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Who is Jennifer Bonjean? Bill Cosby's lawyer says he 'served 3 years of an unjust sentence'

'Mr Cosby should never have been prosecuted for these offenses. District attorneys can’t change it up simply because of their political motivation'

Pennsylvania’s highest court overturned Bill Cosby’s sexual assault conviction by releasing him from the prison on Wednesday, June 30. In a stunning reversal of fate for the comedian, as the prosecutor who brought the case was bound by his predecessor’s deal not to charge Cosby. Now, newsreaders want to know who was Cosby's lawyer.

Cosby, 83, showed a V-for-victory sign to a helicopter overhead as he stepped into his suburban Philadelphia home after serving nearly three years of a three- to 10-year sentence for drugging and violating Temple University sports administrator Andrea Constand in 2004. Cosby was the first celebrity who was tried and convicted in the #MeToo era. On Wednesday, June 30, when he was released, he made no comments and just smiled and nodded later at a news conference outside, where his lawyer Jennifer Bonjean said: “We are thrilled to have Mr Cosby home.” “Mr Cosby should never have been prosecuted for these offenses. District attorneys can’t change it up simply because of their political motivation.” Bonjean said in an interview. “He served three years of an unjust sentence and he did it with dignity and principle,” she added.

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Who is Jennifer Bonjean?

Jennifer Bonjean, a graduate of Loyola University Chicago School of Law, started her career by representing criminal defendants in Illinois courts. In 2007, she launched her own firm, Bonjean Law Group. She has built a practice out of representing victims of police brutality. Most of her clients are people who have stated that they were tortured or coerced by Chicago police officers into confessing crimes they did not commit and were freed from prison years later. On her firm's website, Bonjean said that she holds experience as a rape crisis counselor and victim's rights advocate at the YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago inspired her decision to attend law school and that in law school she "began to identify with the underdog, which in the criminal justice system is the accused."

In March 2020, a federal jury awarded $5.2 million to Stanley Wrice, one of Bonjean's clients, after it found that he was forced by Chicago police officers into confessing to 1982 gang-rape he did not commit. Wrice was convicted and sentenced to 100 years in prison. Bonjean also managed the appeal for Raniere, the founder of NXIVM where prosecutors said women were kept on starvation diets, stamped with his initials, and ordered to have sex with him. Raniere was sentenced to 120 years in prison in October 2020 and former 'Smallville' actor Allison Mack was sentenced to three years in prison for her involvement in Raniere's cult on Wednesday, June 30.

On Wednesday, she also appeared on Cuomo's Prime Time show, where she said, “I have no problem with a just and righteous verdict if you get there a fair way, but when you cheat…there is no righteousness or justice…and that unfortunately is what happened in Mr. Cosby’s case." Bonjean retweeted the video.