Bill Cosby has been released from prison
The ruling freeing Cosby was handed down on Wednesday:
The court said Wednesday that it found an agreement with a previous prosecutor that prevented him from being charged in the case.
The disgraced actor has served more than two years of a three- to 10-year sentence at a state prison near Philadelphia. He had vowed to serve all 10 years rather than acknowledge any remorse over the 2004 encounter with accuser Andrea Constand…
The former “Cosby Show” star was charged in late 2015, when a prosecutor armed with newly unsealed evidence — Cosby’s damaging deposition from her lawsuit — ordered his arrest just days before the 12-year statute of limitations expired.
The trial judge had allowed just one other accuser to testify at Cosby’s first trial, when the jury deadlocked. However, he 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.
The article is rather vague and sketchy on the legal issues involved. But I have written extensively on the Cosby trial, and I discussed those issues in previous posts. My conclusion at the time was that the trial in which Cosby was convicted was a real miscarriage of justice, whether or not he was guilty.
One of those posts of mine can be found here. It goes into the issues in some detail, so please read it if you’d like to understand why I think Cosby’s trial was unfair and why I support his release.
That post concludes with this paragraph:
Part II is coming soon. It concerns an agreement that may or may not have been made with Cosby in that civil trial, a deal that would have barred his deposition from being used in a criminal trial.
But I never wrote Part II – at least, I can’t locate it right now.
That is one of the main issues on which Cosby’s recent release was based. It’s not a minor thing, either – it’s actually very important. You can read about it at Legal Insurrection. An excerpt:
But Castor’s successors reopened the case and charged Cosby in 2015, just days before the 12-year statute of limitations expired and amid a barrage of new accusations from women across the country.
At the time, Castor objected to the new prosecution, saying he’d struck a deal with Cosby and his lawyers not to prosecute him for Constand’s assault if Cosby agreed to sit for a deposition in a civil case she had filed against him.
Excerpts from that deposition were ultimately used against Cosby at trial.
It all comes down to the 5th Amendment:
“The right against compulsory self-incrimination accompanies a person wherever he goes, no matter the legal proceeding in which he participates, unless and until “the potential exposure to criminal punishment no longer exists.” Taylor, 230 A.3d at 1065. It is indisputable that, in Constand’s civil case, Cosby was entitled to invoke the Fifth Amendment. No court could have forced Cosby to testify in a deposition or at a trial so long as the potential for criminal charges remained. Here, however, when called for deposition, Cosby no longer faced criminal charges. When compelled to testify, Cosby no longer had a right to invoke his right to remain silent.
“These legal commandments compel only one conclusion. Cosby did not invoke the Fifth Amendment before he incriminated himself because he was operating under the reasonable belief that D.A. Castor’s decision not to prosecute him meant that “the potential exposure to criminal punishment no longer exist[ed].” Id. at 1065. Cosby could not invoke that which he no longer possessed, given the Commonwealth’s assurances that he faced no risk of prosecution. Not only did D.A. Castor’s unconditional decision not to prosecute Cosby strip Cosby of a fundamental constitutional right, but, because he was forced to testify, Cosby provided Constand’s civil attorneys with evidence of Cosby’s past use of drugs to facilitate his sexual exploits. Undoubtedly, this information hindered Cosby’s ability to defend against the civil action, and led to a settlement for a significant amount of money. We are left with no doubt that Cosby relied to his detriment upon the district attorney’s decision not to prosecute him.”
Here’s another old post I wrote about the miscarriages of justice in the Cosby trial. Also see this post of mine.
The bottom line is that the release was the right decision, and it shouldn’t have taken this long to come to it. Why did the prosecution get away with their misconduct in the first place? For one thing, the conviction occurred at the height of MeToo. For another, Cosby had enraged the left by saying that black people should take more responsibility for their problems, and so corners were cut in order to convict him.
The DA who prosecuted Cosby knew of former DA Castor’s agreement with Cosby and either knew or had the resources to determine that then prosecuting Cosby would be a blatant violation of his 5th Amendment Right. The only appropriate consequence for the prosecuting DA’s misconduct is permanent disbarment.
In order to be effective, consequences must be personal.
Cosby paid a big price for not following the ‘woke’ narrative. It is good that he is out of prison. Unless the left starts taking accusations seriously from victims of Bill Clinton and Joe Biden, they do not have a case.
