Our live coverage has ended. Read about the court’s decision here.
Notorious comedian Bill Cosby was released from prison today after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled to overturn his 2018 conviction on sexual assault charges.
Here’s what happened:
Lise-Lotte Lublin who accused Bill Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting her in 1989 when she was 23 years old said the comedian’s overturned conviction on a procedural technicality does not make him innocent.
“He’s not innocent,” said Lublin. “He’s a notorious rapist and he just got away with it.”
Lublin also indicated she and other accusers would continue to seek justice despite daunting legal hurdles ahead.
Cosby was released from prison after the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania vacated his 2018 conviction on sexual assault charges and judgment of sentence. He was sentenced in 2018 to 3 to 10 years in a state prison for drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand at his home in 2004.
Elie Honig, a CNN senior legal analyst and former federal and state prosecutor, said the only place to appeal an opinion from the Pennsylvania’s highest court is the US Supreme Court.
“There is no way the US Supreme Court will take this case. … The court says you cannot retry him for this particular victim,” he said of Constand. “We know that the statute of limitations has passed for many of these victims.”
Lublin, for her part, said that despite today’s outcome she feels partial justice had already been irreversibly served.
“He did spend time in jail,” she said. “Time is time. He can never get that back.”
“He has become this infamous person versus a famous person, and he is going to have to deal with that,” she added. “His consequences aren’t over. He still has to walk through all of this shame.”
Gloria Allred, an attorney who represents several of the so-called “prior bad acts” witnesses who testified against Bill Cosby, said Wednesday that while she doubted the disgraced comedian would face further criminal charges, “Mr. Cosby is not home free.”
Allred spoke to reporters at a virtual news conference hours after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled to overturn Cosby’s 2018 conviction on sexual assault charges.
Allred said the ruling meant that a California suit against the entertainer — in which she represents a woman who claims she was assaulted by Cosby at the age of 15 — can now proceed, as both sides had agreed to pause pending the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision.
Allred said the decision meant that Cosby was unlikely to be tried again on criminal charges, thus giving him no basis to invoke the Fifth Amendment in an upcoming civil deposition.
“I’m looking forward to taking his deposition and really getting all the answers that we seek,” Allred said.
Asked to react to the Pennsylvania court’s ruling, Allred said she found it surprising.
“It is what it is,” she added. “In courts and in life, the only thing you can expect is the unexpected.”
Immediately prior to the news conference, Allred spoke to CNN during which she called the court’s decision “devastating.”
“Even though the court overturned the conviction on technical grounds,” she said, “it should not be interpreted as a statement or a finding that he didn’t engage in the acts of which he’d been accused.”
Bill Cosby thanked his supporters and tweeted a photo of himself Wednesday night, saying he never changed his stance or story.
“I have never changed my stance nor my story. I have always maintained my innocence,” Cosby tweeted. “Thank you to all my fans, supporters and friends who stood by me through this ordeal. Special thanks to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court for upholding the rule of law.”
Cosby was released from prison earlier today after the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania vacated his 2018 conviction on sexual assault charges and judgment of sentence.
Cosby was sentenced in 2018 to 10 years in a state prison for drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand at his home 14 years ago.
In a statement today, Constand called the decision “disappointing” and expressed concern that “it may discourage those who seek justice for sexual assault in the criminal justice system from reporting or participating in the prosecution of the assailant or may force a victim to choose between filing either a criminal or civil action.”
Andrea Constand and her attorneys said today’s opinion to vacate Bill Cosby’s conviction is disappointing and could discourage others survivors of sexual assault from coming forward.
The statement added: “Once again, we remain grateful to those women who came forward to tell their stories, to DA Kevin Steele and the excellent prosecutors who achieve a conviction at trial, despite the ultimate outcome which resulted from a procedural technicality, and we urge all victims to have their voices heard.”
Earlier today: Cosby was released from prison after the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania vacated his 2018 conviction on sexual assault charges and judgment of sentence.
He had been sentenced to 10 years in a state prison for drugging and sexually assaulting Constand at his home 14 years ago.
CNN’s Jean Casarez contributed to this report.
Phylicia Rashad has long been one of Bill Cosby’s staunchest supporters and on Wednesday she shared her reaction to his sentence being overturned.
“FINALLY!!!! A terrible wrong is being righted- a miscarriage of justice is corrected!” Rashad tweeted, along with a photo of Cosby.
Cosby was released from a Pennsylvania prison after the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania vacated his 2018 conviction on sexual assault charges and sentence.
He was sentenced to 10 years in a state prison after being found guilty of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand at his home 14 years ago.
Following her first tweet, which was met with criticism by some online, Rashad later shared another statement.
“I fully support survivors of sexual assault coming forward,” Rashad wrote in a subsequent tweet.
“My post was in no way intended to be insensitive to their truth,” she wrote.”Personally, I know from friends and family that such abuse has lifelong residual effects. My heartfelt wish is for healing.”
