This was the first guilty verdict since the start of the #MeToo movement. Now a US court has ruled: The verdict against former TV star Bill Cosby is invalid, he will be released. The reason is, among other things, a prior agreement with the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

A US court has overturned the sexual assault sentence of former television star Bill Cosby. The Pennsylvania State Supreme Court invalidated the 83-year-old’s sentence and ordered his release from prison.

The actor who became world famous with the sitcom “The Bill Cosby Show” Was convicted in 2018A case of sexually abusing a woman in 2004. The court found that it proved that Cosby had drugged his victim at his home in Philadelphia and wronged her. Cosby was sentenced to a minimum of three and a maximum of ten years in prison.

The entertainer had always denied the allegations. He was in prison for more than two years and released hours after the verdict.

Public Prosecutor did not comply with the previous agreement

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned the sentence. Among other things, the judge agreed with Cosby’s lawyers that the five women should not have been admitted as witnesses at the trial.

The judges also pointed out that the then-investigating public prosecutor, after disclosing the charges in 2005, promised not to bring a criminal case against Cosby if he testified in a civil case for compensation. The prosecutor’s successor subsequently initiated criminal proceedings. Cosby’s statements from the civil proceedings against him were used.

First conviction since the start of the #MeToo movement

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that attorney Kevin Steele should have honored his predecessor’s promise. Cosby relied on this promise when he gave his testimony. This is in line with the reasonable requirements of society’s criminal justice system and procedures for elected public prosecutors.

Cosby has been accused of sexual abuse by more than 60 women, but most cases remain a legal taboo. The actor was revered as the “Father of America” ​​in the United States for decades. In his role as a lovable doctor and good-natured family man on “The Bill Cosby Show,” he was one of the country’s most popular TV stars. His conviction was the first guilty verdict against a celebrity since the #MeToo movement began.