Is Bill Cosby going to sue state? Disgraced comedian 'angry' he spent 3 years in prison
Bill Cosby was released from prison on Wednesday, June 30 after his conviction was overturned due to an "unfair trial". He was convicted in 2018 for a number of sex offenses and served more than two years of a three to 10-year sentence at a state prison near Philadelphia. Now, if reports are to be believed, Cosby is working with his legal team to file a potential lawsuit against Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania’s highest court overturned Cosby’s sex assault conviction after finding that an agreement with a previous prosecutor prevented him from being charged in the case. According to the court, overturning the conviction was "the only remedy that comports with society’s reasonable expectations of its elected prosecutors and our criminal justice system." Cosby, 88, is reportedly looking into the option of filing a possible lawsuit against Montgomery County, Pennsylvania for 'abuse of process'. It refers to the improper use of a civil or criminal legal process for an unintended or malicious reason.
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Reports by TMZ claim that Cosby’s legal team might try and argue that the prosecutor deliberately misused the criminal justice process to prosecute him, despite the fact it meant breaking a promise to Cosby from the previous District Attorney. Cosby and his wife, Camille, are reportedly 'angry' that he spent the last 3 years in prison and they're exploring the options for legal recourse, including potentially suing the county in Pennsylvania where he was tried. However, it is just one of several options that Cosby is discussing with his legal team.
Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court’s decision to nullify Cosby’s conviction came from an agreement between Cosby and then-District Attorney in Montgomery County Bruce Castor. In 2005 Andrea Constand had alleged that Cosby had drugged and sexually assaulted her at his home in 2004. Back then, Castor declined to prosecute Cosby, stating a lack of evidence to get a conviction. He suggested Constand pursue a civil case against Cosby.
Cosby ultimately settled Constand's civil suit $3.38million (£2.3m) after Castor came to an agreement with Cosby that if he sat for a deposition in Constand’s civil case, he would be immune from criminal prosecution in the case. But, Castor’s successor Kevin Steele filed charges against Cosby in 2015 and arrested him days before the statute of limitations expired. In the testimony that Cosby gave in his deposition in the civil suit, he admitted that he gave quaaludes to women he wanted to have sex with. Cosby's testimony was used against him in the criminal trial. The Pennsylvania court in its judgment on Wednesday, June 30, held that the decision to use Cosby’s assertions in his deposition against him deprived him of his Fifth Amendment rights.