A representative for Bill Cosby said he will be released from prison Wednesday after his conviction and sentence was vacated.
Andrew Wyatt, who is at the prison currently, said Cosby will be heading back to his home in Pennsylvania.
Wyatt released a statement on behalf of the Cosby family, saying in part that “charges should never have been brought” against Cosby due to the deal that granted him immunity.
He thanked Cosby’s wife, Camille, who he said showed strength through the process.
“I want to thank the attorneys who successfully argued his appeal and especially Mrs. Cosby who stood strong and was here for Mr. Cosby every step of the way and supported every idea and strategy from the attorneys and the team and she always knew that Mr. Cosby was innocent,” the statement said.
Bill Cosby will be released from prison after the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania vacated his 2018 conviction on sexual assault charges and judgment of sentence.
Cosby’s attorney Brian Perry told CNN “we believe that he will be released from prison this afternoon.”
A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections said in a statement that they are aware of the decision.
“The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections is in receipt of today’s court decision. Work is underway to complete the necessary paperwork, and Mr. Cosby will be released as soon as practical,” spokesperson Maria Bivens said in the statement to CNN.
A panel of Pennsylvania State Supreme Court judges ruled that there was a “vast” violation of Bill Cosby’s due process rights when he was criminally charged and convicted, a decade after a previous prosecutor had declined to prosecute him in order to urge him to sit for a civil deposition instead – which was ultimately used against him in his criminal trial.
The panel of judges say in their opinion released Wednesday that when former Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor investigated allegations of drugging and rape against Bill Cosby by a woman named Andrea Constand in 2005, Castor felt that “he would not be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Cosby drugged and raped Constand.”
That civil deposition that Cosby ultimately sat for was later revealed in 2014, and one of Castor’s successor’s later used statements he made there as part of Cosby’s criminal trial.
“In light of these circumstances, the subsequent decision by successor D.A.s to prosecute Cosby violated Cosby’s due process rights,” the judges wrote.
The judges weighed different remedies – including having another trial for Cosby – but felt there was only one remedy that could serve as a proper remedy.
“He must be discharged, and any future prosecution on these particular charges must be barred. We do not dispute that this remedy is both severe and rare. But it is warranted here, indeed compelled,” they wrote.
