Plan B Forum

Teh Pennsylvania Supreme Court has released Bill Cosby from jail and apparently barred his retrial. It seems the previous prosecutor, Bruce Castor, had granted him immunity in exchange for his testimony in the civil case of Andrea Constand. the next prosecutor apparently ignored the agreement and prosecuted him anyway.

There's not a lot of discussion why Castor granted the immunity, but if his name sounds fmailiar, it should; he rperesented Trump in his second impeachment trial--draw from that what you will.

Almost all the tv programming I get on my cable comes out of Pennsylvania, mostly Philly, but there is public tv from Bethlehem PA and Trenton NJ.

So this Cosby release has been treated as local news with commentaries everywhere all day. The Pa Supremes released him with a 79 page announcement that included the caveat that this release DID NOT mean Cosby did not do it. Rather there was an agreement from a state prosecutor that if Cosby testified in a civil case against him for non-consensual sex, then the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania would never, ever, no matter how egregious the offense, bring a criminal case against him. In other words, by admitting to a limited number of offenses in civil court, he got a 'get-out-of-jail-free' card for any similar actions on his part, forever.

This issue had been ajudicated thoroughly and lower courts found no evidence of such an agreement. The state supremes said a press announcement from the prosecutors office about the civil cas amounted to a contract.

No word on what Temple University is gonna do about this. Cosby was practically a school mascot for many years. When he went to jail, the school reversed all the 'honors' it had provided to Mr. Cosby. I don't think he is gonna do any more Jello commercials.

snailgate

So, he's released on a technicality. I just wish that his supporters would keep their mouths shut and quit trying to make it seem like this means he is innocent of all charges.

I wonder how long it will be before Oprah will interview him?

Maybe someone has been saving an icy snow ball in their freezer, waiting for a chance to nail him with it.

Bill Cosby...you...you... gunky.

Good (I think) piece in today's NYT. We can piss and moan all we like at the prosecutor who made the initial call (an undertaking not to prosecute) but if that is true as stated, the PA Supremes had no choice.

A verbal agreement for immunity from prosecution for serious sexual assault offenses?

Not in any universe of prosecution practice I’ve ever visited. Prosecutorial misconduct, or possibly even a fraud on the court. Was the former prosecutor the only other witness to the alleged promise of immunity?

Beyond sickening that this lifelong predator will live out his life in comfort, ease and in many cases adulation.

Here's a link to the SC of PA opinion; it's long and I hope to look at it sometime.

https://www.pacourts.us/Storage/media/p ... nwecht.pdf

Just skimming it, something does not smell right re the prosecutor's misconduct; and when the prosecutor was Bruce Castor, I'm not surprised. He came across as a big ass with little understanding or procedure and ethics during the impeachment hearings.

He had an immunity deal. It was a bad one, but he had it. Unfortunately, the court made the right decision.

Jarlaxle wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 01, 2021 5:04 pm

He had an immunity deal. It was a bad one, but he had it. Unfortunately, the court made the right decision.

Not exactly; immunity is usually something granted by a court order or entered into via an agreement. He had neither;all he had (from what I have read) is a press release by the prosecutor that he did not intend to prosecute. It had a similar effect to transactional immunity if it was an enforceable agreement, but there was no writing setting for the the understanding and extent. I have not read the opinion (it's nearly 100 pages long), but it appears the court said it would be unjust to permit the prosecution to renege on the "promise" evidenced by the press release of the prosecutor. I would expect either a prosecutor or a seasoned defense attorney should have known better and gotten a written agreement, but seeing it is Castor, maybe not (or maybe it's a backdoor way to get immunity without having to admit it). Either way, something stinks pretty bad here.

Easy mistake to make...