By Andrew Chung
(Reuters) – Bill Cosby avoided renewed legal jeopardy on Monday when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a bid by prosecutors to undo last year’s ruling in Pennsylvania that overturned the 84-year-old actor and comedian’s 2018 sexual assault conviction.
The justices let stand the decision by a divided Pennsylvania Supreme Court that Cosby should never have faced the charges because a previous local district attorney had publicly promised in 2005 not to prosecute him, turning away an appeal by prosecutors. The state court’s ruling freed Cosby after he spent nearly three years in state prison, angering sexual assault victims and their advocates.
Cosby was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison following his conviction on three counts of aggravated indecent assault for drugging and molesting Andrea Constand, a former employee of his alma mater Temple University, at his home in 2004.
He was the first celebrity to be convicted of sexual abuse since the #MeToo movement began exposing sexual misconduct among powerful men in Hollywood and beyond.
Cosby is best known for his role as the lovable husband and father in the classic 1980s television comedy series “The Cosby Show.” He also was an influential stand-up comedian.
His family-friendly reputation was shattered after more than 50 women accused him of sexual assaults spanning nearly five decades. Constand’s allegations were the only ones against Cosby that were not too old to allow for criminal charges.
His lawyers argued on appeal that Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele should not have charged Cosby in 2015 in the Constand case because Bruce Castor, who previously held the job, had declined to file criminal charges and issued a press release announcing his decision.
(Reporting by Andrew Chung in New York; Editing by Will Dunham)
