Bill Cosby released from prison after court overturns sexual assault conviction

Bill Cosby was released from prison Wednesday after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned his 2018 sexual assault conviction, upending the first high-profile case of the #MeToo era. Cosby, 83, was convicted of sexually assaulting Andrea Constand, a former Temple University employee, at his home in 2004.

In its 89-page opinion, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court said a "non-prosecution agreement" with a former prosecutor prevented Cosby from facing charges. The court said Bruce Castor, the former Montgomery County district attorney, declined to prosecute the case and gave Cosby the assurance he would not be criminally prosecuted if he testified in a civil case brought by Constand. But Cosby testified that he gave quaaludes to women he had pursued for sex — evidence that Castor's successor, District Attorney Kevin Steele, used against him in 2015. Later, Cosby was convicted on three counts of indecent assault and sentenced to three to 10 years in state prison.