About six months after the surprising release of actor Bill Cosby, the responsible public prosecutor wants to challenge this decision with the help of the highest US court. A corresponding petition had been handed over to the Surpreme Court, said the prosecutor in Montgomery County in the US state of Pennsylvania. It was not yet clear whether the Surpreme Court would really deal with the case. The court rejects the vast majority of such petitions.
The actor was accused of having drugged and sexually abused the then university employee Andrea Constand in 2004. Cosby was found guilty in April 2018 and sentenced a few months later to three to ten years’ imprisonment. It was the second hearing in the case; at the first in the summer of 2017, the jury had declared that it was hopelessly bogged down. Since then, Cosby has been in a prison outside of Philadelphia.
After Cosby spent about three years in prison, the highest court in Pennsylvania surprisingly overturned his conviction in June – and the actor was released. Due to an agreement with a prosecutor previously involved in the case, Cosby should not have been charged in this matter, the court argued.
The public prosecutor’s office had already investigated the actor in 2005, but due to lack of evidence, they did not bring charges and dropped the case.
The then prosecutor Bruce Castor had promised the entertainer not to bring charges in order to induce him to testify in the civil trial. Such deals are not uncommon in the US.
Cosby paid Constand $ 3 million
Castor said he was hoping to do “a little justice” to Constand. Without a confession and sufficient forensic evidence, the chance of a conviction in a criminal case was too low. That’s why he got involved in the “no charge” deal. An out-of-court settlement was then reached in the civil process. Cosby paid Constand $ 3 million.
In the civil case, Cosby confessed under oath that Constand administered the sleeping pill methaqualone and then touched her “where your pants get wet”. “I didn’t hear her say anything … I wasn’t stopped.” When asked if he had gotten methaqualone to sleep with women, Cosby replied, “Yes.” The admission coincided with the allegations made by numerous women that Cosby had drugged and sexually abused them. Around 60 women have now accused him. Most of the cases, however, are statute-barred, some more than 50 years ago.
Cosby weighed heavily with his testimony. It was the reason why the proceedings were restarted in 2015, a few days before the expiry of the limitation period. New prosecutor Kevin Steele had applied for the post with a promise to reopen the case – which is exactly what he did. Contrary to what his predecessor Bruce Castor had agreed with Cosby’s lawyers. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court later ruled that Steele should have respected the collusion. Cosby’s confession should not have been used in the civil process. He did not get a fair trial, as required by the constitution. The public prosecutor’s office now wants to take action against this ruling.