Cosby and Rashad are long-time friends. Rashad has twice played his wife on television: from 1984–92 on the NBC sitcom “The Cosby Show” and on the CBS sitcom “Cosby” from 1996-2000.
Dozens of women have accused Cosby of sexual misconduct, including harassment, drugging and rape, dating back decades. Cosby has consistently disputed the allegations and maintained the relationships were consensual.
Brian Perry, one of Bill Cosby’s attorneys, addressed the media this afternoon alongside the disgraced comedian, saying “the system has to be fair, and fortunately the Supreme Court agreed with us.”
Cosby didn’t speak during the press conference.
Earlier today: Cosby was released from prison after the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania vacated his 2018 conviction on sexual assault charges and judgment of sentence. Victoria Valentino, one of Cosby’s accusers, told CNN she was “stunned” by the court’s decision.
Watch more from the press conference:
Bill Cosby will hold a news conference with his attorneys at approximately 4:20 p.m., his publicist Andrew Wyatt told reporters Wednesday afternoon.
One of Cosby’s attorneys also noted Cosby was napping and wanted to take a bath, so it’s unclear if the timing of the news conference will change.
Bill Cosby is being released from prison after the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania vacated his 2018 conviction on sexual assault charges and judgment of sentence. Victoria Valentino, one of Cosby’s accusers, told CNN she was “stunned” by the court’s decision.
Valentino said she had recently received a letter stating that Cosby’s parole was preemptively denied due to a lack of remorse and a refusal to participate in programs for abusers.
She said that when she first heard about Cosby’s release she was “shocked.” Valentino said her phone was bombarded with messages from media, loved ones and survivors.
“For this to come out of left field is — it’s a gut punch,” Valentino said. “There’s no other way to describe it.”
Valentino said the decision sends Cosby’s accusers “back to square one.”
Valentino told CNN this decision is especially disappointing since the women who accused Cosby kickstarted the #MeToo movement and encouraged other women to find their voices.
“Because we spoke out and we saw justice with Cosby, everyone else felt empowered and spoke out,” she said.
“This is really a sad statement about a woman’s value, a woman’s worth - what is happening right now, and we need to do something about this. I just don’t know what,” Valentino said. “I’m so stunned. My stomach is in knots.”
WATCH:
Andrea Constand and her attorneys are reviewing the court decision to release Bill Cosby from prison, one of her attorneys said in a statement.
“Andrea, Bebe and I are reviewing the decision and have decided that we will not have any comment at this time,” Dolores Troiani, one of Constand’s civil attorneys said.
Troiani mentioned Bebe in her statement, a reference to Bebe Kivitz, Constand’s other civil attorney.
Cosby was sentenced in 2018 to 10 years in a state prison for drugging and sexually assaulting Constand at his home 14 years ago.
Bill Cosby is free on a procedural issue that is “irrelevant to the facts of the crime,” the Montgomery County district attorney who previously prosecuted Cosby said in a statement.
Bill Cosby “has been released” from prison, according to Pennsylvania Department of Corrections spokesperson Maria Bevins.
Earlier today, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania vacated his 2018 conviction on sexual assault charges and judgment of sentence.
He had been sentenced to 10 years in a state prison for drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand at his home 14 years ago.
Attorney Gloria Allred, who represented many of the women who have accused Bill Cosby of misconduct, says today’s court decision to release Cosby is “devastating” for the accusers.
The White House did not have a “direct response” on Wednesday to the news that Bill Cosby would be released from prison, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, but she stressed the administration’s support for survivors of sexual assault.
She added she didn’t “have a specific comment on that announcement today,” but added that if the White House releases a statement it could come later Wednesday.
Asked by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins about the kind of message the vacated conviction sends – particularly given it was related to a judge’s decision, and not necessarily whether Cosby committed those crimes – Psaki said she didn’t want to comment on a specific decision.
“I just want to be careful about not speaking to a specific decision by a court,” Psaki said, “but I can say, broadly speaking, as I tried to do earlier, obviously the President is somebody who has fought for advocated for elevating the voices and stories of women who are survivors of sexual assault, sexual abuse, and certainly knows that’s a difficult journey for many of them.”
She added that Biden, “believes that these women are courageous, they’re brave, and he wants it to be an environment wants us to live in a country where they were women will feel comfortable moving forward and telling their story.”
Psaki also reiterated that if there’s a specific response from the White House it would come after the press briefing.
Bill Cosby will be released from prison as soon as today after the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania vacated his 2018 conviction on sexual assault charges and judgment of sentence, according to a courts spokesperson.
A jury had found Cosby guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault for drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand, a former Temple University employee, at his home in a Philadelphia suburb in 2004.
