Who Is Bill Cosby ?
Wide criticism spread on the social media, following the release of Bill Cosby, accused of sexual assault in several cases.
USA– US comedian Bill Cosby has left prison hours after his sexual assault conviction was overturned by Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court.
The judges said there had been a “process violation” by the prosecution, but admitted their ruling was unusual.
Mr Cosby, 83, served more than two years of a three to 10-year sentence at a state prison near Philadelphia.
In 2018 he was found guilty of drugging and molesting ex-basketball player Andrea Constand.
Mr Cosby is best known for starring in the 1980s TV series The Cosby Show and was once known as “America’s Dad”.
Dozens of women have publicly accused Mr Cosby of sexual assault, but he was only tried criminally for the incident against Ms Constand. His conviction in 2018 was widely seen as a landmark moment in the #MeToo movement.
In a verdict issued on Wednesday, Pennsylvania’s highest court found there was a “process violation” because Mr Cosby’s lawyers had made an agreement with a previous state prosecutor that he would not be charged in the case.
Who Is Bill Cosby ?
Cosby born July 12, 1937in Philadelphia. He is an American former stand-up comedian, actor, and author who held an active career for over six decades. In 2018 he was convicted of a number of sex offenses before it was overturned by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in June 2021.
Sexual assault allegations
Cosby has been the subject of highly publicized accusations of rape, drug-facilitated sexual assault, sexual battery, child sexual abuse, and sexual misconduct, the earliest of which were said by his accusers to have taken place in the mid-1960s. In October 2014, a part of comedian Hannibal Buress’s comedy routine that described sexual misbehavior by Cosby went viral, resulting in more women coming forward to state that they were assaulted by Cosby. The dates of the alleged incidents span from 1965 to 2008 across ten U.S. states and one Canadian province.
On June 23, 2020, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Cosby would be able to appeal his sexual assault conviction based upon questions on testimony from a witness being more prejudicial than probative.
The court will hear his appeal on arguments of whether it was proper for five prosecution witnesses to testify in the case and include a deposition that Cosby admitted to giving Quaalude to other women in the past.
The court also agreed to review whether a former prosecutor had informed Cosby that he would not be prosecuted for the assault, which resulted in Cosby’s agreeing to testify in his accuser’s civil lawsuit.
Today June 30, 2021, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned Cosby’s convictions.
The decision stated that Cosby had been reliant on an unwritten promise that district attorney Bruce Castor had made to not convict him prior to testifying in the Constand case. The court also ruled that the conviction was based on “tainted” testimony, and barred a retrial of the case.
Cosby was promptly released that day. District Attorney Kevin Steele said Cosby was released “on a procedural issue that is irrelevant to the facts of the crime” and that he hoped that Cosby’s release would not discourage crime victims from reporting sexual assaults because “no one is above the law — including those who are rich, famous and powerful.
The court’s decision to abolish the penalty was widely criticized on social media, and Bill Cosby’s name was topped on Twitter.
Bill Cosby going free is just another way to tell women that men can do whatever they want to us
— Jessica Valenti (@JessicaValenti) June 30, 2021
As a reminder, AT LEAST FIFTY-EIGHT WOMEN accused Bill Cosby of sexual assault. 58!
Thank you to all those who had the courage to speak up and seek justice. It was not in vain. He served two years. We all know what he did. Ant they made it easier for other women to come forward. pic.twitter.com/XwlG8XFHJ5
— Ana Navarro-Cárdenas (@ananavarro) June 30, 2021
