Why was Bill Cosbys sexual assault conviction overturned?
Actor was freed from prison over three years after he was found guilty of molesting woman  Bill Cosby, center, listens to members of his team speaks with members of the media outside Cosby's home in Elkins Park, Pa., Wednesday, June 30, 2021, after Pennsylvania's highest court overturned his sex assault conviction. Image Credit: AP  Bill Cosbys sexual assault conviction was thrown out Wednesday by Pennsylvanias highest court in a ruling that swiftly freed the actor from prison more than three years after he was found guilty of drugging and molesting Temple University employee Andrea Constand at his suburban Philadelphia mansion. Cosby, 83, was the first celebrity tried and convicted in the #MeToo era, and his conviction was seen as a turning point in the movement to hold powerful men accountable for sexual misconduct. Heres a look at the case against Cosby and the courts decision:  Bill Cosby, center, and spokesperson Andrew Wyatt, right, approach members of the media gathered outside the home of the entertainer in Elkins Park, Pa., Wednesday, June 30, 2021. The split court found that Cosby was unfairly prosecuted because the previous district attorney had promised the comedian once known as Americas Dad that he wouldnt be charged over Constands accusations. Cosby was charged by another prosecutor who claimed he wasnt bound by that agreement. The court said thats not the case. The justices found that Cosby relied on that promise when he agreed to testify without invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in a lawsuit brought against him by Constand. The court concluded that prosecutor who later brought the charges was obligated to stick to the nonprosecution agreement, so the conviction cannot stand. The justices wrote that denying the defendant the benefit of that decision is an affront to fundamental fairness, particularly when it results in a criminal prosecution that was foregone for more than a decade.  Bill Cosby, centre, accompanied by his attorneys Brian McMonagle, left, and Monique Pressley, right. The promise not to prosecute Cosby was made in 2005 by Bruce Castor, who was then the top prosecutor for Montgomery County. Castor was also on the legal team that defended former President Donald Trump during his historic second impeachment trial over the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol by his supporters. During a court hearing weeks after Cosbys 2015 arrest, Castor testified that he promised Cosby he wouldnt be prosecuted in the hopes that it would persuade the actor to testify in a civil case brought by Constand and allow her to win damages. Castor acknowledged the only place the matter was put in writing was in the 2005 press release announcing his decision not to prosecute, but said his decision was meant to shield Cosby from prosecution for all time. His successor noted, during the appeal arguments, that Castor went on to say in the press release that he could revisit the decision in the future. Castor had said that Constands case would be difficult to prove in court because she waited a year to come forward and stayed in contact with Cosby. The first jurors who heard the case may have agreed with him, as they could not reach a verdict in 2017. But a second jury empanelled after the #MeToo movement exploded found him guilty at his 2018 retrial. Constand settled her civil case against Cosby for more than $3 million. Castors successor, District Attorney Kevin Steele, charged Cosby in 2015 after a federal judge, acting on a request from The Associated Press, unsealed documents from her 2005 lawsuit against Cosby, revealing his damaging testimony about sexual encounters with Constand and others. Castor has said Cosby wouldve had to have been nuts to say those things if there was any chance he couldve been prosecuted.  In this April 26, 2018 file photo, Bill Cosby, center, leaves the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pa., after being convicted of drugging and molesting a woman. Extremely rare. Wesley Oliver, a Pennsylvania law professor who has followed Cosbys case closely over the years, said he has never heard of a high court in Pennsylvania or anywhere else grappling with a prosecutors informal promise not to prosecute. It breaks new ground entirely, said Oliver, who teaches at Duquesne University School of Law in Pittsburgh. It sets precedent not just for Pennsylvania but probably other states.  He said the ruling should drive home to prosecutors the risks of suggesting at news conferences, in press releases or verbally in private that they will not prosecute. They should at least add three words  at this time, he said. If you add that qualifier, which wasnt done in Cosbys case, you should be good to go, Oliver said. Accuser Andrea Constand departs the courtroom during the fifth day of deliberations in Bill Cosbys sexual assault trial at the Montgomery County Courthouse on June 16, 2017 in Norristown, Pennsylvania. Its highly unlikely. The decision on Wednesday bars Cosby from being tried again over Constands complaint, finding it to be the only remedy that comports with societys reasonable expectations of its elected prosecutors and our criminal justice system.  And the accusations raised by dozens of other women, including the five who testified at his 2018 trial, often go back decades and are most likely too remote to prosecute. Cosby turns 84 next month. However, his lawyer said he remains in good health, except for vision problems that render him legally blind.