PA Supreme Court overturns first high-profile celebrity conviction of #MeToo movement
American entertainer Bill Cosby has been released from prison to return home after his sexual conviction was overturned by Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
The 83-year-old comedian was released from the state prison in Montgomery County Wednesday afternoon.
Releasing Cosby “is the only remedy that comports with society’s reasonable expectations of its elected prosecutors and our criminal justice system,” said Justice David N. Wecht.
Cosby had already served two years of his three-to-10-year sentence.
“We did it! We did it!” his spokesperson, Andrew Wyatt said describing his prison time “a three year unwanted vacation” and the prosecution as “ludicrous” and “racially motivated.”
The #MeToo campaign emerged after some women began to blow the whistle on their abusers in the highest social echelons.
Many other US politicians and celebrities have accused of sexual misconduct, partly as a result of the social media movement.
Cosby’s jail terms had been hailed as a victory for the #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct by powerful men.
”We pulled the sheets off today, and America got to see the truth,” Wyatt said. “What we were able to prove today is that Mr. Cosby is innocent.”
He had been facing accusations of drugging and molesting a girl in 2004.
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele, meanwhile, said the justices vacated the conviction “on a procedural issue that is irrelevant to the facts of the crime.”
“I want to commend Cosby’s victim Andrea Constand for her bravery in coming forward and remaining steadfast throughout this long ordeal, as well as all of the other women who have shared similar experiences,” Steele said. “We still believe that no one is above the law — including those who are rich, famous and powerful.”
In December 2015, three Class II felony charges of aggravated indecent assault were filed against Cosby, based on allegations by Constand concerning incidents in January 2004.
Constand said Cosby’s release “is not only disappointing but of concern in 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.”
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