The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned Bill Cosby\u2019s sex assault conviction, setting the stage for the release of the 83-year-old comedian later in the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The state\u2019s highest court tossed Cosby\u2019s conviction as a result of an agreement he had with a prior prosecutor that would have prevented Cosby from being criminally charged in the case. This new ruling bars any retrial in the case, court documents say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cosby is two years into a three-to-10-year prison term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Supreme Court\u2019s opinion also disagreed with the trial court judge\u2019s decision to let prosecutors call five other accusers in addition to Andrea Constand, the Temple University employee whose allegation was the basis of the criminal case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cosby was accused of drugging and molesting Constand at his estate in 2004. He was charged in 2015 for the alleged attack and arrested just days before the 12-year statute of limitations expired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Originally, the trial judge had allowed just one other accuser to testify at Cosby\u2019s first trial. However, after the jury deadlocked, the judge then allowed five other accusers to testify at Cosby\u2019s retrial.Related Articles<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This testimony tainted the trial, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court said, though the lower appeals court had found it appropriate to show a pattern of behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Source:\u00a0Adomonline<\/p>\n\n\n\n