by Tdarcos » Sat Jul 03, 2021 10:54 am
In the appeal, the decision by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court was that Cosby's statements used in his criminal trial had been given under a promise of immunity (basically, to force him to testify without taking the 5th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution or § 9 of the Pennsylvania Constitution in his civil trial.) Well, this made his criminal trial manifestly unfair. Now, what is the correct remedy? At a minimum, his conviction would have to be overturned, meaning that Cosby could be tried again (without using the offending testimony, of course). However, I think that the Supreme Court decided that the new prosecutor who took office after the one who gave Cosby forced immunity, knowing that he was given immunity, thought that she could get away with claiming that, in effect, "that's what he gave you, it doesn't bind us." So, a majority on the court probably decided this was blatant prosecutorial misconduct. That requires a strong remedy to both punish this prosecutor and to deter other prosecutors from considering similar behavior again in the future, and not only overturned his conviction but barred a subsequent retrial. Since there was nothing the prosecutors could do, Cosby was immediately released from prison.
So it isn't too bad, Cosby did serve two years in prison. And he did have to pay her $2.4 million in a settlement.
In the appeal, the decision by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court was that Cosby's statements used in his criminal trial had been given under a promise of immunity (basically, to force him to testify without taking the 5th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution or § 9 of the Pennsylvania Constitution in his civil trial.) Well, this made his criminal trial manifestly unfair. Now, what is the correct remedy? At a minimum, his conviction would have to be overturned, meaning that Cosby could be tried again (without using the offending testimony, of course). However, I think that the Supreme Court decided that the new prosecutor who took office after the one who gave Cosby forced immunity, knowing that he was given immunity, thought that she could get away with claiming that, in effect, "that's what he gave you, it doesn't bind us." So, a majority on the court probably decided this was blatant prosecutorial misconduct. That requires a strong remedy to both punish this prosecutor and to deter other prosecutors from considering similar behavior again in the future, and not only overturned his conviction but barred a subsequent retrial. Since there was nothing the prosecutors could do, Cosby was immediately released from prison.
So it isn't too bad, Cosby did serve two years in prison. And he did have to pay her $2.4 million in a settlement.