Why was Bill Cosbys sex assault conviction overturned?
BILL Cosby is slated to be released from prison on June 30, after his charges were dropped due to an "unfair trial." Cosby, 83, was housed at a prison near Philadelphia and served more than two years of a three to 10-year sentence. On June 30, Pennsylvanias Supreme Court overturned Cosbys sex assault conviction after finding an agreement with a previous prosecutor prevented him from being charged for allegedly drugging and molesting Andrea Constand in 2004. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the ruling bars any retrial in the case. Charges were filed against Cosby in late 2015 - just days before the 12-year statute of limitations expired. He was convicted in 2018 at his second trial - after a first trial ended in a hung jury. 4 Bill Cosby served two of his three to 10-year prison sentence Credit: The Mega Agency  The trial judge had allowed just one other accuser to testify at Cosbys first trial when the jury deadlocked. However, the judge 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 had vowed to serve all 10 years rather than acknowledge any remorse over the 2004 encounter with accuser Constand. In May, Cosby was denied parole after refusing to participate in sex offender programs during his nearly three years in state prison. 4 In May, Cosby was denied parole after refusing to participate in sex offender programs Credit: Getty - Pool  During the conviction, the court deemed the elderly inmate a "sexually violent predator" for posing an "imminent safety risk to women." Prosecutors said Cosby repeatedly used his fame and family man persona to manipulate young women, holding himself out as a mentor before betraying them. "There was a built-in level of trust because of his status in the entertainment industry and because he held himself out as a public moralist," Assistant District Attorney Adrienne Jappe argued to the justices. Cosby had invited Constand to an estate he owns in Pennsylvania the night she claims he drugged and sexually assaulted her. Constand, a former professional basketball player who worked at his alma mater, went to police a year later. The other accusers knew Cosby through the entertainment industry and did not go to the police. Cosby will be immediately released from prison. According to ABC News, his publicist Wyatt will be picking Cosby from prison as he's expected to be released within hours.