The Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned the sexual assault conviction of Bill Cosby on Wednesday — but only because of a very, very specific set of legal circumstances.
The court's decision does not address "Cosby's conduct but rather the 'vast' violation of due process" he faced in the legal proceedings, NBC News' Tom Winter reports. In other words, the ruling "does not mean the sexual assault Cosby was convicted for did not take place," as MSNBC's Joyce Vance notes. "It's a technical legal decision based on conduct by the DA."
The crux of Wednesday's ruling rests on a prosecutor's earlier decision not to charge Cosby in what the district attorney deemed an "unwinnable case," which allowed the comedian to "speak freely" in a civil case against him, per Forbes and NBC News. The agreement was apparently intended to keep Cosby from pleading the Fifth Amendment. That testimony, however, "was key in his conviction years later by another prosecutor." Such an "unconstitutional coercive bait-and-switch" meant that, in the court's opinion, Cosby therefore could not legally be charged in the sexual assault case.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"Having identified a due process violation here, we must ascertain the remedy to which Cosby is entitled," the court writes in its opinion, which ruled in addition that testimonies from five other accusers further tainted the comedian's trial.
Wednesday's decision also means that Cosby cannot be tried again "on the same charges," per NBC News, but new charges could be filed "in a case involving another accuser," NBC10 Philadelphia notes. He is set to be picked up from prison on Wednesday by his publicist Andrew Wyatt, ABC News reports.
-
September 13 editorial cartoonsCartoons Saturday's political cartoons include court-approved racial profiling and America's moral compass
-
Giorgio Armani obituary: designer revolutionised the business of fashionIn the Spotlight ‘King Giorgio’ came from humble beginnings to become a titan of the fashion industry and redefine 20th century clothing
-
Crossword: September 13, 2025The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wifespeed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
