Montco Appeals Bill Cosby Case To U.S. Supreme Court

NORRISTOWN, PA — Montgomery County is appealing Bill Cosby's overturned sexual assault conviction to the U.S. Supreme Court, prosecutors announced on Monday. They cited the long-term detrimental impact they believe the decision will have on the justice system and the prosecution of similar crimes in the long run.

The appeal comes after Cosby's prison sentence was vacated in June by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which cited an immunity deal the entertainer allegedly reached with a prosecutor in 2005. That ruling also barred Cosby from being tried in this case ever again.

“Petitioning to ask the High Court for review was the right thing to do because of the precedent set in this case by the majority opinion of Pennsylvania Supreme Court that prosecutors’ statements in press releases now seemingly create immunity," Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said in a statement. "This decision as it stands will have far-reaching negative consequences beyond Montgomery County and Pennsylvania. The U.S. Supreme Court can right what we believe is a grievous wrong.”

Steele's team is challenging the legitimacy of a news release issued in 2004 by then-District Attorney Bruce Castor's office, which was used by Cosby's lawyers as proof that Cosby was effectively granted immunity.

Prosecutors point to the due process clause of the 14th Amendment and challenge the notion that the clause "transforms that announcement (the press release) into a binding promise that no charges will ever be filed."

The former comedian, now 84, was convicted of aggravated indecent assault of Andrea Constand, a Temple University employee, inside his Cheltenham home in 2004. He was originally sentenced in 2018 to three to 10 years behind bars, and he spent a little less than three years in Montgomery County's SCI Phoenix before his sentence was vacated in June.

>>Bill Cosby Has Been Released From PA Prison

Montgomery County's filing to the U.S. Supreme Court says that not only did Castor not have the authority to grant Cosby immunity, but that vacating Cosby's sentence on the grounds of the prosecutor's promise in a news release sets a dangerous legal precedent.

"Prosecutors have used similar words in many press releases, in many serious cases, and they — many of them are elected state officials — no doubt will continue to do so," the filing states. "Defendants who are later prosecuted in such cases on the basis of new evidence might now plausibly claim immunity under the Due Process Clause, citing Cosby and similar state decisions."

The U.S. Supreme Court will now complete a three-day security scan of the filing. If accepted by the clerk of the U.S. Supreme Court, it will be posted online, although a date for a potential hearing is unclear.