Bill Cosby’s Freedom In Question – Prosecutors Ask Supreme Court To Overturn Ruling That Freed Him

Prosecutors in Pennsylvania called on the Supreme Court to overturn a lower court’s ruling that reversed Bill Cosby’s sexual assault conviction and freed him from prison over the summer.

Back Story: Bill Cosby To Be Released From Jail As Court Overturns His Sex Assault Conviction

Prosecutors Want Cosby Back In Prison 

Cosby, 84, had served over two years of a sentence that was supposed to last up to 10 years when a lower court overturned his conviction in June. The court decided that a deal between Cosby and former Montgomery County prosecutor Bruce Castor prevented the former “Cosby Show” star from being charged in the case.

The only evidence of this deal being made is a 2005 press release issued by Castor, who said that he did not have enough evidence to hit Cosby with charges, according to Fox News. 

In the ruling that freed Cosby, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court stated that his arrest was an “affront to fundamental fairness.”

Here’s a short news clip about the situation.

“This decision as it stands will have far-reaching negative consequences beyond Montgomery County and Pennsylvania. The U.S. Supreme Court can right what we believe is a grievous wrong,” Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele wrote in a petition to the Supreme Court on Monday. 

Related: Bill Cosby Has New TV Show In The Works Months After Getting Out Of Prison

Steele Describes ‘Dangerous Precedent’

Steele went on to describe Cosby being freed as “a dangerous precedent.”

“A prosecution announcement not to file charges should not trigger due process protections against future criminal proceedings because circumstances could change, including new incriminating statements by the accused,” he said, going on to add: 

“The question presented to the Court is: ‘Where a prosecutor publicly announces that he will not file criminal charges based on lack of evidence, does the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment transform that announcement into a binding promise that no charges will ever be filed, a promise that the target may rely on as if it were a grant of immunity?’”

Cosby Spokesman Fires Back 

Cosby’s spokesman Andrew Wyatt fired back by blasting Steele and his office for asking the Supreme Court to “throw the Constitution out the window.”

“There is no merit to the DA’s request which centers on the unique facts of the Cosby case and has no impact on important federal questions of law,” Wyatt said, according to Variety. “This is a pathetic last-ditch effort that will not prevail. The Montgomery County’s DA’s fixation with Mr. Cosby is troubling to say the least.”

Cosby was accused of drugging and raping dozens of women over the years at the start of the #MeToo movement. He was convicted for the 2005 sexual assault of Andrea Constand in Pennsylvania. It remains to be seen whether this petition will ultimately land him back in prison.