Here’s everything you need to know about Cosby’s case:
There were two trials: At Cosby’s first criminal trial, which ended in a hung jury, defense attorneys tried to poke holes in Constand’s version of events and argued that the two had a consensual sexual relationship. At his second trial, Cosby faced the testimony of five other women who claimed similar misconduct by him.
The verdict: The jury worked for more than 14 hours over two days to reach the guilty verdict. “We are so happy that finally we can say, women are believed. And not only on #MeToo but in a court of law where they are under oath, where they testified truthfully, where they are attacked,” Attorney Gloria Allred, who represented many of the women who accused Cosby of misconduct, said.
Following the verdict: Cosby did not audibly react to the guilty verdict, but he did erupt shortly afterword. Prosecutors asked the judge to revoke Cosby’s bail, saying he was a flight risk and had a private plane. Cosby then stood up and yelled, “He doesn’t have a plane, you asshole.” Moreover, after Cosby was found guilty, many universities revoked his honorary degrees, such Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.
The sentence: Cosby was sentenced to three to 10 years in a state prison. He was ordered to pay a fine of $25,000 plus the costs of prosecution as part of the sentence. In addition, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Judge Steven O’Neill ruled that Cosby would be classified as a “sexually violent predator,” a determination that requires lifetime registration, lifetime mandatory sex offender counseling with a treatment provider and notification to the community that a “sexually violent predator” lives in the area.
Parole: In May 2021, Cosby was denied parole by the Pennsylvania Parole Board. The board cited Cosby’s “failure to develop a parole release plan” and a “negative recommendation by the Department of Corrections” as factors that contributed to the decision.
CNN’s Alyssa Kraus, Eric Levenson, Aaron Cooper and Steve Forrest contributed to this post.
Bill Cosby accuser Victoria Valentino expressed outraged Wednesday after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decided to overturn his conviction.
Another Cosby accuser Janice Baker Kinney speaking to CNN affiliate WPVI said, “it has taken me a little bit of time to absorb this..I am stunned, I am shocked and my stomach is in a knot.”
A representative for Bill Cosby said he will be released from prison Wednesday after his conviction and sentence was vacated.
Andrew Wyatt, who is at the prison currently, said Cosby will be heading back to his home in Pennsylvania.
Wyatt released a statement on behalf of the Cosby family, saying in part that “charges should never have been brought” against Cosby due to the deal that granted him immunity.
He thanked Cosby’s wife, Camille, who he said showed strength through the process.
“I want to thank the attorneys who successfully argued his appeal and especially Mrs. Cosby who stood strong and was here for Mr. Cosby every step of the way and supported every idea and strategy from the attorneys and the team and she always knew that Mr. Cosby was innocent,” the statement said.
A panel of Pennsylvania State Supreme Court judges ruled that there was a “vast” violation of Bill Cosby’s due process rights when he was criminally charged and convicted, a decade after a previous prosecutor had declined to prosecute him in order to urge him to sit for a civil deposition instead – which was ultimately used against him in his criminal trial.
The panel of judges say in their opinion released Wednesday that when former Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor investigated allegations of drugging and rape against Bill Cosby by a woman named Andrea Constand in 2005, Castor felt that “he would not be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Cosby drugged and raped Constand.”
That civil deposition that Cosby ultimately sat for was later revealed in 2014, and one of Castor’s successor’s later used statements he made there as part of Cosby’s criminal trial.
“In light of these circumstances, the subsequent decision by successor D.A.s to prosecute Cosby violated Cosby’s due process rights,” the judges wrote.
The judges weighed different remedies – including having another trial for Cosby – but felt there was only one remedy that could serve as a proper remedy.
“He must be discharged, and any future prosecution on these particular charges must be barred. We do not dispute that this remedy is both severe and rare. But it is warranted here, indeed compelled,” they wrote.
Bill Cosby will be released from prison after the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania vacated his 2018 conviction on sexual assault charges and judgment of sentence.
Cosby’s attorney Brian Perry told CNN “we believe that he will be released from prison this afternoon.”
A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections said in a statement that they are aware of the decision.
“The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections is in receipt of today’s court decision. Work is underway to complete the necessary paperwork, and Mr. Cosby will be released as soon as practical,” spokesperson Maria Bivens said in the statement to CNN.
Lisa Bloom, the attorney for three Bill Cosby accusers, said the Pennsylvania Supreme Court vacating Cosby’s conviction and judgment of sentence is “a slap in the face to all of the victims.”
As Cosby could be released today, Bloom said she thinks it could be “a very hard day” for all the women who accused him of sexual assault. “I think it’s going to be a re-triggering event for all of them who testified that he had drugged and raped them,” she said.
“This conviction was overturned not because he’s innocent, but because a prior prosecutor made a sweetheart deal with him and the court said today he could not have been prosecuted after that deal was made,” Bloom said.
More than 50 women have publicly accused Cosby of raping or assaulting them over the past 40 years. In April 2018, a jury found Cosby guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault, for drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand at his home in a Philadelphia suburb in 2004.
