Bill Cosby released from jail after sex assault conviction overturned

By Neil Wilkes, Editor-in-chief | 18h

Bill Cosby is released from prison after a Pennsylvania court overturns his sexual assault conviction.

Disgraced veteran actor Bill Cosby has been freed from jail in Pennsylvania today after his conviction for sexual assault was overturned by a court.

More than 60 women came forward to allege that the comedian had variously drugged and raped them over a period spanning several decades, but due to the statute of limitations only one of the allegations made it to court.

In September 2018 he was found guilty and sentenced to between three and ten years in jail, but The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has today overturned the conviction.

The court said that as part of the trial, statements made by Cosby which appeared to show him admitting to drugging women were presented in violation of an agreement between Cosby's team and a former prosecutor in the case.

The court also determined that it was inappropriate for five women to testify about their own experiences at the hands of Cosby as it was "unduly prejudicial" in his case.

"He's going to be a free man - and that says a lot about all the charges and the things these women said about him," family lawyer Andrew Wyatt told TMZ.

"This is the justice that America has been looking for, because Bill Cosby has always said that this is bigger than him... this is about every black man in America."

In its ruling, the court also decided that Cosby, who is now aged 83, can never be retried over the allegations.