Law Firm News
Today's Legal News Bookmark This Website
Bill Cosby’s sex assault conviction overturned by court
Legal News | 2021/06/30 15:22
Pennsylvania’s highest court overturned Bill Cosby’s sex assault conviction Wednesday after finding an agreement with a previous prosecutor prevented him from being charged in the case.

Cosby has served more than two years of a three- to 10-year sentence at a state prison near Philadelphia. He had vowed to serve all 10 years rather than acknowledge any remorse over the 2004 encounter with accuser Andrea Constand.

The 83-year-old Cosby, who was once beloved as “America’s Dad,” was convicted of drugging and molesting the Temple University employee at his suburban estate.

He 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.

Cosby was the first celebrity tried and convicted in the #MeToo era, so the reversal could make prosecutors wary of calling other accusers in similar cases. The law on prior bad act testimony varies by state, though, and the ruling only holds sway in Pennsylvania.

Prosecutors did not immediately say if they would appeal or seek to try Cosby for a third time.

The justices voiced concern not just about sex assault cases, but what they saw as the judiciary’s increasing tendency to allow testimony that crosses the line into character attacks. The law allows the testimony only in limited cases, including to show a crime pattern so specific it serves to identify the perpetrator.

In New York, the judge presiding over last year’s trial of movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, whose case had sparked the explosion of the #MeToo movement in 2017, let four other accusers testify. Weinstein was convicted and sentenced to 23 years in prison. He is now facing separate charges in California.


[PREV] [1] ..[300][301][302][303][304][305][306][307][308].. [2660] [NEXT]
All
Lawyer Media News
Legal Marketing News
Headline Legal News
Court Line News
Legal News
Legal Interview
Topics in Legal News
Attorney News
Press Release
Attorney Opinions
Lawyer Blogs
Legal Marketing
Politics
Law Firm News
Amazon workers strike at mul..
TikTok asks Supreme Court to..
Supreme Court rejects Wiscon..
US inflation ticked up last ..
Court seems reluctant to blo..
Harvey Weinstein hospitalize..
Romanian court orders a reco..
Judge blocks Louisiana law r..
PA high court orders countie..
Court overturns actor Jussie..
Tight US House races in Cali..
North Carolina Attorney Gene..
Arizona high court won’t re..
What to know about the unpre..
A man who threatened to kill..
VA asks US Supreme Court to ..
Kenya’s deputy president pl..
South Korean court acquits f..


   Lawyer & Law Firm Sites
St. Louis Missouri Criminal Defense Lawyer
St. Charles DUI Attorney
www.lynchlawonline.com
Oregon DUI Law Attorney
Eugene DUI Lawyer. Criminal Defense Law
www.mjmlawoffice.com
Los Angeles Immigration Documents Service
New Vision Immigration
www.immigrationnew.com
New York Adoption Lawyers
New York Foster Care Lawyers
Adoption Pre-Certification
www.lawrsm.com
 
 
© Lawyer Media News. All rights reserved.

The content contained on the web site has been prepared by Lawyer Media News as a service to the internet community and is not intended to constitute legal advice or a substitute for consultation with a licensed legal professional in a particular case or circumstance. Legal Blog postings and hosted comments are available for general educational purposes only and should not be used to assess a specific legal situation. Professional Bar Association Web Design