Bill Cosby was freed from prison on June 30, 2021. I’ll admit, I was floored. Like most of you, I thought the Oreo-loving sicko would die in jail. His release has generated a wave of criticism, teeth-gnashing, and comments from the usual #MeToo dogpile. Here’s the problem: releasing Bill Cosby was the right move. 

https://crier.co/news/bill-cosby-just-walked-out-of-prison-after-his-rape-conviction-was-overturned-on-a-technicality-2/

Before you start freaking out, this is not an opinion piece about Bill Cosby’s innocence. Quite the opposite; Bill Cosby was convicted by a jury of his peers. That’s legalese for “guilty as hell”. A jury trial is a fundamental right for any accused (facing an indictable offence in Canada…it’s different in the United States and outside the scope of this article). Bill Cosby exercised his right to be tried by a jury of his peers and was found guilty. Further, Bill Cosby was given an appropriate sentence for the crime of sexual assault (10 years). 

But Bill Cosby should never have been prosecuted in the first place. 

In 2004, Bill Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted Andrea Constand. He did that. Bill Cosby sucks. Here’s the thing, Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor heard the allegations in 2005, one year after Bill Cosby sexually assaulted Andrea Constand. DA Castor decided not to pursue charges against Bill Cosby because of the extended period of time between the assault and the report to police coupled with a lack of corroborative evidence. 

DA Castor believed Andrea Constand’s allegations but did not believe he could secure a conviction if he pursued criminal charges. DA Castor had to find a way to get Andrea Constand some measure of justice. Mr. Castor decided a civil lawsuit was the best course of action because Bill Cosby could not invoke his Fifth Amendment right to protection against self-incrimination if compelled to testify in a civil proceeding. The Fifth Amendment in the United States is similar to section 11(c) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and protects accused persons from self-incrimination. 

While the civil suit petered along, DA Castor issued multiple press releases confirming his office would not pursue criminal charges against Bill Cosby. 

During the lawsuit, Bill Cosby sat through four (4) depositions where he incriminated the hell out of himself mainly because he believed he no longer had protection against self-incrimination as the Office of the District Attorney would not pursue criminal charges. The lawsuit was eventually settled for $3,380,000 USD. 

In 2015, the new District Attorney for Montgomery County, Risa Ferman, decided to pursue those same criminal charges against Rapey Bill Cosby. Former DA Bruce Castor warned of the potential legal fallout of this approach (he basically predicted any conviction would be nullified on appeal) but DA Ferman decided to press charges anyway. Also, by 2015, the #MeToo movement was just getting off the ground and historical sexual assault charges were vigorously pursued in both Canada and the United States. 

The rest is history. Bill Cosby was outed as a violent sexual predator who drugged and sexually assaulted as many as fifty-four (THAT’s 54!) women dating as far back as the 1980s. He was convicted, in large part because of the deposition testimony where he made a litany of incriminating statements, and the #MeToo movement got its first major collar. 

BREAKING: Bill Cosby is asked how it feels to be home following release from prison earlier today.

“He is extremely happy to be home,” a representative answers. “It’s really a blessing for him. He says his heart is just beating really fast.” https://t.co/c85FI8tmOe pic.twitter.com/G6QfSz0wVU

— ABC News (@ABC) June 30, 2021

However, that conviction was ultimately nullified by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on June 30, 2021 and Bill Cosby was released from custody. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that the District Attorney’s Office telling Bill Cosby they were not going to pursue criminal charges while allowing Bill Cosby to incriminate himself in civil depositions and using those same depositions as a basis for later conviction(s) was an abuse of process. In the end, the conviction could not stand.
Simply put, the DA’s office could not say, “We aren’t charging you”, thereby allowing Bill Cosby to incriminate himself by idiotic and egotistical statements, and then pull the ol’ switcheroo while laying criminal charges. Unfortunately, that conduct amounts to a prosecutor abusing their powers.

Does Bill Cosby’s release sting? Of course it does! I’m a criminal defence lawyer and I’m repulsed. Bill Cosby is a rapist who should die in jail. However, like Canada, the United States is a constitutional democracy and citizens are guaranteed legal rights which include the notion the state must follow agreed-upon rules of procedural fairness when trying to put a human in a cage. Finally, and most importantly, if we can protect the rights of the worst of us, like Bill Cosby, the rest of us are better protected. 

Bill Cosby’s attempts to portray the image of a family man with a silly side who made a career telling not-so-funny Dad jokes has rightfully been shattered. He will forever be known as a vile and disgusting sexual predator who needs to incapacitate women through narcotics in order to get his rocks off. He is human excrement. Lastly, and most importantly, the Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Ferman owes Andrea Constand a massive apology. For God’s sake; if you’re going to go after someone, get it right!

RK

Lawyer