Prosecutors are trying to nudge the U.S. Supreme Court to consider reinstating Bill Cosby’s sexual assault conviction.
The prosecutors released a petition stating that the verdict was sullied over a questionable agreement that Bill Cosby used to grant lifetime immunity. The petition also stated that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision to overturn Cosby’s conviction created a dangerous precedent by giving a press release the legal weight of an immunity agreement.
Bill Cosby is now 84 years age. He was convicted of sexual assault, in the 2018 retrial, when the jury found him guilty of drugging and molesting college sports administrator Andrea Constand in 2004. He spent three years in prison before the Pennsylvania high court ordered his release this past June.
MSNBC The News: Bill Cosby Released
Within the petition, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele called the court’s decision “an indefensible rule”. Steele also wrote, “This decision as it stands will have far-reaching negative consequences beyond Montgomery County and Pennsylvania. The U.S. Supreme Court can right what we believe is a grievous wrong.”
The press release that Steele and the prosecution are referring to when they say “held legal weight of an immunity agreement”, came from a 2005 press release.
In 2005, former prosecutor Bruce Castor sent out a written press release detailing that he did not have enough evidence to arrest Bill Cosby. That press release was used during a 2006 civil suit from an accuser, and then used again during two criminal trials.
Cosby’s lawyers have continuously argued that he relied on a promise that he would never be charged when he gave damaging testimony. The release also included an ambiguous “caution” that Castor “will reconsider this decision should the need arise.” Both sides parties since have spent years debating what that meant.
Steele’s petition to revive the case is more than unlikely to pass. The U.S. Supreme Court accepts fewer than 1% of the petitions it gathers. A minimum of four justices on the nine member court would have to agree to hear the case. The public won’t hear a decision on the petition for several months either.
Cosby’s spokesperson, Andrew Wyatt, called Steele “obsessed” with the actor, and said he only hoped to please “the #MeToo mob.” Defense lawyers stand on the idea that the case should never have gone to trial because of a “non-prosecution agreement.” Wyatt also stated that, “This is a pathetic last-ditch effort that will not prevail. The Montgomery’s County’s DA’s fixation with Mr. Cosby is troubling to say the least.”
The dates of Bill Cosby’s alleged crimes have spanned from 1965 to 2008 in ten U.S. states and in one Canadian province. His life hasn’t been the same since 2004, and the debates probably won’t stop even after Cosby is long gone.
Stay tuned to classixphilly.com for more news.