The prosecuting DA, as I understand it, was a junior prosecutor on the aforementioned case, and so could not have been unaware of the arrangement surrounding the deposition. The #MeToo issues were running hot then, providing fertile ground for self-aggrandizement schemes – and as we have all seen (both this week and the past few years), this appears to be the Golden Age for prosecutorial discretion at a breathtaking scale – both to ignore obvious and easily-proven crimes that carry a big cost to society because of their visibility, as well as grandstanding prosecutions like this one (or like the Trump case this week).
I’m not a legal expert in any way, but it surprises me that this could exist as a feature in the national legal culture. What are the checks and balances, besides the electoral process? Is there no censure function? Is this an exploited feature that has landed us with all of these Leftist prosecutors who managed to gain office with flush Dark-money campaign accounts and no past experience as prosecutors? What would the reform look like?
The prosecuting DA, as I understand it, was a junior prosecutor on the aforementioned case, and so could not have been unaware of the arrangement surrounding the deposition.
Did the previous district attorney publicly object to the prosecution of the case or not? Is it so that junior prosecutors never associate with people who read newspapers?
” For one thing, the conviction occurred at the height of MeToo.” [Neo]
If you are correct (and I agree that this had an influence) it is another demonstration of how our justice system can be tainted and actually perverted by popular demand. Is this any different than ascribing the political demeanor of judges by referring to those who appointed them (an Obama appointment, a Trump appointment)?
I think that, to a certain point, this has always been present in the justice system, but the extent to which pitchforks and firebrands can influence a judicial process or decision in today’s age where any nut-case has access to an international megaphone is as terrifying as the judges, prosecutors. and defense attorneys willing to be influenced by them.
Just a man-on-street observation:
1. The original prosecutor agreed not to use the deposition in court, the following prosecutor should have honored the agreement.
2. Right or wrong, the depo was released and the public read Cosby’s confession to the crimes.
3. Cosby was convicted and sentenced to 3 – 10 years in prison.
4. He is 83 y/o, has served 2-1/2 years. With good behavior points, he would have been released around this time anyway.
In fairness under the law, Cosby should not have been prosecuted nor served any time. It really rankles, but overturning his conviction was the only legal decision for the judge. However, we still know two things to be true – 1) Bill Cosby raped the women; 2) OJ Simpson killed Nicole and Ron.
The cad who took Janice Dickenson’s virginity.
Indigo Red:
If you read the older posts of mine I linked, about the Cosby trial and the deposition, I think you’ll see that the deposition doesn’t quite say what I believe you think it says.
Neo, You are correct. Cosby was very careful not to outright confess to drugging and raping. He admitted to buying the ‘ludes with the purpose of having sex with the women, that he believed the accepting of the drugs ad the sex was consensual. He had previously made it clear in his stand-up act that he had been using quaaludes to have sex from an early age and praised their effectiveness. He knew exactly what he was doing and did not think it was wrong or illegal. The depo did not reach a legal standard for either prosecution or conviction. I am just a man-on-the-street and to me and all my street mates, Cosby is guilty, and as much as said so and I don’t really care the size of the glove Simpson or Cosby claims. They were both lucky. They were both guilty.
I was an alternate juror in Orange County, CA. The particulars don’t matter, I had a gut feeling the man was guilty as hell, but the prosecution utterly failed to prove their case. Had I been a deciding juror, my vote was not guilty. However, the sitting jurors found guilt very quickly. I do understand the difference between court and street standards of guilty, not guilty, and innocence (which is not a legal finding.) The prosecution could and did not prove Cosby’s guilt, and Cosby did not have to prove himself not guilty, but he certainly is not an innocent man.
Indigo Red:
I was responding to this statement of yours, specifically the word “know”: “we still know two things to be true – 1) Bill Cosby raped the women…”
I “know” no such thing. Some people certainly think it very very strongly. But there is no compelling evidence of it. Cosby’s deposition certainly doesn’t prove it.
In several of those previous posts that I linked, I wrote that on the whole I suspect that Cosby most likely was guilty. But that’s just a hunch. I have significant doubt about whether I’m correct.
