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Supreme Court declines to hear case on whether lower court was right to throw out Bill Cosby's sexual assault conviction

Mar 8, 2022, 00:31 IST
Insider
Bill Cosby.Gilbert Carrasquillo/Getty Images
  • The US Supreme Court declined to hear a case seeking to reinstate Bill Cosby's sexual assault conviction.
  • Cosby was released from prison in June after serving less than three years for a 2004 sexual assault.
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Bill Cosby's freedom was all but assured on Monday, as the US Supreme Court declined to hear a case to reinstate the disgraced comedian's sexual assault conviction.

The former "Cosby Show" star was released from prison in June, after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court vacated his conviction for drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand at his home in 2004.

Pennsylvania's highest court ruled that the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office was not allowed to prosecute Cosby, because he had struck a non-prosecution deal under a previous district attorney.

Following the stunning reversal, Pennsylvania prosecutors petitioned the US Supreme Court to hear the case, but the court declined in an order on Monday.

Cosby had served less than three years of a three to 10-year sentence when he was released from prison in June.

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Andrea Constand attends a press conference on September 25, 2018.Bastiaan Slabbers/NurPhoto via Getty Images

While he was only ever charged in connection to the sexual assault of Constand, Cosby has been publicly accused of sexual misconduct by dozens of women. Most of the allegations dated back decades, making them hard to prosecute due to statute of limitations issues.

Cosby's spokesman, Andrew Wyatt, didn't respond to Insider's request for comment Monday. But in a statement to The New York Times thanked the Supreme Court for the decision.

"On behalf of Mr. and Mrs. Cosby and the Cosby family, we would like to offer our sincere gratitude to the justices of the United States Supreme Court for following the rules of law and protecting the Constitutional Rights of ALL American Citizens," he said in a statement.

Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele also issued a statement, saying petitioning the Supreme Court was the "right thing to do," even though there was only a small chance they would agree to hear the case, according to the Times.

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