issues that cry out for a reversal," the statement added.
Weinstein's legal counsel is demanding a new trial more than a year after his rape conviction in New York. In a brief filed in April, they argued the #MeToo prosecution that put him behind bars was buoyed by improper rulings from a judge who was "cavalier" in protecting the disgraced movie mogul’s right to a fair trial.
In this Feb. 21, 2020 file photo, Harvey Weinstein arrives at a Manhattan court as jury deliberations continue in his rape trial, in New York. More than a year after Weinstein's rape conviction, his lawyers are demanding a new trial, arguing in court papers that the landmark #MeToo prosecution that put him behind bars was buoyed by improper rulings from a judge who was "cavalier" in protecting the disgraced movie mogul's right to a fair trial. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
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He is set to be extradited to Los Angeles to face 11 counts, including sexual battery.
Fox News' James Leggate and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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