What do we know? We know that Cosby was unfaithful, and liked kinky sex involving drugs, and that many women were part of that, either voluntarily or involuntarily. It’s the answer to the “voluntary or involuntary” question that’s unclear. We know what they said many many years later, when there was gain to be had from saying it. But unfortunately we don’t know what actually happened at the time in terms of the element of consent.
Neo – Fair enough.
The following is just my opinions, but:
I was looking over the news, about the criminal trial where Cosby was convicted of a sexual crime, + I could not believe how the trial was set up.
The D.A. in the case, as I see it- promised Cosby that- if C. gave a deposition for the case, then C. would- [never] be convicted of [the suspected crimes in the case], by that County’s courts.
What in the world?
I don’t see how anyone would rationally offer that to a defendant.
It’s like saying: [John Dillinger, we will never prosecute you for this case, or follow up cases, for this [grievous bodily harm] accusation, if you give us a written testimony for this case.
I think any US court or courts wants to leave open the possibility that a case be re-tried, in case new evidence [for the case], might later be found.
Maybe the D. A. of the case wanted to get Cosby to admit to some crimes, so that Cosby would be seen as a criminal by the people of the USA.
I don’t know.
My guess about Cosby is- that he did do one or more crimes, since to me- it is inconceivable that 35 people would accuse him of some crimes, without some of those accusations being true.
But that is just my opinion.
Ugh. Well, I wonder about many things.
I also wonder if the singer, Fabian, will ever make a comeback.
“The world is full of many mysteries”, said the 1970s cartoons- Schoolhouse Rock.
🙂
TR:
I’ve written a great many posts on Cosby. I suggest you read this one, which I think will answer your question. You might also want to look at this one as well as this one.
Hi neo,
I please pardon me if I have bothered you with my above comment.
That wasn’t what I was trying to do, so if I did bother you, sincerely, I apologize.
Thank you for your links, to your articles about the Cosby case. I will read the three articles, and give them much thought.
Hm. Just for me, personally:
the Cosby cases are a thorny puzzle, in my opinion.
I must say that- Cosby’s comedy career, + his being accused of crimes, are likely not ones I can view, right now, with 100% unbiased opinions.
I had heard Cosby’s stand-up routines, from when I was about 6-20 years old, and, looking at them alone, I admire those works + his skills of doing comedy.
[Please notice, I am in no way, in this comment, excusing
Cosby for his bad actions, and/or what might be- his alleged…bad actions.]
In my knowledge, there aren’t any convictions of Cosby, that were not later overturned, that prove that Cosby did any of these crimes.
But- I’ve known a few people who were victims of sexual crimes, + so then I try to believe that- the accusations of my acquaintances, and the accusations of others, are true.
Having said that: I don’t believe that in the US, [the US’s courts]. + [the US’s “court of public opinion], want to believe that- if a child under 18, or anyone else- accuses someone of a sexual crime, that that person could be lying about the accusation.
That is too horrible a thought for some people to think about.
To me, it is sort of like, when someone is arrested, + then goes to trial for being [accused of] being a serial killer.
I think, in both types of crimes:
most of the public [would rather think that the accused is [guilty before being proven innocent], rather than: to admit that someone could do the morally bad action of- falsely accusing someone else of: being a molester, being a rapist, or being a serial murderer, or to admit that- even something so horrible as- a sexual criminal, or a rapist, or a serial murderer, even exists.
Likely, many people would rather just [toss these subjects away from themselves, like a hot potato], rather than to admit that these types of violent + disturbing crimes do exist, in my view.
On another note- many of my friends are or have been, in the entertainment industry, so- I might make analytical studies of Mr. Cosby’s comedy shows, [just] to see what skills he has in- doing comedy shows, and in his being an actor.
Personally- I might study his routines, but I don’t feel emotionally comfortable in recommending his comedy shows or his entertainments, to other people.
It’s just my opinion, but- I think that some of the accusations said about him may be real, and so I feel most comfortable [not] talking about him, to people off the internet.
That is just the stance that I have, on Mr. Cosby’s past.
I hope you’re having a good day,
Cheers,
TR
TR:
No need to apologize; you didn’t bother me at all. I mostly just wanted to elucidate the situation regarding the promise about his deposition in the civil case.
But one more thing: people make false accusations all the time, especially for money but for all sorts of reasons. There is no question that Cosby had a kinky sex life, pretty sleazy. But the issue of consent is a whole other thing.