Bill Cosby has had his sexual assault conviction overturned.
The actor and comedian, who has been accused of sexual assault by more than 60 women, was jailed in 2018 for drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand at his home in 2004.
Cosby has already served more than two years of a three-to-10-year prison sentence in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and he allegedly vowed to serve all 10 years rather than acknowledge any remorse over the alleged encounter with Ms Constand, reports Sky News.
Cosby originally faced trial in 2017 for charges of drugging and sexually assaulting Ms Constand at his home 17 years ago. The trial ended in a mistrial after a jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision.
But in a retrial in April the following year, Cosby was found guilty on three counts of aggravated indecent assault – penetration with lack of consent, penetration while unconscious, and penetration after administering an intoxicant.
Now, Pennsylvania’s highest court has found that an agreement with a previous prosecutor prevented the actor and comedian from being charged in the case.
In their decision, the judges also found that testimony from accusers unrelated to the case had tainted the trial even though a lower appeals court had found it appropriate to show a signature pattern of drugging and molesting women.
As a result Cosby’s convictions and sentence have been now been overturned.
Justice David Wecht, said that overturning the conviction, and barring any further prosecution “is the only remedy that comports with society’s reasonable expectations of its elected prosecutors and our criminal justice system”.
It comes after Cosby was denied parole after refusing to participate in sex offender programs during his prison sentence, in May.
This is the first year he has been eligible for parole.
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